It’s Not Like That Review: Prime Video’s Faith-Based Family Drama Is Refreshingly Raw — And Far From Preachy
- Rajveer Singh
- 8 hours ago
- 4 min read
Prime Video’s new eight-episode series It's Not Like That is a rare anomaly in modern streaming: a faith-based family drama that completely skips the sanitary, over-polished tropes of the genre to sit directly in the messy, agonizing reality of human grief. Executive produced by Jon Erwin’s Wonder Project and Amazon MGM Studios, the series follows the fractured lives of two suburban Georgia families forced to rebuild after tragedy upends their interconnected worlds.
While the baseline setup sounds like a predictable framework for a wholesome, sanitised network soap opera, showrunners Ian Deitchman and Kristin Robinson (Parenthood) deliver an incredibly authentic, emotionally heavy exploration of brokenness. By refusing to offer easy spiritual answers to complex psychological trauma, the show establishes itself as a masterfully acted, grounded look at community healing.
The Verdict: Why It’s Not Like That Transcends the Faith Genre
The primary reason It’s Not Like That succeeds where most traditional Christian media fails is its refusal to weaponize faith as a magical, plot-resolving cure-all. Instead of depicting an idealized religious community, the series centers on the exhausting, unpolished friction of a neighborhood processing profound loss in real-time.
Scott Foley (Felicity, Scandal) delivers a career-best performance as Pastor Malcolm Jeffries, a grieving widower returning to the pulpit of his Georgia church one year after the death of his wife, Jenny. Directly across the driveway sits Lori Soto (Erinn Hayes), Jenny's lifelong best friend, whose husband David (J.R. Ramirez) walked out on their marriage immediately following the tragedy. The resulting narrative is less about a forced romance and more about the delicate, often reckless boundaries of two single parents trying to steady their struggling children.
International Availability Note: It's Not Like That premiered globally on May 15, 2026. The eight-episode first season is streaming now on Prime Video in India and across 240+ international territories, following an initial limited run on the proprietary Wonder Project streaming application.
Full Review Breakdown: The Elements That Make the Drama Raw
To understand why It's Not Like That is earning comparisons to prestige multi-generational dramas like Friday Night Lights, you have to break down how the scripts tackle secular and spiritual anxieties simultaneously:
1. Scott Foley’s Fragmented Patriarch
Foley sheds his usual polished romantic-lead persona to play a man completely suffocated by expectations. As a "Pastor’s Kid" turned head minister, Malcolm is trapped in a public fishbowl where church elders expect unshakeable spiritual strength, while he privately confesses to feeling entirely abandoned by God. His vulnerability prevents the character from becoming a rigid caricature.
2. The Genuinely Defiant Teen Dynamics
The real emotional engine of the series belongs to the younger cast. Instead of acting as background props for adult plotlines, the teenagers drive the show's heaviest themes.
The Core Kids' Performance: Caleb Baumann delivers an exceptionally raw performance as Lori's angry son Merritt, who abruptly quits the wrestling team out of pure spite for his absent father. His intense, stumbling chemistry with Malcolm's oldest daughter Flora (Leven Miranda)—a pastor’s kid actively questioning her faith while battling severe social anxiety—gives the show its most authentic multi-generational weight.
3. The Vision Sequences (The Technical Detail Everyone Missed)
To keep the memory of the late matriarch alive, directors Brad Silberling and Pete Sollett utilize a highly stylized narrative device. Jenny (Tyne Rushing) regularly appears on screen as a physical manifestation or apparition during moments of extreme family isolation.
The Practical Framing Secret: While casual viewers might write this off as a standard supernatural trope, the cinematic layout hides a distinct visual detail. Jenny never interacts with the physical environment or speaks directly to the camera; instead, she is always framed in the extreme background or out-of-focus edge of the frame, serving as a silent, heartbreaking indicator of the massive void she left behind in both households.
Why the Show is Boundary-Pushing for Christian Television
Unlike conservative platforms that actively censor real-world adult behaviors, It’s Not Like That aggressively pushes boundaries. The characters openly grapple with midlife dating app anxieties, severe parent-child screaming matches, behavioral disorders, and the looming temptation of reckless coping mechanisms.
The title itself operates as a brilliant double entendre. As Malcolm and Lori spend late nights in church offices and vehicles leaning on one another for emotional survival, small-town gossip circles begin to whisper. While they insist to their children and their congregation that "it's not like that," the lines between old-school family friendship and raw, secondary survival attachments blur in ways that feel entirely human.
Quick Facts
Series Title: It's Not Like That (Season 1)
Release Date: May 15, 2026
Platform: Prime Video / The Wonder Project
Showrunners: Ian Deitchman, Kristin Robinson
Main Cast: Scott Foley, Erinn Hayes, J.R. Ramirez, Caleb Baumann, Leven Miranda
Episode Count: 8 Episodes (All Available)
Status: Streaming Now
Frequently Asked Questions
Is It's Not Like That based on a true story?
No. The series is an original fictional drama created by showrunners Ian Deitchman and Kristin Robinson. However, the writers drew heavily from real-world pastoral counseling archives and modern sociological data tracking the high burnout rates of single parents in religious communities.
Why did J.R. Ramirez's character leave his family?
David Soto, played by J.R. Ramirez, left his wife Lori immediately after their close friend Jenny died because the tragedy triggered a profound midlife crisis. Realizing life was too short to spend in an unhappy relationship, he opted to leave, though he remains a regular presence in the show as he struggles to maintain a relationship with his angry kids.
What age rating is the Prime Video series?
The series holds a strict TV-14 rating. While the show features zero graphic violence or explicit sexuality, it deals openly with mature themes including the psychological aftermath of death, divorce, teen behavioral disorders, mild profanity, and social anxiety.
Will there be a Season 2 of It's Not Like That?
While Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios have not officially announced a renewal, the production’s partnership with the Kingdom Story Company and its current 100% critic reception indicates a high probability for a second season order later this summer.