Movie Review: Risen (2016)

This past week, I decided to try out the movie Risen. Just in time for Easter, this movie explores the experiences of the fictitious Clavius, a Roman soldier placed in charge of finding the missing body of Jesus. At first, Clavius has no idea who Jesus is, but as events transpire, he finds himself enthralled by the stories and his followers.

Doctrinally, the movie tries its best to stay generically Christian. Most denominations would not have many qualms with wrong facts. Viewing as a Mormon, the only thing I picked out was one point where Jesus is called the "Son of Jehovah," but that's not even worth arguing over. Many other nitpicky things are correct, such as having the nails go through the wrist instead of the hand, and Jesus being called "Yeshua."

The plot centers entirely around Clavius, which is both good and bad at the same time. In order to have Clavius attend most of the important post-death events in the New Testament, the story of Jesus and his followers is forced to bend around Clavius, so much so that some parts come across as being a little funnier than they should be. For example, Pontius Pilate is turned into some super bad guy who won't rest until Jesus's body is found. When in actuality, Pilate (who is portrayed in all four gospels as not wanting to crucify Jesus) most likely left the matter alone after the crucifixion.

But on the other hand, it is Clavius's story. Joseph Fiennes (brother of everyone's favorite evil guy Ralph Fiennes) plays his role well. Clavius is good at what he does. He executes his orders with precision. All he wants to do is retire in the country and live out a good life with his future family.

As he comes across Jesus and witnesses several miracles, he at first holds to more scientific explanations. For example when the walls crack at Jesus's death, it was only an earthquake. While everyone speaks of miracles and adoration, Clavius strives to stick with his cold logic and his desire to get down to the real story.

Along the way, Clavius asks one of the disciples, "Before he died and he said he was going to rise again, did you believe him?" The disciple answers, "To tell you the truth, we doubted." To which, Clavius asks, "Then why do you follow him?" Eventually, he gets his answer, and this is where the movie excels.

The writers cleverly turn Clavius's story into our own personal stories. As Christians, why do we follow him today? This movie gives us plenty to think about, and leaves it up to us to decide.