I've written a lot of articles that shit on quote-unquote "religious" films, like the GOD'S NOT DEAD series, that are just excuses to be hateful and bigoted. And while those articles are fun to write, and Pure Flix-type films fun to laugh at in general, it isn't the religious content I oppose. Because Netflix's upcoming series MESSIAH actually kind of sounds amazing. Here's an official synopsis:
Messiah will chronicle the modern world’s reaction to a man who first appears in the Middle East creating a groundswell of followers around him claiming he is the Messiah. Is he sent from God or is he a dangerous fraud bent on dismantling the world’s geopolitical order? In ten hour-long episodes, the story unfolds from multiple points of view, including a young CIA agent, an Israeli Shin Bet officer, a Latino preacher and his Texan daughter, a Palestinian refugee and the media, among others.
To be fair, creator Michael Petroni said of the show: "MESSIAH will have every viewer asking the question ‘is he or isn’t he?’ How you answer that question may reveal more about you than it does about the show. Messiah challenges us to examine what we believe and why", so there's a potential that the answer of the supposed messiah's divinity will never be fully answered or explained. However, the idea of how the modern world would react to someone like this, can be a unique look at how faith manifests in a divided – and yet, more connected technologically – world.
Of course, there's a difference between intent and execution, and there's the old saying "the path to Hell is paved with good intentions". So the intentions seem good, let's see if it takes us to hell or not. I for one am excited to find out!
Meanwhile MESSIAH will resurrect on Netflix in 2019.