Why Amazon Prime’s ‘House of David’ Series May Be Even Better Than ‘The Chosen’
(REVIEW) Amazon is having a good start to the year in the faith-based genre. After landing exclusive streaming rights to the smash-hit faith-based show “The Chosen”, Amazon’s Prime Video is launching its own original Biblical show “House of David.”
This show has as special advisor (Dallas Jenkins of “The Chosen”), but also spearheaded by two other leading voices in the faith-based film industry: Jon Erwin (“I Can Only Imagine”) and Jon Gunn (“The Unbreakable Boy”), as part of Erwin’s new independent studio The Wonder Project. And things are just getting started — with Kingdom Story Company and Wonder Project partnering with Amazon MGM studios to release “Sarah’s Oil,” starring Zachary Levi, this Christmas.
This is the next step in the merging of the traditional faith-based film industry and Hollywood that I predicted last year. Hollywood has long known there’s a big market for faith content. But the faith-based world didn’t know how to make good movies (as Andy Erwin said to me, “We didn’t know what we didn’t know”).
Meanwhile, Hollywood filmmakers didn’t “get” the Biblical material the way their audience did. So they would take stories like “Noah” and “Exodus: God’s and Kings” and focused them about how crazy religious people seem to atheists, rather than what the stories were actually about to the authors or the believers who were fans of them.
But now, a generation of filmmakers who understand their faith, but also know how to actually make movies are finding success. “The Chosen” is one of the biggest examples of this, but so is Erwin’s work on films like “Jesus Revolution.” Naturally, Hollywood has teamed up with both of them on their next big project: A TV show about David that they are no doubt hoping will be the next “The Chosen.”
From my vantage point, it looks like that bet’s paid off. “House of David” is as good as “The Chosen” — and has the potential in so many ways to be even better.
“House of David tells” the story of the ascent of the biblical figure, David (played by Michael Iskander), who eventually becomes the most renowned and celebrated king of Israel. It starts out with the once-mighty King Saul (Ali Suliman) who falls victim to his own pride. And so, at the direction of God, the prophet Samuel (Stephen Lang) anoints an unlikely, outcast teenager as the new king.
The show impressively manages the difficult task of being a sword-and-sandals adventure fantasy that balances the needs of a faith-based and action-adventure audience. The story of David and Israel’s relationship with God is front and center, and the story creates a world that feels grounded, while still existing among giants and magic as relayed in the Hebrew Bible (Christian Old Testament). The action is good while keeping itself PG-13, and the story is exciting while keeping it faithful to the Biblical themes.
The filmmaking quality is on display here, in the writing, the production design and the acting. Erwin and his team have created a world that’s almost fantasy, but not quite, with Samuel almost being a Gandalf-like character, and Goliath almost like a Middle Earth monster. This works together surprisingly well, making it feel historic, but also mythic. Many of the performances are really compelling with Suliman as King Saul and Lang as Samuel are the obvious highlights. Ayelet Zurer as Queen Ahinoam commands the screen in every scene.
Easily the best stuff is the parts that focuses on the House of Saul. The Shakespearean tragedy of Saul’s family and kingship collapsing is shockingly well done. Each member of Saul’s family and court is well-developed and likable, while also being deeply flawed. Saul is heroic but prideful. His wife is strong, but ruthless, and Jonathan is moral, but often impotent. And the writers don’t shy away from making you feel every heartbreaking moment of watching a loved one lose his mind.
The benefits of having skilled storytellers who are genuine believers are evident in the show. The themes come straight from scripture and deeply resonate with religious audiences. One prevalent motif is the tendency of people, when they are humble, to credit God for their success. However, once they’ve been granted success, they often credit themselves instead. We see this dynamic play out with Saul, his family, and even the seeds of it in other characters. Watching how all the characters navigate this is deeply relatable and emotional, giving voice to struggles that are particularly unique to religious people. Moreover, because the show is also artistically well-made, this experience becomes genuinely powerful.
Comparisons to “The Chosen” are inevitable. Both are multi-season adaptations of Biblical characters created by faith-based creators, intended for both faith-based and mainstream audiences. Of course, Jenkins is involved in both. However, while both shows are made for a faith-based audience, this biblical adaptation is much more geared toward boys who enjoy adventure stories. While “The Chosen” revolves around long conversations between Jesus and his disciples, often culminating in a healing or a hug, “House of David” is centered around conflict — life-or-death situations, whether in the courtroom or on the battlefield. Additionally, whereas “The Chosen” takes its time building to its payoffs, “House of David” reaches intensity immediately and doesn’t let up.
As someone who grew up a Christian and loved superheroes, I think “House of David” demonstrates how well the blending of faith and hero stories can work. The cultural idea of a hero is deeply ingrained in our society (as evidenced by the annual Marvel movies), as is faith. It’s important to have these ideas interact. “House of David” does this by attributing his ability, destiny and moral obligations to God rather than to inner conscience or raw ability.
Unfortunately, the strongest part of “The Chosen” is also the weakest part of “House of David”: Its main character. David swings between being a bland, annoying protagonist, complaining about his destiny and making foolish decisions that endanger others. Similarly, Mychal, King Saul’s daughter and David’s love interest, often falls into predictable "princess" cliches, lacking depth compared to other characters in the show. Hopefully, as the series progresses, they will become more developed, but it’s disappointing to have the main heroes be the least fleshed out.
At times, the show also feels a bit padded and oddly paced. It will take detours in its storyline that stretch believability and seem to be included just to extend the runtime. For instance, David’s brother takes him to a burned-down city to show him what real war looks like, leading to a rather implausible and pointless battle with the Philistine king. However, for the most part, even when the storylines are stretched, they are still enjoyable.
When “The Chosen” was first released, I was very grateful for a series about my faith that was of genuine quality. But if it happened once, it could be a fluke. If it happens a second time, it might mean that things are truly changing.
“House of David” is streaming now on Prime Video.
Joseph Holmes is an award-nominated filmmaker and culture critic living in New York City. He is co-host of the podcast “The Overthinkers” and its companion website theoverthinkersjournal.world, where he discusses art, culture and faith with his fellow overthinkers. His other work and contact info can be found at his website josephholmesstudios.com.