AND one announcement was enough to transform a highly anticipated film into an international sensation. It happened with The ResurrectionMel Gibson’s new blockbusterwhich will bring the biblical events back to the big screen afterwards The Passion of Christ (2004). The director has focused on Kasia Smutniak for the role of the Virgin Mary. A choice that does not convince everyone, on the contrary. The actress, Polish by origin but Italian by adoption, is ended up squarely in the sights of the traditionalist Catholics of her native country. The reason? Its positions in favor of abortionjudged to be incompatible with the sacred figure he will portray.
Kasia Smutniak will be the Madonna in the blockbuster The Resurrection
The film in question is The Resurrectionthe monumental sequel to The Passion of Christ of 2004. Filming has already begun and, as for the first chapter, Italy is once again the chosen location: we travel between Cinecittà, the Sassi of Matera and various locations in Puglia. Mel Gibson, for this project, wanted a cast that also speaks Italian, including Riccardo Scamarcio as Pontius Pilate and, indeed, Kasia Smutniak in the role of Mary. The anticipation is very high: the film will be divided into two parts, with releases strategically planned for 2027: the first on Good Friday (26 March) and the second on Ascension Day (6 May).
The accusations against Kasia Smutniak in Poland: «She is in favor of abortion, she cannot be Maria»
The casting choice, however, did not go down well with Poland’s more conservative wing. It was the site that ignited the dust PolskieRadio.plwho did not mince words to express his dissent: “He is in favor of abortion, he cannot play the role of the Virgin Mary.” Conservative media therefore consider the actress’s opinions incompatible with the role. The criticism becomes even more specific: «It is no mystery that Smutniak has publicly supported the right to abortion, criticizing Poland’s laws on several occasions and considering them a danger to women’s rights».
Polish abortion law
The controversy touches a raw nerve. In Poland, the law regulating the termination of pregnancy is among the most restrictive in Europe. Abortion is indeed permitted only when the woman’s health and life are at riskor when the pregnancy is result of rape. These strong restrictions have led many Polish women to turn to clinics abroad to have their free choice guaranteed. The friction has therefore risen to a political level: the Pis, the right-wing party to which the President of the Republic Andrej Duda belongs, he pushed himself to write directly to the film’s production to formally protest against the actress’s presence.
Kasia Smutniak and the right to abortion
Over the years, Kasia Smutniak has repeatedly expressed against the limitation of women’s rights in Poland and against the stringent laws in his home country. In 2022 he wrote this on his Instagram profile: «In recent years, months, days I have seen with my own eyes how easy it is to lose those rights that until recently I took for granted. Freedom of choice […] what to do with my body […] everything seems in danger to me». And among the cases that worried her there was precisely «the loss of the right to abortion last year in my Poland…». Now, as criticism mounts from her homeland, the actress, also known for her recent and well-received directorial debut with Mur – a documentary denouncing walls and migration – chose the path of silence, preferring not to respond to the controversy.
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