For decades, Lifetime has been the go-to destination for stories about suburban women in emotional freefall. Now the network — best known for mid-budget thrillers with titles like Deadly Mom Retreat and Cheerleader Abduction Nightmare — is launching a new Saturday night slate of Christian movies.
According to Lifetime, these films will focus on “women facing unfathomable circumstances who use their faith to lead them through.” Which, yes, sounds exactly like every Lifetime movie that’s ever aired.
The first film up is Faith in the Flames: The Nichole Jolly Story, premiering July 19 and starring This Is Us’ Chrissy Metz as a nurse who survived the 2018 Paradise wildfire. It’s based on a true story, but let’s not pretend this won’t get the full Lifetime treatment: soft filters, dramatic music, slow-motion scenes of spiritual awakening.
The rest of the lineup includes Alexa PenaVega, Kat Graham and Paula Patton — all women who’ve lived in that uncanny valley between prestige TV and Pure Flix. Which is probably the exact aesthetic Lifetime is going for here: inspirational, vaguely familiar and just earnest enough to make you wonder if someone’s about to have a spiritual breakthrough or get kidnapped.
With this new slate, Lifetime becomes the latest network to tap into the booming Christian entertainment market. Faith is trending these days, and Lifetime knows a loyal audience when it sees one.
