An Easter TV series is making waves on Netflix. “Testament – The Story of Moses” is about the destiny of the biblical prophet, described in the language of the present

​”Testament – The Story of Moses” is a docudrama, a very fashionable genre, and it is also addressed to the young audience, regardless of their beliefs. That’s what he liked, that’s what made him angry.

A priest, a rabbi and an imam walk into a bar. The young barmaid puts down her phone and asks “What can I serve you?”. The priest replies, “Hello, my child. We were just discussing the story of Moses, which may be of interest to you. It’s about service, patience, and…” “Let me stop you, Father,” the barmaid interrupts. “Before you launch into your story, perhaps he would like to commission the rabbi?” she asks.

The rabbi turns to the barmaid and says, “Ah, thank you young lady. But my thirst is like the Jews wandering in the desert: insignificant compared to the holy mission of our greatest prophet”. The barmaid looked at the imam. “I take it you agree?” “Absolutely,” he replies. The story of Moses carries great wisdom. She deserves to be heard.”

“So it’s decided,” says the barmaid. He takes his phone, puts on his headphones and ignores the 3 people of faith at the counter.

Dismayed, the priest asks, “Excuse me, but what about our story?”

“Don’t bother, my guys. I have it right here”, the barmaid answers them. She turns to show them the phone screen, on which the Netflix logo fades to a title: “Testament: The Story of Moses.”

The miniseries about Moses, in the top of the most watched Netflix series

This week, the Netflix series entered the list of the most watched series in Romania of the American streaming platform. The reason is obvious: people watch it before Easter. But how successful is this new adaptation of the biblical story immortalized by the 1956 film “The Ten Commandments”, starring Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner, directed by the American filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille?

With the above bench, although not very funny, the specialist site IndieWire begins its review of the Netflix series. Even though he also requires us to imagine, among other things, that an imam would ever enter a bar, the bar is a very good description for “Testament: The Story of Moses.”

Why? As several film critics note, the miniseries attempts to bring the biblical story to a younger audience that might not be interested in watching a film released more than half a century ago, such as “The Ten Commandments “.

Sure, the story of Moses was later adapted into other films and series, but really no other production lived up to DeMille’s feature film and the more recent adaptations were quickly forgotten.

“Testament: The Story of Moses” wants to be a different series about the biblical character

The first thing that jumps out about “Testament” is that, like other historical productions released by Netflix in recent years, it is not an actual series. It’s a “docudrama” that combines narrative scenes with sequences in which different experts are consulted to provide pertinent commentary on the depicted events.

“The three episodes take the story of Moses much deeper than the conventional wisdom generated by history classes and Charlton Heston; in other words, even when you think you know Moses, you have no idea.” This is how the documentary is described on Tudum, a Netflix news site used by the American company to promote its various films, series and other productions.

The article on Tudum also includes some comments made by the producers of the series, Emre Sahin and Kelly McPherson.

“Anyone who saw ‘The Ten Commandments’ as a child knows very well the more epic elements of the story: the burning bush, the plagues, the Passover, the Red Sea and, of course, the Ten Commandments. What really attracted us was the mystery of Moses’ inner life, his struggles regarding his own identity, his own doubts, his humanity”, say the two.

Tudum also quotes one of the experts consulted for the miniseries.

“Everything about his life, his challenges, the things he went through and what he did – there’s not one bit of it that isn’t relevant to us today. Remember when people suffer? Do you take a stand or remain silent? Social justice began with Moses,” states Rabbi Shlomo Einhorn in the very first episode of “Testament: The Story of Moses.”

What film critics say

IndieWire notes that Einhorm isn’t the only series expert to comment on the note, making it clear that Netflix is ​​trying to appeal to a younger audience that grew up in a different cultural climate.

For example, Dr. Carol Meyers, a biblical studies expert at Duke University, suggests that we remember the act of defiance of the Hebrew women who refused to kill their newborn boys on Pharaoh’s orders as “the first act of civil disobedience from history”.

Rabbi Maurice Harris also points out the “extraordinary” risks women took to protect Moses when he was born. In a scene that distances itself from the biblical text, Moses even behaves submissively in front of his wife.

“‘Testament: The Story of Moses’ is more drama than documentary, but the flaws may be too much for religious viewers,” concludes noted film critic Danielle Solzman.

“Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all recognize Moses as a prophet, but they do not interpret Moses’ importance in the same way (…) Netflix overlooks significant differences of opinion by offering a syncretic version of the lawgiver,” he also notes Collin Garbarino of the American Christian magazine World.

The viewers were impressed by the story of Moses

Of course, not all reviews are negative. For example, critic Joel Keller of Decider states that “Testament: The Story of Moses” is “one of the better ‘docudramas’ since we’ve seen this type of hybrid series come into vogue.”

He says that the Netflix miniseries is better than other productions of the genre “mainly because of the good performances of the actors, the coherent story, and the interviews with experts that add to the narrative thread, instead of interrupting it.”

Overall, however, on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, “Testament: The Story of Moses” has an approval rating of 38% from film critics and 48% from general audiences. It should be noted, however, that the number of reviews taken into account is very small.

On IMDb, where everyone can vote freely, the Netflix miniseries about Moses fares a little better, with an average score of 6.2 / 10 out of 3,000 reviews.

Almost a third of those are 1s, though, which not only drags the average down a lot, but strongly suggests that it has indeed upset the sensibilities of some loyal viewers, as some of the critics anticipated it would.