The frightened speculation from religious leaders and frantic banter from 24-hour cable news pundits can end now: "The Passion of the Christ" is in theatres ? about 2,800 of them ? in a shrewd marketing move by Mel Gibson to let everyone see and judge the film for themselves.

And the film is frightening ? not for its dogma, but for the relentlessness of its brutality.

Gibson, as director, producer and co-writer, is fetishistic in his depiction of the pain Jesus suffered during the last 12 hours of his life. The beating and whipping and ripping of skin become so repetitive, they'll leave the audience emotionally drained and stunned.

Yes, yes. That's the point, Gibson has said ? he wants his film to be shockingly graphic to show the humanity of Christ's sacrifice.

But the idea that children should see "The Passion" as a learning device ? that churches are organising screenings and theatre trips for their parishioners and catechism classes ? is truly shocking. Grown-ups ? even true believers ? will have difficulty sitting through the film. Just think of the trauma it will inflict on kids.

As for the widely reported criticisms that "The Passion" might foster anti-Semitism, let's just say nearly everyone ends up looking responsible for the death of Jesus (a lean and intense Jim Caviezel).

Roman soldiers, speaking Latin, strip him down to practically nothing, chain him to a rock and scourge him until he collapses in a bloody heap of shredded flesh; when Pontius Pilate asks the surging crowd, "Isn't this enough?" Jewish elders, speaking Aramaic, call for Jesus' Crucifixion, which the Romans gleefully carry out.

The few sympathetic figures are Jewish: Jesus' mother, Mary (Maia Morgenstern, a Jewish actress whom Gibson frequently consulted on the set); his disciples; and Mary Magdalene (Monica Bellucci).

Despite its gruesome content, "The Passion" is beautifully photographed ? and it's a huge, meticulously detailed film, as you would expect anything from Gibson to be.

Early scenes in the Garden of Olives, where Jesus is being tempted by Satan (the androgynous Rosalinda Celantano), are bathed in mist and moonlight, similar to the opening battle sequence in "Braveheart," which earned Gibson Oscars for best picture and best director.

Gibson asked cinematographer Caleb Deschanel to make the film look like a painting by the Baroque artist Caravaggio, and Deschanel has accomplished that.

The lighting of the Italian locations is intimate and dramatic, often ominous in its contrast with the consuming darkness. But any of the film's subtle beauty, or the possibility for religious inspiration, will be drowned out by John Debney's score ? which is unnecessarily insistent considering the intensity of the action on screen ? and washed away amid the bloodshed.

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"The Passion of the Christ," a Newmarket Films release, is rated R for sequences of graphic violence. In Latin and Aramaic with English subtitles. Running time: 127 minutes. Two stars out of four.