Roma, 67 AD. After the great fire that burnt great part of the city, Emperor Nero points Paul, Jesus' apostle, as guilty of the fire, arresting him and taking him to Mamertine Prison. There prefect Mauritius struggles between his daughter Caelia, who suffers an unknown disease, and his job as warden of the prison commanded by own Nero, that he is considers as a failure on his military carrier. Despite the risks for the Christians, physician and medicine man Luke arrives Roma from Greek Islands to find Paul, living in the house of Aquila and Priscilla, two former Romans turned in Christians that they use their home as shelter for others Roman Christians to save them from Nero's soldiers, who kill all Christians they find, torturing and using them as human candles to light Roma's streets at night. After realizing that Paul is in Mamertine, Luke get access to the jail and he meets Paul, who accepts Luke's request to tell his biography to be known before he is executed by Nero, writing it in a new book about Gospel and Jesus' teachings. Meanwhile Luke writes detailing the beginnings of "The Way" and the birth of what will come to be known as the church, a bound on chains Paul fights the inner demons of his remembers as survivor of much-floggings, shipwreck, starvation, stoning, hunger and thirst, cold and exposure-yet, waiting for his appointment with death and haunted by the shadows of his violent past, wondering if he has been forgotten and if he has the strength to finish well. Mauritius, discovering Luke's intrusion, tries use it to earn Nero's favor in the belief that Paul will confess to be who burnt Roma. Intriguished by Luke, Mauritius permits more meetings between Luke and Paul to disgust of Mauritius' wife Irenica, who lives in eternal suffering by Caelia's ill. Due to the increase of violence by a young Christians looking for vengeance, Priscilla and Aquila doubt to leave Roma with the people saved or stay to save more Romans, at the same time that Luke's life and his efforts for the book endangers by Mauritius' ambitions. With time running out, Luke faces his destiny, that not only will changes everything around him, too around the world.
"There's no getting around it - this movie is heavy from start to finish - not a moment of comic relief. It is a very sobering film, showing the terrible toll on lives that can occur when evil tyranny is unchecked. It was a fascinating time in history, and an interesting segment of Paul's life to explore -- rather than his 30 years of ministry and 10,000 miles of travel, we get only a focused glimpse into his final days in Nero's prison, with flashbacks to his original time of conversion.
On the upside: This movie is very well done from a production, acting & cinematography aspect. It keeps you engaged; its almost like watching a mystery unfold, due to its intensity. Jim Caviezel (as Luke), Olivier Martinez (as the Roman prefect over the prison), and Joanne Whalley (as Priscilla) were all brilliant in their roles. I mean, really brilliant. (I also loved Joanne in her role of Claudia in A.D.; and Jim Caviezel became one of my favorite actors after "Count of Monte Cristo" and "The Passion". But Olivier was the real surprise - extreme talent.)
On the downside: Most of the movie feels hopeless. What ever happened to the miraculous power and intense encouragement that Paul operated in during all his years of ministry? I feel that the creators of this movie completely underplayed Paul and stripped him of all the elements that made him who he was in the kingdom of God. That was extremely frustrating, since it presented a powerless, hopeless Christianity, other than to be martyred and receive eternal life. Not very appealing. It made me dislike his character more than like it.
In conclusion, the movie is definitely worth seeing for the artistry and story, if you can handle the context, the embellished story line, and a depressing outlook through most of the movie. But if you only like "feel good" movies, you might want to avoid this one.
Principal photography began in September 2017 in Malta. The film was released on March 23, 2018 by Sony Pictures.
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