The first trailer for Mary Magdalene has been released online, and this looks to be very different from your average Biblical drama. Scripted by Helen Edmundson and Philippa Goslett, the film marks the follow-up from Lion director Garth Davis and chronicles the story of the titular Biblical figure as she becomes more embedded into the life of Jesus Christ and his Apostles. Of course the brilliance here is in casting Rooney Mara as Mary, Joaquin Phoenix as Jesus, and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Paul, and they certainly appear to bring a lot to these larger-than-life figures.

The film looks to be zeroing in on the character assassination of sorts regarding Mary Magdalene due to her gender. By many accounts she was with Jesus and his Apostles throughout many of the major events of Jesus’s life, and yet because she’s a woman, she’s been somewhat shoved into the margins. I’ll be curious to see if the film approaches the controversial subject of whether Jesus and Mary Magdalene were more than friends, or if it simply attempts to offer a kinder portrait of a woman finding her place (and faith) in a man’s world while also hanging out with the son of God.

Rogue One and Lion cinematographer Greig Fraser shot the whole thing on the Alexa 65mm, so at the very least it’s gonna look absolutely stunning. As of now the film is still backed by The Weinstein Company, but Universal Pictures is handling international distribution and they've gone ahead and begun their own marketing campaign while we wait to see what happens domestically.

Check out the first Mary Magdalene trailer below. The film is slated to open in U.S. theaters on March 30, 2018 and opens in the UK on March 16, 2018.

Here’s the official synopsis for Mary Magdalene:

Set in the Holy Land in the first century C.E., a young woman leaves her small fishing village and traditional family behind to join a radical new social movement. At its head is a charismatic leader, Jesus of Nazareth, who promises that the world is changing. Mary is searching for a new way of living, and an authenticity that is denied her by the rigid hierarchies of the day. As the notoriety of the group spread and more are drawn to follow Jesus’ inspirational message, Mary’s spiritual journey places her at the heart of a story that will lead to the capital city of Jerusalem, where she must confront the reality of Jesus’ destiny and her own place within it.