Light of the World (film)

Light of the World is a 2025 American animated Christian drama film directed by Tom Bancroft and John J. Schafer. The film is about Jesus' life told through John the Apostle's eyes.

The film premiered at the THSC State Convention on June 6, 2025, and was released in the United States on September 5.

A young John and his older brother James hear a story from their mother of God's plan to bring a Messiah into the world to free his people from darkness, but their father Zebedee does not believe. The family sees the father of their neighbors Peter and Andrew get taken away by the Romans. Zebedee tells his sons to obey the Romans and pay their taxes. John is seen as too young to fish, but is sent off to sell fish and bring the money back to Matthew, the tax collector. While at the market, John meets a carpenter who tells him to take a way back home that gets John in trouble with the Romans. When John returns to his family, he has only a single coin, and Matthew demands the family pay double in three days. John decides to get Andrew to help his family catch fish. Andrew is off seeing if the Baptizer is the Messiah. John meets the Baptizer, who tells him that Jesus is the Messiah. Andrew and John meet Jesus and his mother Mary at a wedding where Jesus turns water into wine. Seeing John's intrigued expression, Mary confirms that she always knew her son was the Messiah and tells him about the Nativity. The next morning, John and Andrew bring Jesus to help Zebedee catch a miraculous amount of fish, thus enabling them to pay their taxes.

John, James, Peter and Andrew decide to follow Jesus, along with other men, including Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot. Mary Magdalene, a possessed woman, is healed by Jesus and joins them. When word of Jesus' healings spreads, a paralytic man is lowered into a room through the ceiling for Jesus to heal. Then aRoman centurion orders John to tell him where is Jesus. Once in front of Jesus, he asks him to heal his servant, which Jesus does. His disciples wonder why he helped a Roman centurion, as they believed he would fight the Romans, but he tells them to love their enemies through the parable of the Good Samaritan. John decides to be kind to Matthew, who joins Jesus as a disciple.

Jesus performs other miracles, such as the feeding of the 5,000. The Pharisees, including Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, plot with high priest Caiaphas to get rid of Jesus. John the Baptizer is kidnapped and killed. But Nicodemus, after spending a night talking with Jesus, changes his mind about him and tells Caiaphas that he will not help him to have him arrested, which enrages Caiaphas. Jesus, deeply affected by John the Baptizer's death, remembers the day he baptized him in the Jordan River.

The Temple Soldiers come after Jesus to arrest him, while the disciples flee by boat. Jesus walks out on the water and invites Peter to walk out with him. But Peter gets scared and begins to sink. Jesus saves him and all the disciples recognize that he is the Son of God. The disciples prepare to triumphantly enter Jerusalem, but Jesus is overcome with burden and prays for his disciples.

They enter Jerusalem with Jesus riding a donkey as crowds cheer, and Joseph of Arimathea is healed of blindness and confesses Jesus as his Messiah. The disciples have their last supper with Jesus, who tells them that one of them will betray him, before telling Judas to do quickly what he's going to do. Then he tells his disciples that they will abandon him and predicts to Peter that he will deny him three times this very night.

Jesus and the disciples go to the Garden of Gethsemane. On the way, John notices someone dealing with the priests, without recognizing Judas. In the Garden, Jesus asks his disciples to pray before to move further. John, seeing that Jesus was worried, follows him and begs him to tell him whether he's going to rid them of the Romans or not. Jesus replies that he isn't, and, seeing John's distress, explains to him that, since darkness entered the human's heart with the original sin, the only way to free men from darkness is that someone completely free of darkness to die in their place, in what he calls a "perfect sacrifice". John understands that this person is Jesus and is overwhelmed. Jesus comforts him, explaining that his death is not the end, but the beginning.

Left alone, Jesus begins to pray with agony, begin his Father to take away this cup of suffering, but finally agrees to carry out his mission to the end. Judas arrives in the garden, leading the Temple guards, and Jesus is arrested. John and Peter follow him in the courtyard of the High Priest's palace. While John observes the trial of Jesus, Peter denies Jesus three times, just as he had predicted. Caiaphas questions Jesus about his identity, asking him if he is indeed the Christ, the Son of God. When Jesus answers that he is, everyone accuses him of blasphemy, demanding his death sentence. At this moment, the rooster crows and Peter, realizing his sin, bursts into tears and runs away.

Jesus is brought before the roman governor Pontius Pilate, where he is flogged and crowned with thorns, before being presented to the people. The Pharisees stir the crowd against Jesus, and the crowd has Barabbas freed. Horrified, John intervenes, claiming that Jesus is the Messiah, and begging him to declare himself king. But Jesus remains silent and is condamned to be crucified. The Roman centurion whose servant had been healed by Jesus forcibly takes John aside and orders him to go home. But John stays and witnesses Jesus' carrying his cross. Mary and Mary Magdalene are there too, and John joins them. Jesus is led up the hill of Golgotha and crucified. He promises Paradise to the penitent thief before he dies. The sky darkens and the temple falls into ruins. John bursts into tears, and he and Mary weep together. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus bury Jesus.

John and James go home, distraught. Three days later, Mary Magdalene discovers Jesus' tomb empty. Resurrected Jesus appears as the disciples are fishing and they have another miraculous catch of fish. Recognizing Jesus, they rush to the shore. John, overjoyed, runs into Jesus' arms and hugs him. Peter, remorseful, asks Jesus for forgiveness for having denied him. Jesus says goodbye to his disciples, promising that he will always be with them, and ascends to Heaven. Zebedee, inspired by his son's faith, decides to follow Jesus, and he and John pray together.

• Ian Hanlin as Jesus
• Benjamin Jacobson as John
• Vincent Tong as Andrew
• Michael Benyaer as Nicodemus
• David Kaye as Judas Iscariot
• Ceara Morgana as Mary Magdalene (Mags)
• Peter New as Pharisee
• Richard Newman as Fish Monger
• Rebekah Schafer as Mother Mary
• Sam Darkoh as Peter
  • Elias Leacock as young Peter
• Colin Murdock as Lucius
• Jesse Inocalla as The Baptizer
• Erin Mathews as Salome
• David Pettitt as Zebedee
• Bill Newton as Simon
• Mark Oliver as Pontius Pilate
• Adam Nurada as Caiaphas
• Dylan Leonard as James
  • Joshua Black as young James
• Adam Kozlick as Matthew

Epipheo, a Cincinnati studio which launched its film division in 2022, was tapped to help develop the film's "children's storybook come to life" aesthetic. Production designer Luke Lehenbauer points out that the creators wanted a "hand of the artist feel", in part achieved through the application of real painting textures to the digitally painted backgrounds. The animation was provided by Irish animation studio, Lighthouse Studios.^[4][5] The production budget for the film was $20 million.^[6]

Light of the World had its world premiere at the THSC State Convention on June 6, 2025.^[7] It then premiered at the Bible Museum at Washington, D.C., on August 22,^[8] and was released in the United States and Canada on September 5.^[9] The film was released a day early in Australia, New Zealand,^[10] Fiji, Papua New Guinea, and Samoa.^[11] International releases later followed, like Puerto Rico on September 11, Bolivia on September 18, December 10 in the Philippines, December 11 in Brazil, and March 12, 2026 in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.^[11]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 85% of 13 critics' reviews are positive.^[12] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.^[13]

• Light of the World at IMDb
• Official website