In the opening scenes of the new Fox mini-series The Faithful, a pharaoh courses down the river while people on the shore prostrate themselves. All bow down except one woman, her hair veiled with blue cloth. She glares at the pharaoh and is taken into his custody. Watching the scene, I knew the woman was supposed to be from the Old Testament, but I couldn’t for the life of me remember who she was.
The Faithful consists of six episodes, premiering on March 22, 2026, on Fox (and then airing the next day on Hulu), centering on women in the Old Testament: Sarah (Minnie Driver), Hagar Natcha Karam), Rebekah (Alexa Davalos), Leah (Millie Brady), and Rachel (Blue Hunt). The series seeks to bring to life these biblical women’s journeys of faith.
The woman facing down the pharaoh was Sarah (formerly known as Sarai), the wife of the patriarch Abraham. I had forgotten that she did in fact encounter a pharaoh (though perhaps not in this precise way). See Genesis 12:10-16. She told the ruler that Abraham was her brother, rather than her husband, to protect Abraham from harm. In fact, there were a lot of things I had forgotten about Sarah, as she’s not usually the main focus of Genesis Bible studies.
Bringing stories to life of women of faith was the motivation behind the creation of this new series. Reminiscent of The Chosen, the episodes help the viewer more fully engage with real people from the Old Testament and understand their joys, challenges, and sorrows through a new lens.
Indeed, it is easy to empathize with Sarah as she yearns for children of her own, after many years of being infertile. When Abraham is told that he will have descendants as numerous as the stars, the complexity of Sarah’s reaction is understandable -- would it even be possible?
As with any film based on the Bible, though, viewers should remember that it is entertainment, not Scripture study.
Watching ... and heading back to Scripture
The series also brings us tougher scenes of Scripture -- and invites us to grapple with them. When Sarah comes up with the idea for Hagar to conceive a son with Abraham to become the child that God has promised them, it is easy to see why there could be trouble. And there is.
I especially appreciated the depth given to Hagar and her son with Abraham, Ishmael. How do they fit into God’s plan? What must it have been like to conceive and bear a son who was to be another woman’s child?
The Faithful kept me watching from the first moment and also heading back to Scripture to read more.
At the same time, the production made a few creative decisions that gave me pause. Some, like sidestepping the character of Lot entirely, didn’t bother me too much. Others, like Sarah saying at several different times that she would "never bow before a man" was anachronistic enough to take me out of the story.
Yet, on the whole, the series seems to accomplish what it sets out to do – draw audiences into the complex stories of real women who are key parts of the Bible. In the words of the producers, these are stories of “waiting, trust, brokenness, forgiveness, and redemption,” inviting “viewers to see familiar passages with renewed understanding and compassion.”
With the last episode airing on Easter Sunday, the timed release of these stories echoes the Lenten journey that we are all invited to take part in, through sacrifice and hardship, but with hope in God’s promise.
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