YOUNG MESSIAH

It’s a rare week that features one film not screened for critics. This week has two. Also not shown to doubting critics is The Young Messiah, the latest in a spate of Christian- themed movies including Risen ( Christ’s resurrection seen through the eyes of a Roman unbeliever), Miracles f rom Heaven ( a miraculous cure; opening March 16) and, tangentially, the Coen brothers’ Hail, Caesar!, with George Clooney playing a 1950s actor shooting a Risen- like Biblical epic. The Young Messiah tells the story of a year in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, aged seven, trying to come to terms with His divinity. The movie is based on the book Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, by Anne Rice, who remains better known for her Vampire fiction and a 1994 adaptation with Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. A Christ the Lord movie began shooting in Israel in 2007 but fell apart the following year, so it’s accurate to say that this project, ultimately filmed in Italy, is itself back from the dead.