An American-Spanish co-production, the film stars Joseph Fiennes, Tom Felton, Peter Firth, and Cliff Curtis, and details a Roman soldier's search for Jesus's body following his resurrection.

Clavius, a Roman Tribune of Legio X Fretensis, supervises the crucifixion of Yeshua (Jesus) and orders his men to guard the dead body.

Clavius' intense investigation begins to disturb both Romans and Hebrews alike; and Pilate, under pressure from many sides and fearful of Caesar's wrath, becomes increasingly distant and unsupportive.

Running out of new leads, Clavius revisits a disgraced Roman soldier, assigned to guard Yeshua's cave tomb, now a drunkard, and vehemently shakes the drunken man out of a lie that he had previously stuck to.

Pilate deduces that Clavius has apparently betrayed him, and dispatches a contingent of Roman troops, led by a promoted Lucius, to pursue him and Yeshua.

[3] In the United States and Canada, pre-release tracking suggested the film would gross $7–12 million from 2,915 theaters in its opening weekend, alongside Race and The Witch.

The site's critical consensus reads, "Risen benefits from a lighter tone than many faith-based productions, as well as a unique take on the Greatest Story Ever Told and a terrific turn from star Joseph Fiennes.

[15][12] Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film two out of four stars, praising the different take on the story as well as the supporting actors, but criticizing Fiennes' stoic performance.