All four gospels place Mary Magdalene at the crucifixion of Jesus and at the empty tomb. But only one of them tells us anything about her life before that — and it has nothing to do with the western tradition that she was a former prostitute.
Instead, Luke 8:1-3 tells us she was one of “many” female patrons of the Jesus movement who traveled with Jesus and the Twelve after being “cured of evil spirits and diseases”. It also specifies that Mary Magdalene herself had “seven demons” cast out of her.
The new film Mary Magdalene, which is finally coming to North American theatres next week, aims to correct the mistaken impression that Mary was a former prostitute. But — as you can see in the clip below, which was first posted at People.com — it also gently subverts the biblical account, by suggesting that she was never really possessed, and that the demon (singular) was a figment of her family’s superstitious imagination:
Mary Magdalene comes to American and Canadian theatres next Friday, on April 12.
April 12 update: The clip is now on YouTube as well:
Check out earlier Mary Magdalene videos here:
- The first international trailer (November 29, 2017)
- The second international trailer (February 15, 2018)
- The ‘Making Of’ featurette (March 9, 2018)
- The American trailer (March 26, 2019)
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