The Last Temptation of Christ
Martin Scorsese’s intense, revisionist portrait of Jesus turns sacred history into a harrowing struggle between divine mission and the yearning for ordinary human life.
Overview
A profound exploration of faith and temptation that challenges the essence of divinity and humanity.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Slow
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Graphic
- anguished
- contemplative
- provocative
- serious discussion
- religious reflection
What critics said
Critics broadly regard the film as a passionate, serious, and often transcendent meditation on faith, while noting its languid pacing and occasionally tinny or wordy dialogue.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Jesus is portrayed as a flesh-and-blood carpenter burdened by guilt, fear, temptation, and longing for an ordinary life.
The screenplay adapts Nikos Kazantzakis's novel rather than the Gospels and reframes familiar Christian events through speculative spiritual conflict.
Jesus must choose between God's demanded mission and the possibility of living as a good, ordinary man.
Jesus's journey through biblical Palestine is rendered with stark, evocative imagery that supports the film's meditations on temptation and sacrifice.
Films like The Last Temptation of Christ, and why
Silence
shared religious doubt, historical drama, spiritual crisis, and intense moral seriousness
The Gospel According to St. Matthew
shared revisionist biblical storytelling, austere historical setting, and focus on faith under pressure
The Passion of the Christ
shared humanized sacred figures, theological questioning, and emotionally austere historical drama
A Hidden Life
shared literary adaptation, spiritual struggle, provocative theology, and psychologically intense drama
Movie Details
- Director
- Martin Scorsese
- Release Date
- 1988-05-28
- Runtime
- 164 min
- Rating
- 7.2 / 10 (1243)
Cast
- Willem Dafoe
- Harvey Keitel
- Paul Greco
- Steve Shill
- Verna Bloom
- Barbara Hershey
- Roberts Blossom
- Barry Miller
- Gary Basaraba
- Irvin Kershner
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, FlixFling
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Last Temptation of Christ about?
- Martin Scorsese’s intense, revisionist portrait of Jesus turns sacred history into a harrowing struggle between divine mission and the yearning for ordinary human life.
- What is The Last Temptation of Christ like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Last Temptation of Christ as slow, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Last Temptation of Christ violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in The Last Temptation of Christ as graphic.
- What did critics think of The Last Temptation of Christ?
- Critics broadly regard the film as a passionate, serious, and often transcendent meditation on faith, while noting its languid pacing and occasionally tinny or wordy dialogue.
- Which films are like The Last Temptation of Christ?
- Films with a similar feel include Silence, The Gospel According to St. Matthew, The Passion of the Christ, and A Hidden Life.
- How long is The Last Temptation of Christ?
- The Last Temptation of Christ runs 164 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Last Temptation of Christ?
- In United States, The Last Temptation of Christ is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, FlixFling.
