I’ll be honest; I didn’t expect much from the new film, “Risen.” Being a Christian myself, I mainly expected to agree with the themes and message, with the overall movie being an unsurprising flop like most other faith-based dramas (with a few exceptions). But “Risen” surprised me with how great it actually was.

Taking place just immediately after the crucifixion of Jesus, Roman Centurion Clavius (Joseph Fiennes) is tasked by Pilate (Peter Firth) with investigating the claims that Jesus has been resurrected, and to locate the missing body in order to halt an uprising in Jerusalem.

One of the high points of “Risen” was the historical detail. For example, they never called Jesus (played by Cliff Curtis) ‘Jesus,’ but ‘Yeshua,’ which is the Hebrew name for Jesus. Also, the whole movie took place within the 40 days after the Resurrection; there are lines in the movie or simple exchanges between some characters that reference events from those 40 days rather than taking up time in the movie to go through the scene in full.

This aspect is helped along by the fact that “Risen” is shown through the Roman’s point of view, mainly Clavius’s. I can’t think of any other story that takes this perspective with the Resurrection.

Another interesting thing is that it doesn’t paint the Romans as evil, but misunderstanding as to the faith and laws of the Jews and to the power of God.

But the thing that I was most pleased about was how smart “Risen” was. It stayed away from the hammy, Sunday school lesson that a majority of Christian dramas end up pushing. Instead, it aimed for a cinematic, educated approach that was engaging and never overly predictable.

Yes, the faith aspect is still there and is a huge part of the movie, but it’s not shoved down the audience’s throat and isn’t sloppily thrown about.

Acting-wise, Fiennes did a “Fienne” job as Clavius. He was very convincing and effective as the work-weary, but serious Centurion, and later on as an on-the-fence believer in Jesus. It would have been nice to see a slower transition between the two states of mind, but alas that is a detail “Risen” left out.

Another character development that would have benefited the movie is more involved interaction between Clavius and his aide, Lucius (Tom Felton). What’s presented is enough to suffice, but a deeper relationship and growth between the two would have been all the more impactful in the end.

Finally, Cliff Curtis as Yeshua was a fantastic pick. Not only aesthetically, but acting-wise, he was up there among the better depictions of Jesus.

Overall, like Clavius, I got a lot more than I thought I would out of my investigation into “Risen.” And I hope, reader, you will too.