Angel Studios has been cranking out new content at the speed of light. Well, not really the speed of light, but fast. Their newest release, coming to the Angel App on June 8, is Testament, a reimagining of the Acts of the Apostles for a modern age.
The brainchild of creator and director Paul Syrstad, Testament takes place in an alternate-modern era that looks and feels a little like Divergent, except not quite so dystopian. The Roman Empire—called The Imperium—still rules the land, and The Temple—which has the feel of Congress—houses the ruling Sadducee and Pharisee parties, lorded over by High Minister Caiaphas (Gary Oliver). The Temple guards move and act like a modern SWAT team, including Mara (Yasmin Paige), an ambitious investigator looking to stay on The Temple’s good side.
Releasing the series on Pentecost weekend is no mistake, as that’s where it begins. Stephen (Charlie Beaven) is at home with his mother Esther (Lizzie Hopley), when the house starts to rumble and some weird sound booms from the sky. He goes out to investigate and catches the tail end of the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the followers of Jesus in the “upper apartment.” People gather, wondering what the heck is going on.
Then, booted feet emerge from the apartment building. One can feel the excitement in the air. A group of men and women, including Mary Magdalene (Mogali Masuku), with grins on their countenances, come face-to-face with the curious crowd. The leader of the group smiles like he knows something the crowd does not, and he exclaims, “Let me explain.”
Anyone who has had read the Acts of the Apostles will recognize the scenarios, such as the healing of the lame man, here called Caleb (Steve Furst), by Peter (Tom Simper) and John (Kenneth Omole). What I really appreciate about Testament is that it makes the Scripture come alive and become accessible to a new generation as most of the characters are young and hip. The show creatively proves that the joys and challenges of the early followers of Jesus are not that different from those we still face today.
The series plays like a political thriller. The Temple struggles with the fallout of a public miracle and begins to persecute the people involved. Esther, a faithful Jew, kicks Stephen out of the house for believing in Jesus and getting baptized (in the local pool). Forced to find refuge with the followers of the Way, he begins doing whatever the apostles need. The growing Christian community deals with the increase in numbers in addition to the persecution they’re facing.
Introduced in the first two episodes are also Saul (Eben Figueiredo) and Gamaliel (Stewart Scudamore). Since we know what eventually happens, I look forward to future episodes to see how the characters grow in their faith, experience conversion and martyrdom, and show to the contemporary audience the joy of living faith in the Son of God, crucified and risen from the dead.
Testament streams exclusively on the Angel app beginning on June 8. At first, it will only be available to Guild members but they hope to release it to all in the future.
