Watch: Jesus meets Mary Magdalene in a clip from Light of the World
The animated film is coming to theatres September 5.
The Bible doesn’t say a whole lot about Mary Magdalene’s life before she witnessed the death and resurrection of Jesus, and what little it does say has been ignored by most filmmakers. Luke’s gospel says Jesus cast seven demons out of Mary (Luke 8:2-3), but most films about Jesus have omitted this bit of back-story and, instead, have followed the western medieval tradition—found nowhere in scripture—that says Mary was a prostitute before she became one of Jesus’ followers.
Thankfully, some filmmakers have started to pay attention to the biblical version of Mary’s story. The Welsh-Russian animated film The Miracle Maker has a brilliant sequence in which Jesus exorcises Mary, and we see the exorcism from her point of view as the scene passes through several different, and increasingly naturalistic, animation styles. Live-action films and shows like Mary Magdalene and The Chosen have acknowledged the possession narrative in their own ways, too.
And now another animated film is dramatizing this story.
The film in question is Light of the World, an animated Jesus movie that is coming to theatres September 5, and a new clip from the film shows Jesus performing the exorcism—or something like it, at least.
You can watch the clip here:
Notably, this clip does not explicitly identify what Jesus does as an exorcism. Instead, Jesus tells Mary he is “healing” her, which to my ears implies that he is curing her of some sort of medical ailment.
Yes, Mary replies that she no longer hears any “voices”—but the source of those voices is left to the viewer’s imagination. They could be external, i.e. coming from demons, or they could be internal, i.e. coming from some sort of mental illness, maybe a neurological disorder. Perhaps some other part of the film will clarify just where the voices were coming from, but as it stands, the clip is agnostic on this point.
I suspect the filmmakers went for the language of “healing” because it’s more familiar to the viewer and/or because the film is made for children, who might find talk of demons and exorcisms too scary. But I wonder also if they made this tweak because people today are more sensitive to questions of mental health, and the filmmakers thought the language of “healing” would make the story more relatable on that level.
At any rate, however these decisions were made, I am glad to see that this one part of Mary’s back-story has been incorporated into the film on some level, and I am heartened by the thought that the filmmakers felt secure enough in their portrayal of this story that they made it one of the clips they’re using to promote the film.
A couple other quick thoughts about this clip:
Note the comedy beat as Mary stands up and knocks another disciple over.
Note also how one of the disciples’ arms is in a sling. Why isn’t Jesus healing it?
Previous videos for Light of the World:
The ‘The Heart of Light of the World’ video (October 26, 2024)
The teaser (November 12, 2024)
The clip of Mary talking to John about Jesus’ birth (December 20, 2024)
The children’s-ministry curriculum video (February 10, 2025)
The ‘What Is Truth?’ clip and the ‘Launch Team Introduction’ video (March 26, 2025)
The trailer (April 10, 2025)
More information about Light of the World is available at LightoftheWorld.com.
Upcoming Bible movies and TV shows:
June 8, 2025 — Testament (streaming: Angel Studios)
June 15, 2025 — The Chosen: Last Supper (streaming: Prime Video - US only)
September 5, 2025 — Light of the World (theatrical: Salvation Poem Project)
December 19, 2025 — Zero A.D. (theatrical: Angel Studios)
2025 (no month specified) — The Carpenter’s Son (theatrical: Magnolia)
2025 (no month specified) — The Chosen Adventures (streaming)
2025 (no month specified) — The Promised Land season 1 (streaming)
2025 (no month specified) — R&B (streaming: Netflix)
Spring 2026 — The Faithful (television: Fox)
no release date specified — David (theatrical)
no release date specified — Jacob (theatrical: Angel Studios)
no release date specified — Judas’ Gospel (theatrical…?)
who knows when Malick will finish it — The Way of the Wind (theatrical)