Since August 2005, I have written more than 220 theological film reviews for Touchstone. Perhaps surprisingly, I have never reviewed a Jesus movie. Watching Jesus with popcorn is not my jam.

When The Nativity Story dropped in 2005, I reviewed Serenity. When The Son of God was released in 2014, I watched Philomena. Movies about Jesus feel too obvious. They also seem so earnest.

With an Easter weekend looming and a Touchstone deadline due, my partner suggested The Chosen: Last Supper Series 5. The Chosen is a multi-season series. Episodes are available online through Amazon Prime Video or The Chosen app. Selected cinemas also offer new season episodes at special screenings. This review breaks my 21-year cinematic Jesus fast.

The Chosen is crowd-funded. A pilot in 2017 called The Shepherd raised over $11 million. Viewers since then have contributed nearly $100m toward production expenses. My Easter Friday movie ticket contributed to what is now the highest crowd-funded TV series or film project of all time. I still said no thanks to the offer of popcorn.

History is full of Jesus movies. Directors like Cecil B. DeMille and Franco Zeffirelli have created movies like King of Kings (1961), The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964), The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) and The Last Temptation of Christ (1988).

Movies with Christian content have tended to struggle outside the United States. The Chosen director, Dallas Jenkins, told the BBC's Emma Jones in 2024 that The Chosen is not a “glossy, kid-friendly ‘Jesus’ project.” Instead, it is “raw and real.” Unlike Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, raw and real in The Chosen occurs through imaginative backstories.

A multi-season series allows character development, something new in Jesus movies. In The Chosen: Last Supper Series 5, Peter mucks up his preaching of a parable, while two Greek followers of Jesus try to buy a suitable sacrificial offering at the temple. These backstories are cleverly developed to illuminate Jewish life and customs. Hence, The Chosen offers a valuable resource for preachers and worship leaders, cautioning us to mind the gap between our culture and the Jewish world of Jesus.

The Chosen’s character development also helpfully locates Jesus in social networks and human interactions. Itis easy to overlook the social dynamics of Jesus' life. Yet, human interactions are what make all of us fully human. In the words of the Apostles Creed, “born of the virgin Mary” locates Jesus the Christ with human parents, playful cousins and growing friends. Jesus dances at an informal betrothal celebration. Joanna, mentioned in Luke 8:3 as the manager of Herod’s household, finds the disciples a place to stay in Jerusalem. “Ascended to heaven” requires a life here on earth, a carpenter’s son making furniture for his father’s clients and celebrating with his village friends as they said yes to marriage. The Chosen is a Jesus movie rich in humour and humanity, worth watching - with or without popcorn - for insights into the nature of Christian life.

Rev Dr Steve Taylor is the author of "First Expressions" (2019) and writes widely in theology and popular culture, including regularly at www.emergentkiwi.org.nz