Sundance Review: Rodrigo Garcia’s ‘Last Days In The Desert’ With Ewan McGregor As Both Jesus & The Devil

Sparse and austere, Rodrigo Garcia’s “Last Days In The Desert” is a meditative and moody look at fathers and sons through the eyes of Jesus as he vision quests through the desert seeking guidance from his own savior. While quiet and gorgeous to look at thanks to the stunning photography of Emmanuel Lubezki (“Birdman,” “The Tree Of Life”), Garcia’s drama is sometimes a little too whispered and distancing too impart much emotional or spiritual deliverance.

A minimalist effort to be sure, Ewan McGregor stars as Yeshua (the Hebrew name for Jesus), fasting and wandering the desert for 40 days, trying to replenish his faith and find some answers. Feeling forsaken, he hasn’t heard from his father in a while, both literally and figuratively. Yeshua comes across the form of the devil (Ewan McGregor again), who fills his head with self-doubt and uncertainty. He also has hallucinatory, fever-ish dreams that suggest fear and entrapment, wolves chase him, he almost drowns, and other Jungian...