Last Days in the Desert (2016)

This film is certainly not for everyone. The pace is, to put it mildly, leisurely. It is very understated. It does not explain everything and hand you a nice, neat interpretation all wrapped up with a bow on top. The incidents portrayed are not found in the Gospels, but neither do they contradict anything in either the Gospels or fundamental tenets of Christianity as in e.g. the Nicene Creed. Statements to the contrary by other reviewers are due either to narrower understandings of Christianity or inattention to details of the dialogue. **Spoiler** The portrayal of Jesus here is maximally human. This Jesus is not Clark Kent, ready to deploy his Superman powers at a moment's notice. However, he states that he is the only son of God and near the end of the film, it appears that he plans to heal the mother until she indicates she does not want him to. Thus, I consider it an exploration into the nature of Jesus' humanity and relationship to God, perhaps skirting the edge of orthodoxy without actually violating it. The most troubling incident, from a Christian perspective, is Jesus' inquiry into the destiny of the son in the story via Satan. Certain passages in the Gospels certainly suggest that Jesus may not have been omniscient, so that in itself is not necessarily problematic. The idea that Jesus would demand this information from Satan made me a little uncomfortable, though, for reasons I can't completely pin down.

I have a fairly calm enough demeanor to sit down and enjoy a movie such as this particularly if I enjoy the subject matter. The first half of the movie was interesting watching McGregor develop the character but if you are watching a movie about Jesus, the savior of the world you expect a little more than an ineffective, indecisive individual in a quandary over typical human problems. Hello! Jesus was supposed to be one of the wisest men that ever lived, oh yea, even more than a man as you have heard and I don't think He just got wise between the desert and walking out. Family counseling should have been a breeze. And so you are telling me that he does not have more direction for this family than an occasional minor tid-bit of timid advice.Once that character realization sets in and the downbeat, even depresso soundtrack establishes itself the movie for me is setting on thin ice. I love to give movies a chance because i have seen many pull themselves out of some real nosedives but not here. The ending just drags the movie down into the ditch of what ever it was supposed to mean.So Jesus, the Son of God cannot pull a man up and save him from a fatal fall and then leaves a woman abandoned in the desert not long after her son abandons her meaning Jesus fully abandoned her when he walked away. Did He leave her for dead or did he heal her and then leave her abandoned and alone in the desert? As Jesus leaves the tent the devil blurts out "who do you think you are?", so apparently Jesus did heal her but still left her. Not the Jesus most of us know.For the Christian this movie would have zero inspiration and for anyone else there is little reason to even investigate this man from Galilee. If someone is wanting to bum others out on Jesus then this would be an effective movie and is the one effective thing about it.As for the ending it reflects the typical "realist" skeptic view that Jesus was only a man. A crucifixion, a burial and then apparently Mary and her entourage waiting outside the tomb and then no resurrection or anything even symbolizing it. A hummingbird floats just in front of Jesus's face as he dies on the cross. Nice touch but.... If the director wants to show tourists at the same location on the cliff where the father died and i take it that is what is intended then fine but is this story of Jesus just a story out of history where tourists come to take pictures or is there more?Not in this movie.

The film begins in an interesting way - immersing you (somewhat) into the atmosphere... but that's about it. From then onward, this movie has nothing to do with Jesus in the desert.If the director would have done just a liiiiitle bit of research into the life of ascetics who went into the desert to pray and fast... he would have made a much better movie. But this movie is a shame...This is not how a spiritual master (or even more, the Son of God Himself) prepares for the mission to save mankind by taking upon His shoulders all their sins... Not by wandering here and there and getting his head into mirages that the desert produces.According to this director, Jesus broke his fast (when the family invited him to eat, he eventually eats a bite), Jesus asks the devil (seriously?!) about the destiny of that kid, Jesus asks the devil how God is?!?!?!?!?! Seriously?!?!?! How huge an incompetence this is? What kind of person would make such a movie?...None of the dialogues from the Bible are there - just made-up stuff that doesn't rhyme with the tone of the story...No serious prayers or meditations from "Jesus" (he's also scared of the devil, mind you!...) - no significant insight into the human nature, into spirituality, into TEMPTATION... into evolution... into HIS MISSION... It could have at least been a movie about the old Obi-Wan in the wastelands on Tatooine... But this character is way below even that...Shame on you, Obi-Wan Kenobi - for taking up such a role... It would have been your most important role...

This film tells the imagined story of Jesus, and his 40 days of travels in the desert, fasting and praying before his sacrifice for humankind. He meets a family with troubles, and tries to offer a helping hand.To be honest, I would not have watched "Last Days in the Desert" if it wasn't for Ewan McGregor in the film. After just five minutes, I was thoroughly bored and wished I hadn't started watching it. It shows Ewan McGregor walking around in the desert, in a dull and monotonous environment. There is hardly any dialog until he meets the family. Even then, there is still hardly anything happening. There are very long waits between dialogues, and basically very long waits before anything happens. I sat through the film and was bored by the dullness of the film. The only scene that had a little resonance with me was the scene where the father asked the son a riddle. Otherwise, the rest of the entire film just did not connect or resonate with me at all.