On New Year’s Day, you’ll have a brand new Netflix series to binge watch.
The show, “Messiah,” is a geopolitical thriller with clear Christian overtones. Starring “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” star Michelle Monaghan as skeptical CIA agent Eva Geller, the series chronicles what it might look like if Jesus’ second coming happened in today’s political and cultural climate.
“Messiah” is created by film writer Michael Petroni (“The Book Thief”), directed by James McTeigue (“V for Vendetta”) and executive produced by Mark Burnett and Roma Downey (“Son of God”) and Andrew Deane (“The Double”).
What happens in the show?
Geller, played by Monaghan, discovers information about this mysterious messianic man, portrayed by Mehdi Dehbi. His character is a man from the Middle East who claims to have been sent by God.
When he begins committing actions that cause public disruption, Geller starts investigating where he might have come from. But as she continues her search, her mystery man quickly accumulates followers who are convinced he is performing miracles. As time runs out, the CIA agent is determined to figure out whether he is a divine figure or a talented con man unraveling the world order.
In the trailer, viewers hear from an Israeli intelligence officer, a Texas pastor, and a Palestinian refugee. All the while, the mysterious messianic figure travels from Israel and Syria to Texas — all without a trace.
“He’s come out of nowhere and we don’t know who he is,” Geller says at one point. “He’s leading desperate people.”
When asked what he’s doing, Dehbi’s character says he’s “delivering a message … from my father.” At another point in the trailer, when he’s sitting in handcuffs in an interrogation room, he tells Geller he is on earth to do “God’s work.”
This Netflix series is the latest project for Christian filmmakers Burnett and Downey, the husband and wife duo behind the History Channel miniseries “The Bible,” the Lifetime movie “Women of the Bible,” the NBC series “A.D. The Bible Continues,” and the CBS show “The Dovekeepers.” In addition, Burnett is well-known for his reality TV hits “Survivor,” “Shark Tank,” and “The Apprentice.”
“Messiah” will begin streaming Jan. 1, 2020.