The Transposition of Scripture in Contemporary Cinema: Ruth & Boaz on Netflix

The new Netflix film Ruth & Boaz positions itself within the long and varied tradition of cinematic biblical exegesis, a twofold process of interpretation involving both the filmmaker’s production choices and the audience’s active reception. Rather than a historical reenactment, the work is a deliberate transposition—a strategy in modern biblical adaptation that closes the imaginative and emotional distance for contemporary audiences by shifting ancient narratives into a familiar cultural milieu. The film establishes a stark dichotomy between two such milieus: the high-stakes, commercially driven hip-hop scene of Atlanta and the pastoral quietude of rural Tennessee. These settings become the primary arenas for a modern morality play exploring themes of loyalty, grief, and redemption. The project’s conceptual origins are notable, stemming not from a conventional studio pitch but directly from producer DeVon Franklin’s theological engagement with the source material. The film was conceived while Franklin, who is also a preacher, was developing a sermon series on the Book of Ruth. In this process, he identified a significant lacuna in the cultural landscape: the absence of a modern adaptation of this particular story centered on characters of color. This pastoral insight converged with his professional search for an inaugural project for his faith-based film partnership with producer Tyler Perry, providing Ruth & Boaz with a distinct authorial intentionality rooted in ministry and cultural messaging.

A Narrative of Modern Redemption

The screenplay, penned by Michael Elliot and Cory Tynan, meticulously re-engineers the biblical archetypes for a modern audience. The protagonist, Ruth Moably, portrayed by Serayah McNeill, is re-envisioned as a rising hip-hop artist on the verge of signing a major record deal. A personal tragedy—the death of her boyfriend—serves as the catalyst for her to abandon this burgeoning career and the glamorous life it represents. Fulfilling the scriptural model of unwavering loyalty, she relocates to a small town in Tennessee to care for Naomi, her late boyfriend’s grieving mother, played by Phylicia Rashad. This new, unfamiliar environment is where she encounters the film’s kinsman-redeemer figure, Boaz, a vineyard owner portrayed by Tyler Lepley. The narrative arc follows their developing romance as Ruth confronts the unresolved trauma of her past and deepens her spiritual convictions. The choice to set Boaz’s domain in a vineyard, as opposed to the barley fields of the original text, is a potent and deliberate symbolic substitution. In the Judeo-Christian lexicon, the vineyard is a recurring and powerful symbol of divine blessing, fruitful labor, and God’s chosen people. This setting is placed in direct opposition to the Atlanta music scene Ruth leaves behind, a world depicted as transactional and ultimately unfulfilling. Her physical journey from the stage to the vineyard thus functions as a clear visual metaphor for her spiritual and emotional transition from a life of worldly ambition to one of healing, growth, and divine provision. The selection of the screenwriters further underscores the production’s strategic depth. Michael Elliot is the writer behind culturally significant films such as Brown Sugar and Carmen: A Hip Hopera, while Cory Tynan wrote Play’d: A Hip Hop Story. Their collective filmography demonstrates a specific and proven expertise in narratives that authentically fuse Black romance with the intricacies of music culture, ensuring the film’s foundational premise is grounded in credible world-building.

Performance and Characterology

The film’s thematic weight is carried by its principal cast. Serayah McNeill, whose work in Empire familiarized her with narratives of the music industry, portrays Ruth’s journey through grief, displacement, and the eventual rediscovery of purpose. Tyler Lepley, known for roles in P-Valley and Harlem, embodies Boaz not as a mythological savior but as a grounded, generous man whose love is presented as unconditional and non-transactional. Their on-screen chemistry is central to the film’s romantic core, a dynamic made more complex by its unusual off-screen origins. The two actors were cast while simultaneously co-starring as brother and sister in a horror film titled Goons. This pre-existing professional rapport, forged in a starkly different generic context, had to be transmuted into a romantic, faith-based connection, adding a unique intertextual layer to their performance. The veteran actress Phylicia Rashad, as the matriarch Naomi, serves as the story’s emotional anchor, lending significant dramatic gravitas to the proceedings. Further enhancing the film’s verisimilitude is the casting of several music industry luminaries in supporting roles, including Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, Jermaine Dupri, the Christian rapper Lecrae, and Yung Joc. Their presence lends an immediate authenticity to the scenes set within the Atlanta music world, grounding the narrative’s initial conflict in a recognizable reality.

The Cinematic and Sonic Landscape

The film’s aesthetic is shaped by a creative team whose prior work signals a commitment to dramatic substance. The direction is by Alanna Brown, whose feature debut, Trees of Peace, was a claustrophobic and harrowing survival drama about four women hiding during the Rwandan genocide. Her established facility with intense, character-driven storytelling and the forging of human bonds under extreme duress informs the emotional core of Ruth & Boaz, elevating it beyond the conventions of a lightweight romance. By engaging a director whose proven strength lies in depicting resilience in the crucible of suffering, the producers underscore an intent to excavate the deep psychological and emotional underpinnings of the biblical narrative. Brown’s directorial style often zooms into intimate settings to explore massive, horrifying situations, propelling a deeper understanding of humanity and handling mature subject matter with delicacy rather than shock value. This directorial vision is rendered through the visual language crafted by cinematographer Michael Negrin. His work establishes a clear thematic contrast between the film’s two primary settings, employing distinct lighting schemes, color palettes, and compositional strategies to differentiate the frenetic energy of Atlanta from the tranquil, restorative atmosphere of rural Tennessee. The sonic identity of the film is equally crucial. The score is composed by Kurt Farquhar, a veteran composer with a deep and influential history in scoring Black television series, having worked on shows from Moesha to Black Lightning. His approach is notably versatile; rather than adhering to a single style, he allows the story and characters to guide his musical hand, viewing himself as an instrument for the directors and producers. This adaptability, combined with a personal history that he credits with fostering deep empathy, makes his compositions particularly effective in dramatic contexts. The diegetic music is also a key narrative device. An original song titled “Faithful,” composed by Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds and performed by Serayah, functions as a direct expression of the protagonist’s internal state, articulating her character arc and the film’s central thematic progression from despair to hope.

A Cultural Intervention

As a cultural product, Ruth & Boaz represents a significant and strategic initiative. It is the inaugural project from the high-profile partnership between Tyler Perry and DeVon Franklin, a collaboration explicitly designed to produce a slate of faith-based films for Netflix’s global platform. The film’s stated mission is to “spread some good” and “uplift the human spirit,” positioning it as an intentional counter-narrative to what the producers describe as an increasingly cold and polarizing world. This venture is a strategic convergence of three powerful entities: Tyler Perry’s formidable production empire and established audience, DeVon Franklin’s brand of mainstream inspirational media, and Netflix’s unparalleled global distribution and data-driven market access.

The film premiered on Netflix on September 26.