MANIFEST Mangles Worldviews in Family-Oriented Drama
By Movieguide® Staff
MANIFEST originally debuted on network television in 2018 with Melissa Roxburgh and Joshua Dallas as Michaela and Ben Stone, a sister and brother at the center of a deeply perplexing plane disappearance. Though NBC cancelled the series earlier this year, Netflix promised to revive MANIFEST for one final season after the first three continued to trend on the streaming giant.
Jeff Rake wrote the series that stars I CAN ONLY IMAGINE’s Roxburgh and ONCE UPON A TIME’s Dallas, in addition to J.R. Ramirez, Daryl Edwards, Luna Blaise, Parveen Kaur, Athena Karkanis, and Jack Messina.
In MANIFEST, Ben and Michaela Stone take a flight back from Jamaica along with Ben’s son, Cal. The plane experiences excessive turbulence, but recovers. When the plane lands, they are informed that the plane has actually been missing for five and a half years. The passengers are confused, but ultimately released to go home to reunite with their families.
Not all the reunions are happy ones, as many of the passengers’ loved ones died or moved on. Matters are complicated even further when the passengers begin to receive “callings.” These callings are visions or voices instructing the passengers to do certain tasks, most of which are for the better of humanity, such as rescuing kidnapped children or helping other tortured passengers. Ben’s wife, Grace, is particularly puzzled by the callings and feels like her husband and son are going crazy. However, when she sees many of the callings come to pass, and ultimately experiences them for herself, she begins to understand their drive to help the other passengers struggling to solve the callings.
Unfortunately, though, much of society views the passengers as a menace and otherworldly. As the series unfolds, the drama between passengers and their fellow citizens escalates, with passengers ultimately facing strong persecution leading to imprisonment and even death.
The Stone family is the rock of the show, with Ben making every decision based on his love for his children and wife. Though Grace had moved on with another man after the plane disappeared and her husband was presumed dead, she ultimately chooses to keep her family intact. She also would do anything for her children and places their safety above her own.
MANIFEST also begins with a strong biblical worldview. A portion of Romans 8:28 – “God works all things together for good” – was the life verse for Ben and Michaela’s mother, and they lean on the scripture as they sort out their callings. Ben initially insists that things must be based in science and logic, but eventually comes around to having a deeper faith that’s embedded in the scripture. Furthermore, the Stones begin to recognize miracles as signatures of the Divine. Michaela especially begins to rely on faith and believes that the callings are from God. One plot line in Season 3 even explores Noah’s ark and verifies it as a Divine experience.
However, for as much biblical content is in the show, there’s also many instances that promote anti-Christian and anti-biblical worldviews. One of the passengers starts a cult where the group’s symbol is an upside down plane, which resembles a broken cross. Another episode contains a buddhist ceremony meant to give peace to Ben and Grace’s daughter Olive as she mourns the death of someone she loves. While these instances could be seen as one-offs, MANIFEST later incorporates scripture as a tool of manipulation. The passenger who started the cult is revealed to be the son of a preacher, and believes the passengers are agents of the apocalypse, and the callings are “signs and wonders” meant to signify the end of times. Another passenger who was brutally abused by her parents commits kidnapping and murder because she believes a child is her guardian angel.
There is also some sexual content between a husband and wife, as well as a few sexual scenes between a woman and a man who is married to someone else, as well as a woman and her boyfriend. There are a few lesbian relationships as well. There’s some brief violence with gunshots during ambushes, as well as a knife attack. In some episodes, passengers are tortured, causing another passenger to bleed. There is some drug use that’s condemned, and brief scenes of drinking.
MANIFEST is intricately written, leaving viewers wanting more episodes to solve the mystery of who is behind the callings. The acting is also superb, with characters leaning into their callings and developing character growth through each season. MANIFEST is very intriguing, and viewers have high hopes that the final season will answer many of the questions posed throughout the first few seasons.
However, despite the strong family nature of the show and significant biblical content, the conflicting worldviews merits extreme caution for older teenagers and adults.
Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
- Content: +1Share:
- Content: +1