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But even more than that, Gibson is obsessed with the nature of violence—and, for that matter, with the violence of nature. Snakes and jaguars attack people without warning, and the opening scene of the hunt, and the distribution of the tapir's organs afterwards, anticipates the later scene of human sacrifice. But there are crucial differences between the two scenes, too. Jaguar Paw and his kin do not derive any sadistic pleasure from killing their prey, and for them, the hunt is an opportunity to come together as men—as human beings—as much as it may be anything else. But the priests and soldiers from the city seem to delight in cruelty, and for them, other people are animals, to be hunted for sport, exploited for labor, or offered up to gods whose thirst for human blood is as insatiable as it is inexplicable.

Director Mel Gibson to cast members, 'You can find more baby powder right over there, guys'

Gibson, as usual, finds himself in the middle; he is a sadist who rubs our faces in cinematic violence, and he is also a masochist who figures the best way to deal with the violence he sees in the world is to accept it and absorb it somehow. But where The Passion gave his admirers an easy out—between Jesus taking the pain and his enemies inflicting it, we side with the pain-taking, no question—Apocalypto is harder to pin down. One man, who is clearly meant to be a role model of sorts, faces his own death with incredible resolve, betraying no emotion and barely any suffering. But Jaguar Paw must fight back, at least to save his family, so the film takes a few steps back to the revenge-seeking ways of Braveheart and other Gibson flicks.

It will be interesting to see what Christian movie buffs in particular make of this film. When The Passion came out, there was much speculation that Gibson had become "one of us," and there were many requests for Gibson to follow it up with a movie about the Maccabean revolt, Saint Francis, or any of a number of other biblical and religious subjects. Instead, with a budget rumoured to be over $70 million—much of it amassed from The Passion's profits—Gibson has made a bloody flick about death and social decay in a pagan culture, and he hints ever so obliquely that the world has not fared any better under we Christians. After watching Apocalypto, some people may find they cannot watch The Passion the way they used to.

1. A recurring theme in this film is "Don't fear." Is fear ever a good thing? How does fear motivate the characters in this film (Jaguar Paw, the priests, etc.)
2. How does this film depict religious belief, whether institutional or grassroots? How does it fit depictions of religion in Mel Gibson's other films
3. Three Gibson films in a row have now featured scenes of public execution. How do these scenes resemble or differ from each other? How is the death of Jesus in The Passion similar to, or different from, the human sacrifice in Apocalypto, or William Wallace's death in Braveheart
4. Does the film go too far with the violence? How much of it is justified? How does this film encourage us to regard violence in the real world? As a natural thing? As an aberration
5. What do you make of the girl's prophecy, or of the final scenes? What role does Christianity play in this film, however obliquely?

Apocalypto is rated R for sequences of graphic violence and disturbing images, including the slaughter of animals, animal attacks on human faces and necks, ritual scenes of decapitation and organ removal, and various slashings, stabbings, spearings, clubbings, and impalings. One scene is shot from the point of view of a sacrificial victim's newly severed head. A man eats an animal's testicles, and later runs around naked (while hiding his privates with his hand) as he suffers the adverse effects of an aphrodisiac gone wrong. A woman is dragged offscreen to be raped, and another woman gives birth. The f-word appears once, in a subtitle.

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