Film
Christmas with The Chosen: The Messengers
- Drama
- Light-hearted
A hybrid theatrical event blending The Chosen's Christmas episode with live performances from contemporary Christian music artists. It's a spiritual experience designed for faith communities—part drama, part concert, all celebration. Warm, generous, and unapologetically devotional, it speaks directly to audiences seeking meaningful seasonal content.
If you liked this
Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert2018
A theatrical music special combining rock opera with spiritual narrative. Features stunning vocal performances and elaborate staging that validates the concert-special format as genuine drama, not just filler.
But The rock opera style, even executed beautifully, may feel dated or overwrought to those preferring subtlety in religious content.

The Greatest Story Ever Told1965
An epic retelling of Christ's ministry with A-list casting and David Lean cinematography. Respectful and grand without feeling stiff—genuinely moving in its scope and reverence.
But Nearly four hours long and deliberately paced. The 1960s aesthetic and soft-focus spirituality can feel remote from modern sensibilities.

Ben-Hur1959
A monumental epic weaving personal redemption with the passion narrative. The chariot sequence is legendary, but the quieter moments of spiritual transformation hit hardest.
But At over three hours, it's a significant commitment. The pacing reflects its era and may feel glacial to viewers accustomed to modern editing.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Christmas with The Chosen: The Messengers
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Tender Mercies1983
Both centre faith renewal through music and conversion narratives, but Tender Mercies proves spiritual transformation needs no spectacle—just presence.
Robert Duvall as a broken country musician finding grace through quiet domestic love. Spirituality emerges naturally from character and consequence, never announced. Deeply moving without a single hymn or sermon—faith as lived experience.
But Minimalist pacing and sparse dialogue may feel too understated. Nothing dramatic happens; redemption is small, daily, unglamorous.

More like this (7)
The Passion of the Christ2004
Mel Gibson's unflinching, visceral account of Christ's final hours. Shot in Aramaic and Latin with staggering craft and genuine artistic conviction, whatever your faith position.
But Extremely graphic violence dominates the final hour. The film's theology is specific and uncompromising, which alienates as many viewers as it moves.

Godspell1973
A joyful, experimental musical retelling of Matthew's Gospel. Technicolor exuberance, infectious energy, and an earnest faith that never becomes saccharine—genuinely weird and winning.
But The 1970s aesthetic is aggressively dated. The childlike tone and theatrical zaniness won't appeal to anyone seeking gravitas or contemporary production values.

The Case for Christ2017
A well-crafted drama about a journalist investigating Christianity. Intelligent engagement with faith questions, solid performances, and genuine doubt given weight alongside belief.
But Melodrama creeps in during emotional beats. The ending feels predetermined if you're skeptical of the material's central premises.

I Saw the Light2016
Tom Hiddleston gives a career-best performance as Hank Williams. A study of faith, addiction, and self-destruction with real textural richness and surprising vulnerability.
But Heavy and unsparing in its treatment of suffering. Religious elements serve the tragedy rather than offering comfort, which some may find bleak.

Fireproof2008
A faith-forward drama about marriage and redemption. Sincere performances and a genuine emotional core beneath the genre-movie surface, with practical themes about commitment.
But The production is visibly low-budget. Dialogue can feel expository and the narrative structure leans heavily on sermon-like moments rather than natural conversation.

Three Colors: White1994
Both ask about redemption and spiritual rebirth, but this Polish masterpiece pursues the theme through art cinema abstraction rather than direct faith narrative.
Kieslowski's exploration of grace, justice and forgiveness through the story of a displaced immigrant. Polish cinema at its most metaphysically ambitious. Beneath the genre puzzle lies genuine spiritual inquiry without naming it.
But Oblique, demanding, the opposite of explicit. If you want Christian content labelled clearly, this operates through symbol and implication alone.

A Serious Man2009
Both grapple with ultimate questions and spiritual crisis, but A Serious Man refuses easy answers, playing faith and doubt as irresolvable and permanent.
The Coen Brothers' agonised examination of faith, suffering and meaninglessness wrapped in a darkly comic Jewish family tragedy. Visually gorgeous, theologically honest, and genuinely funny while remaining spiritually urgent.
But Offers no comfort or resolution. The film argues God's intentions are impenetrable and suffering has no redemptive logic—opposite to most faith-based content.

People
Cast

Raj BondJoseph
Elizabeth TabishMary Magdalene
Phil WickhamSelf
Joel SmallboneSelf
Luke SmallboneSelf
Brandon LakeSelf- Logan CainSelf
Directing
- Ben SmallboneDirector
- Dallas JenkinsDirector
- Jacob SchwarzDirector
- Jordan RobySecond Second Assistant Director
Production
- Willie MellinaLocation Manager