Its smaller resources mean it's not as visually impressive, but it tells the story well. As Matthew Page observes in 100 Bible Films, it’s also surprisingly feminist for the time (one of the first Bible epics not to include a man’s name in the title).įurther Reading: Most Popular Bible Verses from the Book of EstherĪ lower-budget effort released by Cathedral Films, which produced various movies based on Bible stories, Queen Esther follows the biblical text more closely than big-budget epics like Esther and the King. Esther and the Queen may not capture the story accurately, but it perfectly captures its romance, decadence, and intrigue. However, it’s also a Bible story about elaborate banquets, a king acquiring a crowd of concubines, and backstabbings piled upon backstabbings. The story of Esther is about having faith in God. The adventure and sexual elements are deliberately overdone but fit the subject.

However, Esther is portrayed as a kind, smart woman learning to navigate a world where everything has wheels within wheels.

These additions make the movie definitely PG-13 and more about camp humor and romance than about Esther saving her people. There’s also some overdone sexuality in the movie’s first half, as belly dancers perform at Ahaseuris’ party and Queen Vashti does a daring dance to try and regain his affections. He quickly dispatches the guards, looks at Esther and walks off. When his henchman kills Haman’s mistress by mistake, Haman flogs him yelling, “Idiot! Monster of civility!” Ahasuerus sees Esther for the first when he’s walking shirtless back to his rooms after some combat training and finds rebellious guards trying to kidnap some of the maidens. Haman is portrayed as a womanizer who plans for his mistress to become the next queen. There’s also a lot of intentionally over-the-top melodrama. At one point, he asks Haman about a certain upstart named Alexander he plans to crush. The story emphasizes Ahasuerus as a warrior, more interested in building his empire than in his marriage. More Biblical fiction than Biblical epic, Esther and the King makes more than the usual additions to the story. Readers are encouraged to research the movies for their own conclusions.įurther Reading: Who Was Esther in the Bible? Each entry includes a rating suggestion and where to find each film.Įditor’s Note: These movies’ inclusion in this article does not mean endorses the companies who produce the movies or any dramatic license taken with the material. Here are some of the best Esther movies for kids or adults.

There have been musicals like Queen Esther’s Dilemma and cartoons in various styles. There have been costume dramas like the recent One Night with the King and biblical epics in that genre’s golden period like Esther and the King.

There’s also plenty of dramatic tension in her story-death threats, manipulation, and surprising plot twists.Īll these details make the story of Esther one of the most memorable Bible stories and a ripe subject for adaptation. A woman who showed it was possible to do incredible things for God in difficult circumstances. A woman who saved her people from genocide, which is still remembered today during the holiday of Purim. There aren’t many well-known female Bible characters, but Esther is one of them.

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