A new "Zero A.D." trailer retells the Nativity as a thriller, with Jim Caviezel, once Jesus in "The Passion," as King Herod. Due Dec. 11.

The Nativity is getting an intense new retelling this Christmas movie season. USA TODAY debuted a new trailer for "Zero A.D.: The Birth of Christ," a biblical drama from Angel Studios coming to theaters Dec. 11, in a story carried by The Post and Courier. Directed by Alejandro Monteverde ("Sound of Freedom"), it stars Deva Cassel as the Virgin Mary, Jim Caviezel as King Herod of Judea and Sam Worthington as Herod's son Antipater. It's an intriguing role for Caviezel, who played Jesus at the end of his life in Mel Gibson's 2004 film "The Passion of the Christ," and under a lot of makeup he is almost unrecognizable. The trailer opens where the story must, among the animals. "Mary, this is where they keep the animals. I'll find something else," Joseph (Jamie Ward) tells her. Her answer: "It's perfect." Then, under an ethereal "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel," the footage darkens. "You wish to prove your loyalty. You know how," Herod tells Antipater, ordering his soldiers to kill every first-born son in Bethlehem, and Mary and Joseph must run and hide during the Massacre of the Innocents. Gael García Bernal plays Mary's father, Joachim, David Harewood is the wise man Balthazar, and Ben Mendelsohn plays a creepy figure called Nahash. "As a filmmaker, I became fascinated by something I hadn't really considered before: This is the story of a baby who was persecuted from the moment he was born," Monteverde says. He calls the result "a spiritual thriller." Here is the lesson. We tend to shrink the Nativity to a tableau on the mantel, all hay and hush. The Gospel account also includes a young family fleeing for their lives from a frightened king. A film willing to show that danger may send people back to the text itself, and that is no small thing. What I'd assign: the first two chapters of Matthew, read aloud at the kitchen table.