Who is Netflix’s Messiah? return of Jesus or the emergence of Dajjal? Well, it’s just a freaking character written for the screen, who’s talking about God.
When the trailer dropped for Messiah some unnecessary controversy started breathing, and guess what? it actually went in favor of the show. The show is about a mysterious guy who shows up almost out of nowhere. Who is this guy? What is he? A Messiah or a Magician or the world’s best con man? Then there’s a preacher from a small town, a CIA woman searching for the truth and real identity of this guy known as Messiah, a cop from Israel with a past nobody knows and many more sub-stories. I loved the show from the filmmaking point of view, the production value it has is amazing, the cinematography is breathtaking, the performances are astonishing, the direction and writing are smart very smart.
The show is very engaging right from the start. I don’t remember the last time I was so intrigued by a show. The episodic cliffhangers are smartly done, just when an episode ends you have no choice but to chose “watch next”. It keeps you guessing, this guy is the protagonist or the antagonist. At the end of one episode, this Messiah walks on water when thousands are watching it and I was feeling this miracle, totally digging it, getting goosebumps but the very next episode says it was just a magic trick nothing more.
There are so many characters, and surprisingly they get their deserving screen time, their stories are taken seriously as well. A girl with cancer whose mother desperately following this guy hoping for a miracle, or this CIA woman, a guy who works at a coffee shop, the preacher and his family, Avi and his family, Jabril and his friend, a hooker and the Messiah himself. These are all very interesting characters who you want to know more about.
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The performances are absolutely stupefying. Mehdi Dehbi as Messiah is mesmerizing. This is one hell of a performance from this guy. A perfect casting. This guy, when he talks you want you to listen you want to buy his cause, the seductive voice this guy has worked really well for the character and Aviram played by amazing Tomer Sisley is another very interesting character who has these scars on his back and because it’s a beautifully directed show we even get an explanation for these scars later in the show. One of the best-acted shows I’ve seen.
The show ended on a very heartbreaking and cliff-hanging note. It is very much alive for a second season which is great because I want more of it and hope Netflix gives it a green signal. But one thing that was missing was the purpose, the purpose of this guy, what he really wanted was unclear or maybe as he explains at one point that whatever God wants he’s doing and what God wants IS UNCLEAR until it happens. But I wish all these people could find out that all this was not a hoax, this guy was real.
