Jesus Christ's descent into the world of the dead, also known as his “descent into hades,” is rumored to be included in Terrence Malick’s “The Way of the Wind” — unless, of course, the legendary filmmaker decides to edit the sequence out of his final cut.

In Christian theology, the Harrowing of Hell ("the descent of Christ into Hell" or Hades), is a period of time between Jesus’ crucifixion and his resurrection. The underworld itself—referred to as Hades—is described as being either at the outer bounds of the ocean or beneath the depths or ends of the earth.

I imagine Malick will make the Hades section of the film as surreal, and nightmarish as it sounds. The more I read about this film, the more excited I get. Malick’s best films of the last 25 years have been ambitious in subject matter (“Tree of Life,” “The New World,” “The Thin Red Line”). This one looks like no exception.

“The Way of the Wind,” originally titled “The Last Planet,” is said to convey passages “in the life of Christ” through evangelical parables. The cast includes the likes of Matthias Schoenaerts (as Saint Peter), Géza Röhrig (as Jesus), Ben Kingsley, Joseph Fiennes, and Mark Rylance (as Satan).

The film was shot in 2019 and I broke the news on 12.13.21 that Malick was thinking about submitting a final cut for next May’s Cannes Film Festival.