The Chosen dropped in 2019 and I was instantly hooked. It was not because of my beliefs, instead because it is a first-of-its-kind. It is the first multi-season series based on the life of Jesus Christ. In addition, it was crowd-funded. That means it wasn’t something someone sold to a production company – it was offered to the people and the people responded.

I first heard about it when it was only available on the accompanying app. I downloaded the app and you could only see the first couple episodes and it when you clicked to start watching it, the app would tell you who had paid so that you could watch. At the end of an episode, it would remind you that if you wanted, you could pay it forward to allow someone else to see it free. It worked – it spread quickly through religious circles.

Yes, at first I was interested in the business model and intrigued but after watching the first episode, I was struck by what an excellent production it was. It doesn’t lead you by the nose or preach to you. It tells a story and it does it in an intelligent way. It hints of things to come but keeps you wondering and keeps you interested.

When I first saw the actor playing Jesus (Jonathan Roumie) I was like, “geez he doesn’t really look like I would picture Jesus.” But his acting won me over in just a few moments. He is so believable as the Son of God. I have seen Jesus portrayed in dozens of film, documentaries and other retellings but none struck home so quickly. The casting is spot-on with the exception of Matthew – I am still unsure how I feel about his portrayal.

So why am I writing about The Chosen almost two years after I started watching? Well, I am rewatching Season 1 with my in-laws and enjoying it even more this time around.

Dallas Jenkins, the creator and co-writer of the series, is the son of Jerry Jenkins – the author of the Left Behind book series. He has faith-based media in his blood. The Chosen is being distributed by VidAngel and has been picked up by BYUTV.

Season 2 is in production in Texas and Utah. It is expected to be released in time for Easter this year so there is still time to binge Season 1 before the release.

by Chris Doelle

Rating 9 of 10