Messiah streams on Netflix, January 1st, opening up the New Year of 2020. The show may come into some controversy, as do most things involving religion, but Messiah looks to be an interesting and engaging series no matter your beliefs.
‘Messiah’ Summary
In a summary on IMDB, “When a CIA officer investigates a man attracting international attention and followers through acts of public disruption, she embarks on a global, high-stakes mission to uncover whether he is a divine entity or a deceptive con artist.”
Not only does Messiah feature the obvious religious motifs, but it looks like a high stakes, action thriller piece with exciting set pieces, locations from across the planet and CIA agents hot on his tail. CIA officer Eva Gellar (Michelle Monaghan) chases around the “Messiah” who claims to be the son of God. In the trailer, we even build-up to the moment of a famous “walking on water” scene in Washington D.C. in front of the Washington Monument, but it cuts away just before.
Who is Dajjal?
According to many speculations, fans and even the trailer revealing to us there is something odd about this man, describing him as “Will he convert you, or con you?”, many believe him to be Dajjal. Dajjal (“the false messiah”, or “the deceiver”) Â is an evil figure in Islamic eschatology. He is to appear, pretending to be al-Masih (i.e. the Messiah), before Yawm al-Qiyamah (the Day of Resurrection) for forty days.
He will be able to traverse across the world almost instantly. Following him are demons, that are able to manipulate matter around him, to trick people into believing he has supreme powers when they are actually all illusions. (Think of Mysterio from Spider-Man: Far From Home, using his technology to create huge realistic disasters and using his fake powers to save people from them.)
This is where the story (and the series, presumably) get really intense. The real true genuine Jesus will descend down, and only he will be able to defeat and kill the Antichrist.
‘Messiah’ Cast
Whether you’re a believer or not, this series looks to be a powerful one and something that everyone should be able to watch. Mehdi Dehbi, whose name literally means “guided one”, (London Has Fallen, Tyrant) is portraying Al-Masih, and though he may not be a physical embodiment of the man from the story, even in the short trailer we get a strange feeling from him. From his sly smirks and his soft-spoken manner he looks to be giving this performance 100%.
Messiah also stars Michelle Monaghan (who I mentioned earlier), Jane Adams (Twin Peaks, Sneaky Pete), Tomer Sisley (We’re The Millers, Balthazar), and many newcomers to the acting world. Long down the list of names though you run into Emily Kinney (of The Walking Dead fame)!
Start your New Year’s off right with Messiah, January 1st on Netflix.
