PILATE (Peter Firth) fears for his future if Rome learns that the body of Yeshua (Jesus) isn’t behind the stone that Tribune Clavius (Joseph Fiennes) personally helped to roll across the entrance to the tomb.

Pilate needs a recognisable corpse to parade before the people to prove that Yeshua is indeed dead. Clavius gets the job. Find the body before it rots in the Middle Eastern climate.

Writer (with Paul Aiello) and director Kevin Reynolds tells the story with dignity and less overstatement than have previous filmings of the resurrection. We know that nobody will find the actual body.

The disciples set about persuading Clavius (successfully) why their way is better before taking separate paths to persuade the populace that finding the body isn’t essential in demonstrating that Yeshua indeed still lives.

The film that Reynolds and Aiello have crafted offers to modern-day Christians and non-believers alike a plausible account of those few days after the crucifixion.

It’s a sincere attempt to explain the inexplicable, displaying a measure of merit, telling the story in handsomely filmed Spanish and Maltese locations where New World plants grace the backgrounds.

At Hoyts Woden