THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY ... Rooney Mara shines in the lead role of this religious drama which portrays Mary Magdalene as a feminist trailblazer A

WOMAN’S most cherished asset – her reputation – is at the mercy of jealous, controlling men in director Garth Davis’s revisionist religious drama, which attempts to wash away the stains of ill repute from Jesus’ devoted disciple.

Co-written by Helen Edmundson and Philippa Goslett, Mary Magdalene quietly trades in solemnity, echoing the current battle for parity waged by the Me Too and Time’s Up movements through the eyes of a misunderstood heroine at odds with the suffocating conventions of her time.

“I’m not sure that what happens to a woman is of much account here,” laments Mary (Rooney Mara), who is portrayed as a much-abused feminist trailblazer rather than the repentant prostitute depicted in western art and literature.

In 2017, Davis shepherded inspirational drama Lion to six Oscar nominations and he reunites with cinematographer Greig Fraser to capture the central character’s journey in luminous tones, accompanied by a swollen, lush