A ‘friendship recession’?

This February the phenomenon that is the streaming show The Chosen has hit cinemas again, with the first two episodes of Series Four showing us more of Jesus and His disciples.

Director Dallas Jenkins hopes that watching will be a shared experience for many of us, encouraging people to ‘get together during a time that’s very divisive’. This new series is a step up in many ways – more focused, more confident storytelling, and more compelling with its mix of light and dark, sorrow and humour, faith and frustration.

The Chosen has been lauded for highlighting the roles of women in the life of Jesus, and its lead women are worth watching. But as the disciples continue to grow, learn and live together, the portrayal of friendship, in particular male friendship, is powerful.