“Daniel and the Fiery Furnace” won’t go down as one of my favorite biblical adaptations, but there are a lot of elements to appreciate that may make it worth a trip to your local theater.
Let me address the obvious question: No, the title isn’t a confused combination of the beloved Bible stories of “Daniel and the Lion’s Den” and “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and the Fiery Furnace.” It intentionally puts Daniel at its center, imagining and expanding his role in the famous furnace plot at its climax. And while Daniel does have an encounter with a lion, it’s very much not the one recorded in Scripture.
Critical question
That’s where all biblical adaptations live or die: How much expansion or imagination gets used to pad out the story?
This is a question that must be asked with every adaptation, whether it’s Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments” or the latest episode of “The Chosen.” I prefer very little, and lean toward the safety of Old Testament adaptations so as to avoid putting words in Jesus’s mouth. But to fill out a feature-length run time with just the first three chapters of the Book of Daniel, details must be reworked or added. I was very caught off guard by that encounter with a lion. It doesn’t change the point of the biblical account of Daniel, and I know it’s a nod to the lion’s den scene that could not fit into the structure of the movie’s script, but it was jarring nonetheless. If you accept it and move on, you’ll enjoy the movie much more.
Mena Massoud plays Daniel with a sincerity that shines through. (Viewers may recognize him as the lead of the 2019 live-action remake of Disney’s Aladdin). Sujay Midda, Adda Lahaouri and Zaki Ali are Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego respectively.
‘Chaotic craziness’
Those three are in the background leading up to the climax, but this is Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar’s (Elijah Alexander) movie. Their back and forth through court politics and intrigue is fun to watch. Alexander finds a surprising level of chaotic craziness as Babylon’s leader, but that’s fitting for the role.
What this movie does exceptionally well is remind viewers that Christ is the ultimate deliverance, far beyond any rescue from political exile. There is zero doubt the fourth man in the furnace with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is Jesus the Son of God, the Messiah. Further, the entire movie begins and ends with a framing device of a journey to Bethlehem, cementing the idea that the Old and New Testaments are of a whole. Their stories are divinely and inseparably intertwined.
And, like most biblical adaptations, it also makes you want to open your Bible and read the actual scriptural account of Daniel. That’s a win.
Directors/writers/producers (and brothers) Daniel and Matthew Kooman do a decent job maximizing their $2 million budget. They use a very muddy color palate that was a little dull for me, but I suppose it’s appropriate given the setting.
I wasn’t impressed with the special effects (Nebuchadnezzar’s dream sequence, the fiery furnace itself), but it’s possible my view from the front row didn’t offer the best perspective. Christian music superstar Michael W. Smith also serves as executive producer.
Daniel and the Fiery Furnace is rated PG-13 for violence (it opens with the seize of Jerusalem) and alcohol, but there is nothing objectionable for younger viewers.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This review was written by Brian Koonce and originally published by the Pathway.
