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 Sexual Content/Nudity: 

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The film moves through the various trials, with the accused being mocked and judged by the high priests of Israel, then Pilate, then Herod, then Pilate again. Unwilling to condemn Jesus to death, Pilate sends him off for a brutal beating at the hands of his sadistic soldiers. Hounded by the Jewish leaders for a death sentence and fearful of a revolt, Pilate finally relents, washing his hands to deny all responsibility. 

Through the streets and up the hill to Golgotha, a blood-covered, stumbling Jesus carries his cross, as soldiers continue to beat him and the crowds continue to mock him. A reluctant Simon of Cyrene steps in to help. Finally, at the top of the hill, Jesus crawls onto the cross, where merry soldiers drive nails into his palms and ankles. One stretches his arm, dislocating a shoulder – and laughing. Jesus cries out for their forgiveness.

The thief dying next to Jesus pleads for forgiveness; another scoffs, as a black crow comes to rest on his cross. Caiphas arrives in his swirling robes to taunt Jesus, who responds in muttered prayer, always faithful to his last words as recorded in the Gospels. Mary and John approach the foot of the cross, where he tells them to behold one another.

Then, the sky darkens and a violent wind stirs, whipping the cloak that the soldiers are casting lots for beneath his feet. Finally, after crying out to God that he has been abandoned, Jesus dies – and a single, solitary drop of water comes crashing down from heaven. The earth trembles and the temple floor cracks in two. Jesus rises from the dead in a brief scene, and then the film ends.

My tears, as well as those of the seasoned film critics sitting around me, were copious. It is a hard film to watch. Yet, it is equally impossible to turn away. Suddenly, the cost of my salvation is personal, very personal. It is also an important film, an epic, but it is not for children. The unflinching brutality of the Roman soldiers is historically accurate, and it is no wonder that the word “excruciating” shares the same root as “crucifixion.” The beatings and torture are savage – more so than anything I have ever seen onscreen. Harder still is the knowledge that this story is true and that it happened to someone I know personally. Just when you think it cannot get any worse, it does. And it continues throughout the film, relentlessly.