Missing the mark on Moses

At the end of March, Netflix released a three-part docuseries called Testament: the story of Moses. A mix of re-enactment and commentary from Jewish rabbis, Bible scholars, Muslims and Christian pastors, it racked up 13.5 million views in the first five days of its release.

I was curious to see it. It had become the second most-watched show on Netflix – and the fifth most-watched here in the UK. However, its acclaim was short-lived, and reception mixed. The audience score on the popular film reviewing platform Rotten Tomatoes sits at just 33%. 

I can see why. The messaging is vague – the commentators come from a variety of backgrounds, draw on a number of sources (the Qur’an, the Bible, the Midrash) and the re-enactment holding all these worldviews together has a very secular 2024 flavour.