Television series

A.D. The Bible Continues

Name: A.D. The Bible Continues
Genre: Drama, Adventure
Released: 2015
Cast: Adam Levy, Chipo Chung, Babou Ceesay, Will Thorp, Emmett J. Scanlan

Period drama

A.D. picks up after the Crucifixion, following the disciples as they navigate Roman persecution and spread Christ's teachings across the Mediterranean. It's ambitious biblical drama with big production values and genuine stakes—faith tested not in quiet prayer but through betrayal, politics, and survival. Made for viewers who want their scripture cinematic and their apostles complicated.

TVMaze rating

3.1

If you liked this

Christmas with The Chosen: The Messengers2021

A deeper, character-driven retelling of the disciples' lives with authentic historical detail and real spiritual inquiry. Matthew, Simon Peter, and Mary Magdalene become vivid people with doubts and contradictions, not icons.

But Moves slowly. Some episodes linger on conversations rather than plot. If you want action and spectacle, this prioritizes interiority instead.

Christmas with The Chosen: The Messengers poster

Risen2016

A Roman soldier investigates the Resurrection, giving you the outsider's perspective on early Christianity. Clever mystery structure, grounded performances, and a genuine theological puzzle underneath the adventure.

But Low budget shows in the production design. Some will find the premise gimmicky—faith as a whodunit rather than a journey.

The Miracle Worker1962

William Gibson's play about Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan—two people trying to forge connection across an impossible gap. Like A.D., it's about breaking through resistance and teaching transformative truth to someone who seems unreachable.

But It's dialogue-heavy and stagey. The miracle itself is internal, not visual. Some find the intensity exhausting rather than moving.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from A.D. The Bible Continues

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

A Prophet2009

Both trace the birth of a movement from a charismatic figure, but this one shows how that movement corrupts the leader and his followers. A mirror held up to institutional Christianity's temptations.

A young man in a French prison becomes a spiritual leader through violence, manipulation, and genuine charisma. It's not Christian, but it's a precise, unflinching study of how faith becomes power, and how a person becomes a prophet among the desperate—the exact inverse of apostolic humility.

But Brutal and morally unsettling. Subtitled. Long and deliberately paced. You do not leave feeling uplifted.

Ben-Hur1959

Epic biblical drama where faith emerges slowly, against the grain of a man's pride and vengeance. The Crucifixion is peripheral but profound. Chariot race aside, it's morally serious and genuinely moving.

But Over three hours. The first act is a revenge thriller, not scripture. Its grandeur can feel dated if you're impatient with old Hollywood spectacle.

Barabbas1961

The man freed instead of Jesus, struggling with grace he doesn't understand. Tense, strange, and theologically provocative—it asks uncomfortable questions about mercy and worthiness.

But Grim and austere. Shot in black-and-white. Anthony Quinn's performance is magnetic but deliberately abrasive. Not comforting.

The Red Tent1969

Dinah, daughter of Jacob, tells her own story from a woman's perspective entirely absent from scripture. Sumptuous and politically alive to how faith looks from the margins.

But Very much a 1960s art film. Some will find it slow, others will think the additions to the biblical text are revisionist rather than illuminating.

The Name of the Rose1986

A mystery set in a medieval monastery where faith, reason, and power collide. Not about the apostles, but about what Christianity became—ideology, control, and the cost of knowledge.

But Dense and cerebral. Long, with multiple languages. You need patience with theology and semiotics, not just drama.

Quo Vadis1951

A Roman officer falls in love and converts to Christianity during Nero's reign. Epic, sincere, and genuinely invested in the lived experience of faith under persecution.

But Extremely long. The romance can feel melodramatic. Hollywood's idea of ancient Rome, not a historian's.

The Last Temptation of Christ1988

Scorsese's Jesus is conflicted, morally ambiguous, wrestling with his calling rather than certain of it. Radically human and theologically provocative—it takes faith seriously by taking doubt seriously.

But Controversial and deliberately blasphemous to many. Some find its Jesus too weak; others its revisionism disrespectful. Three hours, dialogue-heavy, not action-driven.

Silence2016

Like A.D., it's about faith spreading into hostile territory, but this is what happens four centuries later when that faith has become institutional and foreign. Same faith, opposite stakes.

Scorsese's Japanese priests in the 1600s face apostasy, torture, and the possibility that God is not listening. Meditative, agonized, theologically rigorous—faith tested to its absolute breaking point in a culture hostile to it.

But Glacially slow and emotionally punishing. Three hours of people suffering and praying. Almost no action. Not a film that gives you catharsis or comfort.

The Handmaid's Tale2017

A.D. shows Christianity's birth in resistance to Roman power. This shows what Christianity becomes when it becomes power. Different eras, same moral question: who controls the story?

A theocratic regime uses scripture to justify totalitarianism and control. Dystopian, infuriating, and urgent—it asks what happens when people twist the disciples' message into oppression. Visceral and contemporary in a way historical drama cannot be.

But Brutal depictions of sexual violence. Deliberately triggering and bleak. If you watch A.D. for comfort and affirmation, this will feel like a violation.