Among the many possible readings of the Dutch director’s film,available on Prime Video,that of the half-man,half-machine cop as a violent Jesus has slowly made its way. A look back at how this allegory germinated in the mind of its author.

!Peter Weller in the role of Agent Murphy aka Robocop and Paul Verhoeven, on the set of the film, in 1987. 7e Art/Orion Pictures Corporation/Photo12

By Michel Bezbakh

Published on November 16, 2025 at 7:30 p.m.

Paul Verhoeven: “A government that increases the powers of the police tends towards fascism”

It’s meaningful to point out that when Paul Verhoeven reminds you of this sad and likely truth, he always does so with the same smile. The same smile he didn’t have to lose while writing his biography of Jesus, published in 2008 in the Netherlands and in 2015 in France 2. He argues that Jesus came from the rape of Mary by a Roman soldier, compares this leader to a sort of ancient Che Guevara, separates truth from falsehood in the Bible, and says things like “My favorite Gospel is that of Mark” or “I think Jesus was so “obsessed” with the future Kingdom of God that his entire libido was gone.”

For a long time, he wanted to make a film about it. But maybe that movie was already made. Robocop,he says,is “a Christian tale.” Indeed: “First, Murphy is shot in the most despicable way – it’s crucifixion. […] Then, Robocop takes a deep descent into death before being resurrected, in modern (or futuristic) fashion.” Said like that, it’s obvious. So why did this reading of the film take so long to catch on? In fact, it’s not certain that verhoeven himself was fully aware of it at the time.

I’m not sure I fully understood that I was filming Jesus walking on water.

Paul Verhoeven

During our last meeting, we asked him if he ever understood some of his films after making them. he admitted: “Yes, such as I didn’t realize to what e