The Chosen: Season 1 (Film Cut)

The Chosen changed what people thought was possible in faith-based entertainment. Dallas Jenkins and his team — funded largely through crowdfunding — created something that feels closer to prestige TV than anything the genre had produced before. Jonathan Roumie's Jesus is warm, funny, and deeply human without ever losing the sense of divinity. He laughs, he makes jokes, he connects with people in a way that feels startlingly real. The show's secret weapon is perspective. By telling the gospel story through the eyes of Mary Magdalene, Nicodemus, Matthew, and Simon Peter, it turns familiar stories into fresh drama. You already know Simon will become Peter — but watching him struggle as a failing fisherman with tax debts first makes his transformation hit differently. The production design is excellent, the writing is sharp, and even the smallest roles feel like real people rather than biblical cardboard cutouts. Not every creative liberty will land for every viewer — purists may bristle at some of the invented backstories — but the emotional and spiritual core is solid.