Journey to Bethlehem Review

The Nativity Story is one of the most famous ever told and the bedrock for Christmas. It gets a musical retelling with Journey to Bethlehem.

Mary (Fiona Palomo) is a teenage girl who is betrothed to Joseph (Milo Manheim), a man she has never met. She had even more pressure thrust upon her when the archangel Gabriel (Lecrae) tells Mary that she’s going to bear the son of God. When the three wise men arrive in Jerusalem, they tell King Herod (Antonio Banderas) are looking for the child. Seeing the King of Kings as a threat to his power, Herod does everything he can to find the pregnant virgin and eliminate a potential threat.

Christian films can be very lucrative given they are usually made with a small budget and earn a high return at the box office, because of the devout audience. It has been a successful business model. Journey to Bethlehem was produced by Affirm Films, Sony Pictures’ Christian studio and they have had success with films like Hachi: A Dog’s Tale, Soul Surfer, and Miracles from Heaven. Affirm Films’ productions tend to have attached respectable names, like Kevin Reynolds (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves), Joseph Fiennes, and Tom Felton for Risen, Jennifer Garner starring in Miracles from Heaven, and most recently George Tillman (The Hate U Give) and Forest Whitaker for Big George Foreman.

Affirm Films were attempting to attract the family market with Journey to Bethlehem. It’s not even the first time Affirm Films has made a Nativity film for families: they produced the animated film The Star. Journey to Bethlehem aimed to be the High School Musical/Glee of Christian films. This was shown with the people involved in the film. Journey to Bethlehem was the directional debut for Adam Anders who previously worked on Glee and his co-writer Peter Barsocchini, was the writer of the High School Musical movies. The main leads were young actors, Palomo previously worked in Mexican productions and Milo Manheim had appeared in the Disney Channel Zombies movies. The only big name in the cast was Banderas.

Journey to Bethlehem was a full-blown cheese-fest. This was shown with some early musical numbers like ‘Mary’s Getting Married’ and ‘Good to be King.’ They had a Disney vibe since ‘Mary’s Getting Married’ was a colourful song and dance number with Mary and her sisters singing about Mary’s upcoming nuptials. It was an earworm, even if it was about Mary’s sisters trying to convince the teen about the virtues of marriage. Whilst ‘Good to be King’ was a big villain song where Banderas got to ham it up. The Three Wise Men added to this cheese factor since their constant bickering added comic relief. They had a comedic song when they met Herod and his son.

The Disney energy extended to when Mary and Joseph having a meet-cute at the market, not realising they were going to marry each other. It was like when Aladdin met Princess Jasmine in the 1992 Disney classic. Mary was portrayed like a Disney Princess since she was educated and wanted to be more than a wife. She was like Belle from Beauty and the Beast. This was the filmmakers’ attempt to modernise the story and show that there was more to Mary than being a ‘wife’ or ‘mother,’ and cater to modern sensibilities. Palomo was a likeable presence as this more ‘modern’ version of the Virgin Mary.

Journey to Bethlehem was an inoffensive film that will probably be a staple for Sunday schools and Christian schools for years to come.