Hail Mary

By: Maggie Stankiewicz

Audiences looking for a heartwarming, bone-chilling, subversive and a somewhat biblical good time will find it in director Rosemary Rodriguez’s latest SXSW release, Hail Mary. The film is an ambitious attempt at tackling a litany of poignant personal journeys, from immigration and found family to hyper-realistic and fantastical ethical dilemmas. Every time Hail Mary starts to feel like it’s bitten off more than it can chew, it recovers in earnest with strong emotional beats. It might not be an instant classic, but Hail Mary will undoubtedly find a home with viewers looking for something different from the standard genre fare.

Director Rosemary Rodriguez is no stranger to genre or guiding ensemble casts through the wringer, with a resume chock-full of prime-time television directorial credits. From “Law & Order” to “The Walking Dead” and a string of Marvel and DC properties under her belt, Rodriguez is a perfect captain for the Hail Mary ship, which pulls from every genre Rodriguez has ever professionally touched. The same can be said for screenwriter Knate Lee, who brings along his experience writing and producing for serial epics like the most recent attempt at “The Stand.”

Hail Mary, at its core, is a modernized rendition of the Mary and Joseph parable. Don’t let this turn you off or set undue expectations. The story of Mary and Joseph might be tired and overdone, but Hail Mary injects modernism and rejects tradition at every corner. Maria (Natalia del Riego) is a young woman seeking refuge for herself and her child at the Mexican border after a deadly virus takes hold of her home. The stakes of her epic journey are only intensified when she catches the eye of Baal (Jack Huston), an evil being in service of the devil himself.

Maria soon encounters Jose (Benny Emmanuel), a kind soul who is a better man than he is a carpenter. Jose has made a name for himself helping others travel under in secret beneath the Rio Grande. Jose is charming and kind, albeit a little irreverent, but his and Maria’s budding relationship is a tender representation of faith and found family. Baal is unrelenting in his pursuit of Maria and her immaculately conceived and “chosen” unborn child, but Maria and Jose aren’t alone in their battle against him. In their travels they encounter Gabrielle (Angela Sarafyan), who is more than meets the eye. Gabrielle is a gender-bent iteration of the biblical angel Gabriel. Together the unlikely threesome and Maria’s unborn child must stand up to Baal, confront fate, and reconcile with their own demons.

The Hail Mary cast is perfectly balanced among its core antagonists. Natalia del Riego brings forth warmth and sense of urgency making the unlikely alliance feel real while Benny Emmanuel offers well-timed levity. Angela Sarafyan manages to keep what could be an absurd character grounded, leading with love and kindness without ever feeling like a Hallmark channel dropout. While the character of Baal doesn’t quite feel as frightening as he should, Jack Huston does a noble job in making Baal feel omnipresent, though never omnipotent.

Hail Mary is a sleeper hit for me, someone who is rarely willing to give a blatant biblical rehashing a chance. It manages to pull off its larger-than-life plot by focusing on what matters most – the humanity at the heart of its source material. Be sure to give this tenacious little film a chance and bear witness to the power of good direction, excellent chemistry and a little movie magic.