Rodrigo Garcia’s Last Days in the Desert brings to life the biblical story of Jesus’ time in the desert, spent fasting, praying, and being tempted by the devil—but it does so in secular terms. If the movie’s latest trailer is any indication, Ewan McGregor will be spending a lot of time talking to himself in order to pull this off, as he plays not only Jesus (Yeshua), but also Satan, who appears to Jesus in the form of … another Jesus.
The film already screened at Sundance, to largely positive reviews that noted how carefully the film approaches its subject matter, McGregor’s “committed” performance, and the gorgeous cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki. All of this is on full display in the trailer, as McGregor’s Jesus struggles to avoid taking the other Jesus’ manipulative words to heart. The movie is set for limited release May 13.
