Messiah - Netflix - (**Spoilers**)

Agent Coulson

Drops January 1st 2020


The series focuses on the modern world's reaction to a man who first appears in the Middle East claiming to be the Messiah.

A CIA officer investigates a charismatic figure whose followers believe that he can perform miracles. Is he a divine entity or a dangerous con artist?

Slydice

Doesn't look like a piss take. Creator looks to have worked on supernatural style shows/films. Two directors listed, one with Sense8 experience and the other has a lot of TV work including some Agents of Shield.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7671598/

cdgalwegian

Agent Coulson wrote: »

The series focuses on the modern world's reaction to a man who first appears in the Middle East claiming to be the Messiah.

Quote:
A CIA officer investigates a charismatic figure whose followers believe that he can perform miracles. Is he a divine entity or a dangerous con artist?

It's pretty obvious the officer will find that he's not the Messiah- he's a very naughty boy! :pac:

I quite like the premise. Brave choice, considering the subject matter, but there's clearly scope for an intriguing show with an interesting plot; really hope the writing lives up to it.

https://collider.com/netflix-messiah-trailer-release/
the Netflix original series MESSIAH is a provocative and suspenseful thriller that explores the power of influence and belief in the social media age.

super_furry

Really like the look of that.

pixelburp

Looks interesting and as said, a very brave choice to be even touching this subject at all. I just hope nobody embarrasses themselves by angsting over the PC casting of Jesus

I guess its success will entirely depend on how deftly they keep the audience guessing about the "messiah" and the truth of him. Unless they just answer it in episode 1, and the rest of the series is about the fallout of the con/second coming

super_furry

That trailer sent me down a bit of a wormhole. I vaguely remembered David Tennant doing an ITV mini-series based on a similar, if less middle-east premise back in the 90s. Turns out it was the other Dr Who Christopher Eccleston in 2003 and he's unambiguously the second coming.

It's all up on YouTube and feels very of it's time, but fairly interesting all the same.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_-nw0kRZdA

cdgalwegian

super_furry wrote: »

That trailer sent me down a bit of a wormhole. I vaguely remembered David Tennant doing an ITV mini-series based on a similar, if less middle-east premise back in the 90s. Turns out it was the other Dr Who Christopher Eccleston in 2003 and he's unambiguously the second coming.

It's all up on YouTube and feels very of it's time, but fairly interesting all the same.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_-nw0kRZdA

I remember watching it; interesting ending if I remember correctly- the choice faced by Eccleston was a philosophical one that was cleverly 'served up' to him.

Agent Coulson

Drops tomorrow.

The Jordan film commission who helped Netflix film there now have asked Netflix not to show it in Jordan.


This is produced by Ireland's own Bible producing juggernaut Roma Downey.

pixelburp

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Drops tomorrow.

The Jordan film commission who helped Netflix film there now have asked Netflix to show it in Jordan.


This is produced by Ireland's own Bible producing juggernaut Roma Downey.

Dropped today, that above is interesting; wonder is that a hint that it mightn't be the complex, abstract "is he it isn't he?" Thriller the trailers suggested ...

Agent Coulson

pixelburp wrote: »

Dropped today, that above is interesting; wonder is that a hint that it mightn't be the complex, abstract "is he it isn't he?" Thriller the trailers suggested ...

Important word left out....."Not" Show it.


Need to double proof read on New Years eve

Unearthly

Early reviews not great for it

matchthis

Made my way through it after an early start today and a good bit of time chained to the kitchen. I liked it, bit drawn out at parts, but had me guessing the whole way through.

Reminded me of this https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0403795/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_3 which I really enjoyed

Slydice

Checked RT this morning as there had been very few reviews before now and the critics reviews had been poor.

• IMDB: 7.6/10 from 1,396 - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7671598/
• RT: 90% Audience Score from User Ratings: 109 - https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/messiah/s01

So I gave the first episode a watch.. and.. I will watch more


1: Decent intro. Michelle Monaghan looks like a solid Mission Impossible analyst and Mehdi Dehbi as Al-Massih is doing well on the mystery front.

Most things I google when they come up seem to have backing (at least in wikipedia). Megiddo for example. Wiki says it's Greek name is

Armageddon

so that might be a hint about the series.

Appears to be an Alternative Universe/History already as it looks to be in a world where Assad is no longer in Damascus and ISIL is somehow on the rebound with Tanks just outside it.

I like how they have the regional languages (arabic, hebrew, english) included. I've seen languages used in other shows like this but it seems to fade off after a few episodes. Will see if these can keep it up. It probably costs money from their budget so who kows. The trailer has America in it so maybe that'll sort them for that.

Slydice

2: Not sure why he's kidnapped this kid. Guessing he thinks he's has info. Not seeing the links with the Baptist church that they've introduced, just that they are in debt and the big deal seems to be low attendance and some medical bill... but Beau Bridges!

Slydice

3: Alright, link established. I'm guessing that's gonna bring that family together.
For the CIA agent, I'm not sure what her medical issue is. I thought she had cancer or maybe something to do with fertility. I'm guessing it'll be explained.

Agent Coulson

Pretty sure she is having miscarriages now, I though she was having an abortion originally.



Conceiving a child without having sex and through fertility treatment could be seen as a Virgin birth.

NIMAN

Do we think the Messiah will be able to do anything with Beau Bridges' eyebrows?

Slydice

4: Ok, they were miscarriages. Not sure about the hair that had me thinking cancer. Looks too short to be her husbands.

Now he's in the US. I'm guessing he'll have to go back over to Israel/Syria at some point.. otherwise that will feels like a loose thread in the series.

Slydice

5: That episode flew by. So.. where they just left it.. it looks like he's about to take the daughter from the US for the Syria/Israel border camp.

Slydice

6: Well. He just walked on water. Wiki says it 18 inches deep and there's photos of the drained with not stepping stones or the like in the middle:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Memorial_Reflecting_Pool

J. Marston

I know I'm overthinking this but it's distracting just how much the teenage daughter doesn't look like either parent.

The mother is blonde and clear skinned. The father is hispanic and then the daughter has a big mess of dark curls and is freckly. It's weird!

Slydice

7: I literally said 'uh oh'! Alright, so they are keeping a fresh thread of doubt going.

On the other hand, if they are taking the other route, I remember googling the 'yellow robes' a few episodes back and remember that there's supposed to be a Mahdi arriving alongside Jesus. I wonder if that could be Jibril.

If they go that route, they could have a few years of seasons sketched out cos wiki said they'd be bound to somewhere between 5 - 19 years before Judgement Day!

J. Marston wrote: »

I know I'm overthinking this but it's distracting just how much the teenage daughter doesn't look like either parent.

The mother is blonde and clear skinned. The father is hispanic and then the daughter has a big mess of dark curls and is freckly. It's weird!

Can't unsee now. Maybe they were stuck for cast members or maybe there'll be an in-story explanation.

Slydice

8: Well. I guess that means the President won't be bringing all the troops home. I wonder then if Rebecca is gonna be the Mahdi.

I literally looked on the forum to see if there was any enthusiasm for the show before I bothered watching it.

Sadly due to the lack of spoiler tags, it seems a lot of detail has been posted with no consideration for readers interested in watching it themselves. What a shame for anyone dropping in.

Last time I'll bother with this forum. Well done.

Martin Tyler AgueroooOO

Candie wrote: »

I literally looked on the forum to see if there was any enthusiasm for the show before I bothered watching it.

Sadly due to the lack of spoiler tags, it seems a lot of detail has been posted with no consideration for readers interested in watching it themselves. What a shame for anyone dropping in.

Last time I'll bother with this forum. Well done.

The thread title literally has SPOILERS in it.

Martin Tyler AgueroooOO

Martin Tyler AgueroooOO wrote: »

The thread title literally has SPOILERS in it.

And they can't be covered with spoiler tags so people can skip the level of detail posters have put up? It's that much effort? What's with providing that level of detail of each episode without any tags.

I'd have thought it was common courtesy.

Martin Tyler AgueroooOO

Candie wrote: »

And they can't be covered with spoiler tags so people can skip the level of detail posters have put up? It's that much effort?

I'd have thought it was common courtesy.

Read the charter SPOLIERS in the title means enter at own risk the show is being talked about openly with not tags. It is the same in the film forum as well just in case you go in there too.

Slydice

9: I *gasped* and then .. was like 'YOU BASTARD!'. Really feels like they're going the terrorist route after that.


About the spoilers: I find it a bit wierd about the spoilers being in thread title so quickly. Some shows have spoilers in the thread title and no episodes have been released anyway. Example:
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2058027431

Martin Tyler AgueroooOO

The way I see spoilers especially with online sites putting out all episodes at once there is going to be spoilers right from the start for those who binge on the first day, I also see spoilers for shows that air in America for those who watch them as they air there well before they air over here. At least with spoilers in the title I have an idea if enter the thread I might get a spoiler. Nothing worst than going into a thread where there is no warning and getting spoiled.

extra gravy

Candie wrote: »

I literally looked on the forum to see if there was any enthusiasm for the show before I bothered watching it.

Sadly due to the lack of spoiler tags, it seems a lot of detail has been posted with no consideration for readers interested in watching it themselves. What a shame for anyone dropping in.

Last time I'll bother with this forum. Well done.

You state the reason you came in for was to see if there was any enthusiasm for it. The first 3 posts after it dropped discussed reviews and had links to same. If you'd read them, your question would have been answered but instead it's everyone else's fault because you continued reading on in a thread with spoilers clearly in the title. Not everyone wants to go into a thread that is unreadable due to constant spoiler tags.

Slydice

Finished! Overall: decent series that did well with what looked to be a low-medium budget. Directing and writing could've been better. Michelle Monaghan stood out miles in a role that she knows how to like she knows the back of her hand.

2 Directors:
James McTeigue - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0574625/
6 episodes ( I missed earlier that he directed V for Vendetta as well as some of Sense8)
Kate Woods - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0940668/
4 episodes ( directed lots of TV )

Episode 10: I thought that was it. I thought he was gone. I thought they wrapped the series. Now.. of course I have to add Malik to the candidate list for Mahdi.
Very Mission Impossible feel to some parts of the episode. The special effects on the church burning looks like where they.. burned.. the most budget.

Future: Well obviously it looks like they've lined up a few seasons. I did a quick google but didn't find any confirmation of a season 2 so I guess they'll be waiting to see the reception.

I'd says there's a good chance cos it's hold a solid set of audience reception since I checked before starting to watch:

• IMDB: 7.9/10 from 5,177 - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7671598/
• RT: 90% Audience Score from User Ratings: 513 - https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/messiah/s01

compared to..

Slydice wrote: »

Checked RT this morning as there had been very few reviews before now and the critics reviews had been poor.

• IMDB: 7.6/10 from 1,396 - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7671598/
• RT: 90% Audience Score from User Ratings: 109 - https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/messiah/s01

Hodors Appletart

i really enjoyed but i'm a sucker for any kind of religious exploration

i was glad they left it a bit unambiguous in that the kid who found the wreckage had a history of telling tall tales was Avi really dead and brought back?

Slydice

Oh.. i dunno.. they still had that whole .. the kid lies about stuff intro and yer man was unconscious so he 'didn't see nutin'

cdgalwegian

Watched the first 7 episodes so far. It's kinda bland, and drags in sections, with some predictably wishy-washy pronouncements from the lead, but there's some interesting stuff in it, which has kept my interest up. This includes the doggedness of the skeptics (mainly Michelle Monaghan's CIA character, and even a timely clip of arch-sceptic James Randi) keeping pace with seemingly impossible scenarios. The geo-politics is dumbed down a bit, where it even manages to roll in a lightning fast overview of Sam Huntington's 'Clash of Civilisations', but in the second half so far, the pace has been picking up. Looking forward to seeing how it finishes up.

cdgalwegian

Finished watching this, and I'm torn. The slow build-up might have been purposeful in order to increase the momentum effect, because at episode 9 it really was pretty good, becoming sedate and reflective in the finale, episode 10. So it was like a sedate Homeland mystery-series slowly waking up, before pausing to set up another series. The inbuilt ambiguity was inevitable, but it was a little tedious.
There was however an interesting ideological playbook being revealed that would be interesting to see being played out in a second series. This - and as 'the People of the Book'- all having an Abrahamaic origin, and thereby a different take on a Messiah- means how the show deals with the Messiah and Mahdi interpretations- and what this 'Messiah's agenda might be, could be quite interesting, and maybe provocative. I'm torn, but I'm in for a second series.

golfball37

Must say I found it very disappointing overall. I wouldn't recommend it.

cdgalwegian

golfball37 wrote: »

Must say I found it very disappointing overall. I wouldn't recommend it.

I didn't find it very disappointing, but, overall- as a Homeland-lite/mystery mesh- it is sub-standard; even the very last scene with 'the mystery element' had a just-introduced caricature liar wheeled in to cast doubt on what had just happened- which was very clunky.
What interested me though, and what I'd be interested in seeing in a second series, is the 'Clash of Civilizations' motif that was touched on explicitly in one scene, and hinted at in the last episode as being central to the Al-Mesih character's behaviour. Apart from that, it's pretty forgettable. But if it's done properly (not necessarily with a bigger budget) the 'clash' motif could make the second series, well, biblical (so maybe a bigger budget then:pac:).

cdgalwegian

re Clash of Civilizations:

Spook_ie

I found it worthy of a binge watch, looking forward to a 2nd series

neris

Watched all episodes, started off good but then seemed to go all over the place. Dont understand why they gave the mother and sick kid so much time in it. Wouldnt really recommend it

Washout

Is this like a modern version of Highway to Heaven?

cdgalwegian

Washout wrote: »

Is this like a modern version of Highway to Heaven?

:pac:

Wait... I am assuming you're joking (as virtually every review would show it's not), so:

Yeah. Mirror image, except for the car bombs, sex scenes, torture scenes, geo-political machinations etc. Oh, and I suppose rather than being about a goody two-shoes doing goody two-shoes stuff, this is ambiguous about whether the central character, as a preacher, is the Messiah or... a terrorist. So all in all, not a bad comparison.

It's got quite the divide among critics and ordinaries:

Ann22

I binge watched it over 3 days and was totally engrossed. I loved it and hope there's another season. The actor plays a deadly Jesus-like person.

worded

Anyone know what shampoo / conditioner he is using?

Ann22

worded wrote: »

Anyone know what shampoo / conditioner he is using?

Yeah nice shiny hair despite the desert sun and dust and he has such a beautiful face .I think I'd be believing every word he said and following him up and down the sand dunes too...lol!

worded

Ann22 wrote: »

Yeah nice shiny hair despite the desert sun and dust and he has such a beautiful face .I think I'd be believing every word he said and following him up and down the sand dunes too...lol!

Ive walked through the undulating sand dunes of Brittas Bay Wiclkow in mid July at around 6 and lots of people were following me .... but they all seem to wander when we reach the car park. But with the right kind of shiny hair, maybe some day ......

I’ve seen the Life of Brian too many times and associate the word Messiah with it.

PTH2009

Where did he get all the fancy clothes out of ??

Even the supposed messiah has to carry his own gear around and work out at the local gym ha

Potential-Monke

I think they got the level of 'is he/isn't he' just right. I was guessing for most of the series as to how it would turn out, and it turned out, well, the way I thought and also not the way I thought. I like the ambiguity. Was the kid at the end known for lieing? The 'unconscious' part was deliberate, to hide the possibility that Al-Massih told the kid to lie and give him $20 or something, but it has intrigued me enough to watch a second season, should there be one.

Hodors Appletart

Potential-Monke wrote: »

IWas the kid at the end known for lieing?

not lying exactly, there was one scene where there was some kind outdoor school where this kid rocked up late and started telling a pretty tall tale to explain his lateness, all the other kids started ribbing him by saying oh last week the excuse was this other unlikely reason.

When he starts talking about some stranger coming back from the dead, he will be dismissed as a storyteller.

Slydice

Cancelled:
https://twitter.com/WilTraval/status/1242936463316008960