One of the more intriguing movies of the upcoming 2015 Sundance Film Festival features Ewan McGregor as Jesus… and Satan. It’s called “Last Days In The Desert,” and it’s directed by eclectic filmmaker Rodrigo Garcia who cut his teeth working in prestige television (“The Sopranos,” “Six Feet Under,” “In Treatment”) and then went on to show diversity with the thriller “Passengers,” and dramas like “Mother and Child,” and “Albert Nobbs.” Doubly intriguing, the picture was also shot by Emmanuel Lubezki, the Oscar-winning cinematographer of “Gravity” and the about-to-be-awarded DP of “Birdman,” so we’ll assume he has another visual treat up his sleeve. Here’s the official synopsis.
Ewan McGregor is Jesus — and the Devil — in an imagined chapter from his 40 days of fasting and praying in the desert. On his way out of the wilderness, Jesus struggles with the Devil over the fate of a family in crisis, setting himself up for a dramatic test.
Along with McGregor’s two roles, Tye Sherdian (“Mud”) plays "The Son," Ciaran Hinds (“Game Of Thrones”) plays "The Father," and Ayeley Zurer ("Man of Steel") is "The Mother," and from what we can tell, this one’s going to be sparse and austere with only these four actors in the movie. The score is also going to be handled by Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans, who appeared in our Composers On The Rise feature, with their score for “Enemy” making our list of the 15 Best Scores Of 2014. So there’s myriad reasons to be excited for the film.
“Last Days In The Desert” premieres at the Sundance Film Festival on January 25th at the Eccles Theater. Check out the pics below.
