Testament (2025) s1e01

Image source: KOVA Releasing

Over the years there have been several attempts to adapt the Book of Acts; a number of modernised biblical narratives; and a handful of British biblical films, but never (as far as I'm aware) an attempt to combine all three.

Into that void steps Testament, a new streaming series from Angel Studios, directed by Paul Syrstad, who directed 2022’s The Parables Retold. The series relocates the story of the birth of the early church in what is almost, but not quite, the modern day. The events of this first episode take place in a city called Salem, which on the one hand evokes Jerusalem, but also draws on the atmosphere of the London locations where it was shot, and the accents of its predominantly British cast.

Yet it’s also not quite the modern world as we know it. For one thing, the Roman Empire never fell and has come to be known as the Imperium. For another, Jesus is not a figure from the ancient past, but from just weeks before the story is set. There are other details that are different in this new world as well: the temple never fell, and remains an important seat of power within Salem, ever under the watchful eye of the Imperium; and the digital revolution is yet to take place — there are no smart phones, messaging and internet surveillance.

The resulting atmosphere feels a little like what might have emerged if Mike Leigh had directed His Dark Materials. Its sense of otherness and that gateway alternative possibilities opening up in the midst of inner-city council flats. Syrstad has spoken of how the show’s Brutalist architecture “doubles down on the Imperium regime and the oppression that was being felt”.¹ It’s a world not of tunics and sandals, but of grimy blocks of flats and people living on the edge.

Among those living on the edge is Stephen who becomes homeless after a disagreement with his mother early on in this opening episode. By introducing Stephen earlier in the story than he appears in The Acts of the Apostles, the show uses him as one of the audience’s ‘ways-in’ to the story. We very much see the unfolding events from his perspective, as an outsider being drawn into a nascent movement. He senses something has changed, he experiences it even, and yet he’s still trying to explain it and grasp some sense of what’s happening.

This is quite a bold creative decision, because it leaves the audience (initially at least) on the outside too. We’ve not experienced what Stephen has, so it leaves us in a more curious, more dispassionate place. And it follows on the heels of a number of other significant choices, most notably to leave Jesus himself not only off camera, but entirely absent (physically, at least). Moreover the focus is not so much on his disciples, at least in this initial episode. They are strangers to Stephen, his curiosity combines with a certain wariness on his part, and ours too. For the audience, our distance from the crucial events that underpin the story’s is only increased by the camera cutting away just as Peter’s Pentecost sermon begins. Stephen hears it and is drawn in, but we are going to be made to wait to find out what has happened.

Stephen is not the only character who’s introduced earlier in Testament than in Acts as a way of bringing the audience into the midst of some of the story’s key players. We’re also introduced to Saul and his mentor Gamaliel amid the inner workings of the temple elite. Saul has a passionate heart and a steely look in his eye that seems so innate that it will be fascinating to see how this develops as the series goes on. Gamaliel’s affable, laid-back persona seems critical here too. Each member of the temple authorities has a different approach and Gamaliel’s more conciliatory nature adds some crucial depth to what might otherwise revert to a rather one dimensional portrayal of the apostles’ opponents.

So the scene is set for what looks like it will be an interesting series. Syrstad and his co-writers Faith Syrstad and Kenneth Omole have managed to fashion a world that feels real and create a scenario that has avoided some of the potential pitfalls of their chosen source material. Moreover the show feels like it’s more interested in exploring the text than serving up pat answers. This is not a sequel to The Chosen, but translated into the modern era. It has its own artistic vision and deserves to be treated on its own terms.

Testament will be available on the Angel website and app from 8th June.

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1. Interview with me, a copy of which will be released to my YouTube channel shortly.

The trailer for Acts series Testament

About 15 months ago I met the producer for a series that was about to start filming a modern-day take on the book Acts of the Apostles for Angel studios (who had yet to split from The Chosen). It sounded like an interesting project and while I haven't posted about it here before, I've been keeping tabs on it. As with all these things these days there is A LOT of material produced during production to help raise the costs of making these things.

Anyway, I'm pleased to see the official trailer has finally been released, which you can see below.

Naturally, this expands some of the earlier footage we've seen. Overall the footage looks good, although I do wince a bit at the portrayal of the leaders. I'm not sure whether that's rational or just because recently I've been looking a lot at the portrayal of the authorities in 'historical' Jesus films. I'll reserve judgement on that until I see the series itself. 

The production values do look quite high, though it looks like it will have quite a grungy feel. It seems that it will be following the text of Acts fairly closely. I understand it's being released in time for Pentecost, so expect the odd post or two about this one soon.

Incidentally, I've grouped together here a bunch of posts I've made about different adaptations of Acts. There are few series of these for which I've covered every episode including The Living Bible (1957), Rossellini's Atti degli apostoli (1969), Anno Domini (1985) and AD: The Bible Continues (2015) although all of these are set in the past, rather than being a modernised take on the story.

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P.S. My friend Peter T. Chattaway has written some more extensive thoughts on the trailer at his Substack.