Last Days in the Desert

2016
5.6| 1h38m| NA| en| More Info
Released: 13 May 2016 Released
Producted By: Mockingbird Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
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On his way out of the wilderness, Jesus struggles with the Devil over the fate of a family in crisis, setting himself up for a dramatic test.

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Director

Rodrigo García

Production Companies

Mockingbird Pictures

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Last Days in the Desert Audience Reviews

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Alicia I love this movie so much
BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.
no name given Beautifully filmed and choreographed picture but perfectly pointless and uninteresting. The cast is top notch but the movie looks like one of those filmed in a week or so as an art project aka self gratification. The DP on this project is probably the best in the world so it's worth watching just for that but don't expect to get any religious inspiration, at least not if you are a common layman. It doesn't have enough story behind it. What inspired me to write this review though was the filming location. This film was made in the California desert, not Egypt or the holyland. Why does that matter? I grew up in the desert southwest. I've never been to the holyland but I can almost guarantee it's not the same geology and biodiversity. They might as well have filmed this in the Australian outback. I'll try to explain by example. In the show 'narcos', Wagner Moura plays pablo escobar and he does his lines mostly in Spanish, but Mr. Moura is from brazil. I don't know why but he didn't play the character with a columbian accent; he played the character with a Brazilian accent which columbians instantly recognized. The show was a hit in the US because most people didn't notice but in columbia, and most parts of Latin and south America, the show instantly became a joke about US relations with countries south of the border. If you're going to do a story about the holyland don't do it in your backyard.
JohnAU1965 Last Days in the Desert will be, obviously, a polarising film. Those of Christian faith will bemoan the lack of divinity that Yeshua is given within the movie and the frailties he shows. The near zero star reviews replete with phrases IN CAPITALS as if that lends some sort of credence or authority to their view are testament (if you'll forgive the pun) to this.Those of us who aren't of that persuasion will see the movie for what it is. A devout man enters the desert and is challenged by both imagined terrors (ie: Satan, although I would suggest this may, instead be his conscience) and real struggles. The lack of supernatural events (ie: his alleged resurrection) are a counterpoint to this.In many ways, this is an historical drama about said holy man and his struggles. From a Jewish or Muslim perspective in the Abrahamic faith, he is what he is, either a slightly insane heretic who thinks he's the Son of God (Judaism) or a prophet, if only human, for the same God (Islam) worthy of reverence in his role but not some divine creature sent to Earth for the benefit of one slice of the Abrahamic pie.As a fan of McGregor's work, I thoroughly enjoyed the piece, although I didn't really see the nuances between the Yeshua character and Satan as some had suggested in other reviews.His eventual crucifixion and entombment seemed valid as a way of underlining who we were dealing with and his lack of miraculous rise from the dead gave a sense of reality.I get that many Christians will be desperately insulted by the film, but then they rarely accept the fact that Muslims in particular pray to the same God, so being insulted is almost a baseline for them.
Kirpianuscus it seems strange. far by the classic story of Jesus in Carantania desert. without the well known temptations and without the expected answers of Son of God. Rodrigo Garcia gives only the portrait of a strange meet of Jesus with a family. few riddles and dialogues and slow action and enigmatic facts. each- far by a religious film. or a coherent story. a riddle. like the riddles of the boy. in fact, only a challenge. puzzle of discreet cultural references from the roof of the Temple to Abraham and Last Temptation, from Pasolini to Paradjanov. a film of gestures and looks. maybe, a poem. ignoring Resurrection. because the Resurrection is the duty of the viewer. perfect subject of debates and controversies, it propose a new, interesting and far to be uninspired portrait of the Savior. Ewan McGregor gives a not comfortable Jesus but one who impress for the honest manner to remind old truths who are , in too many occasions, insignificant. a poem about the small things who defines the life. and nothing more.
Rendanlovell This is one film that I have been waiting to see since January 2015. After it premiered at the Sundance film fest and received solid praise out of the gate, I was looking forward to it. But was it picked up for a wide release? No it was not. So, nearly a year and a half later it has finally hit shelves. Recently the box office has had an abnormally high amount of pandering faith driven religious films. Which isn't really a bad thing. They certainly know their audience, and they have cornered the market for their films. That being said, this isn't one of those films. Seeing a movie that is largely religion based you normally see the typical one sided, you're wrong and we are right thing. I am happy to say that this doesn't do that. This adaptation is about Jesus, playing out in an imagined portion of his forty days of fasting in the desert. As he is trekking through the desert on his way home, he encounters a small family. He quickly realizes that they are in turmoil of emotional proportions. He decides that their needs out way his own and attempts to aid them. The story mainly takes place during this period of time. Now this movie could have been so incredibly dull. The main story is fairly thin and it doesn't exactly move around that much. But writer/director Rodrigo García has infused this film with palpable emotion. The more we learn about this small family the more we realize that they are pretty dysfunctional.The father and son don't see eye to eye on anything and the mother is laying on her death bed for the entirety of the films run time. For me the scenes between the son and father really struck true. I often have experienced the same communication issues with various people that these two do. Where you want to say something but don't know how and before you know it, the moment to express that feeling has pasted.As these issues become more prevalent the more you just want them to work it out. This creates some real drama with in these scenes. But the shining moments of the film come in the short encounters between Ewan McGregor and Ewan McGregor. Who plays both Jesus and the devil. The conversations that they have point out both sides of the religion spectrum.It presents interesting arguments for both parties. Which honestly helps you feel what Jesus is feeling. The whole point of Jesus's desert journey was to be put on trial to see if he could over come any adversity that the devil could come up with. So when the film puts him through these temptations and presents interesting arguments for either side, it helps you get into the characters shoes.That being said this film still has a story that is thin as paper. So when you get outside the family drama it can be rather dull. The beautiful cinematography by Lubezski can carry one through a few scenes but not too many. There are some scenes where we watch McGregor just pace around the rocky terrain for long periods of time. And it left me longing for something, anything to happen.This movie may not be the religious experience some people are looking for but it's really a breath of fresh air in a genre that had little going for it. It seems to have a keen grasp on the story it's adapting and does so with no shortage of grace. It offers excellent performances, beautiful visuals, an insightful story, and characters that you can actually get invested in. If it weren't for the thin plotting and some dull sequences this would truly be an excellent film. But considering all it does right it's definitely worth a watch.