20 Most Controversial Movies Since 2000

18. The Passion Of The Christ

Mel Gibson is no stranger to religious-based controversy in his personal life, having made a number of anti-Semitic remarks which irreversibly damaged his reputation. That his movie about the final moments of the life of Jesus, The Passion of the Christ, also faced accusations of anti-Semitism is hardly surprising, although quite how the Anti-Defamation League were able to ascertain this before having actually seen the film is anyone's guess.

Jim Caviezel takes on the role of Jesus Christ as he travels the long road to execution via the path of long and excruciating torture. Gibson pares down the film to the raw essentials, and much of the film's running time is taken up with graphic portrayals of the destruction of Christ's physical form. As with all religious movies, its historical accuracy was called into question (although you could argue the same about the contents of the Bible), but it was the level of on-screen violence which truly got some critics hot under the collar - one even went so far as to describe it as The Jesus Chainsaw Massacre, proving that hyperbole is as commonplace in film criticism as squeamishness.