The Nativity Story

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  • Opened December 1, 2006 
  • 1 hr 40 min
  • PG | some violent content

  • Parents: Common Sense Media says OK for kids 10+. More on child suitability

  • Betrothed to much-older Joseph (Oscar Isaac), Mary (Keisha Castle-Hughes) must remain a maiden for one year, but she subsequently receives a visit from the angel Gabriel, who tells her of her destiny. When Joseph and now-heavily pregnant Mary journey to Bethlehem for the Roman census, they face a threat from King Herod, whose obsession with an ancient prophecy endangers soon-to-be-born Jesus. Full synopsis

  • Cast: Keisha Castle-Hughes, Oscar Isaac, Hiam Abbass, Shaun Toub, Alexander Siddig
  • Director: Catherine Hardwicke
  • Genres: Drama

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Critic Reviews

80
The Hollywood Reporter
| Kirk Honeycutt

Unfolds in a scrupulously accurate historical adventure story that depicts the world of Jesus' birth with an exciting you-are-there verisimilitude. Read full review

75
Philadelphia Inquirer
| Carrie Rickey

Isaac's emotional performance as the man who learns to share the woman he loves with the God he worships is profoundly moving and gives the movie its heart. Read full review

75
Chicago Tribune
| Michael Wilmington

The Nativity Story surprised me. I didn't expect such an obvious art film approach. Yet the Bible, in the King James version, is great English literature. Read full review

75
San Francisco Chronicle
| Mick LaSalle

By grounding everything that went before in an earthy realism, Hardwicke earns the elevation of the nativity sequence, one of the more beautiful scenes in this year's cinema. Read full review

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Keisha Castle-Hughes as Mary in "The Nativity Story."