Prime Video’s new faith-based family drama “It’s Not Like That” follows Pastor Malcolm and his children in Atlanta after his wife’s death, while their family fractures spark divorce, grief, bullying, and complicated new feelings. The eight-episode season premi
The first day of school is supposed to be routine. In Atlanta, for Grace Community Church pastor Malcolm, it becomes anything but: his three kids climb into the car while grief hangs in the air, and Malcolm’s own eyes well up as the day begins.
It’s the kind of opening that makes “It’s Not Like That” feel less like a sermon and more like a household trying to breathe again.. The eight-episode season. set in a real-life rhythm rather than a polished ideal. arrives on Prime Video as a faith-forward family drama from creators Ian Deitchman and Kristin Robinson—built around Christianity. but written for the messy moments that follow major life changes.
Malcolm (Scott Foley) is navigating a new normal after his wife, Jenny (Tyner Rushing), has died.. The children are all carrying their own weight—teen Flora (Leven Miranda). middle schooler Penelope (Cassidy Paul). and Justin (Cary Christopher). a culinary wizkid—but the disruption doesn’t stay contained within the family.. Across the street. Jenny’s best friend. Lori (Erinn Hayes). is also trying to stand back up after losing someone close.
Then the ground shifts again. Shortly after Jenny’s passing, David (J. R. Ramirez), Malcolm’s wife’s friend’s ex or—more precisely—Jenny’s husband, filed for divorce, leaving Lori, her kids, Merritt (Caleb Baumann) and Casey (Liv Lindell), reeling.
What makes the show’s emotional pressure stand out is what happens next: Malcolm and Lori. both grieving. both unsure what comes after loss. find themselves pulled toward each other.. The series leans into tears in their respective cars. caregiving that turns into intimacy. and grief and dating advice that starts to sound like life lessons neither of them expected to need.
Steady and calm, Malcolm often becomes the voice of reason, even when Flora in particular lashes out.. Lori is more emotional and jumbled. but her presence brings Malcolm familiarity—comfort he seems to want more of as the season continues.. As their bond deepens. the show makes the awkward truth unavoidable: romance doesn’t pause just because tragedy is still unfolding.
The complication is immediate and personal—David is still an active parent and a friend to Malcolm, which keeps the line between old ties and new feelings painfully thin.
But “It’s Not Like That” doesn’t confine its drama to adults waiting for the next emotional beat.. Justin gets bullied at school, yet he doesn’t want to burden his father.. Penelope and Casey. though they share history as longtime friends. hit a rupture that grows until it reaches a boiling point.. Merritt is shattered over his parents’ divorce, and his coping mechanisms turn extremely destructive.. And Flora—her grief braided with the pressures of being a preacher’s kid and the responsibilities of an eldest daughter—gets real about what she feels and what she’s expected to handle.
The writing gives the parenting stories their own center of gravity.. Malcolm and Lori guide their kids with patience and level-headedness. but the show doesn’t treat anguish like something to be swept under the rug.. When Flora refuses to attend church, Malcolm doesn’t force her.. She’s allowed to pilot her own relationship with God.. When tension between Penelope and Casey spikes, Lori and Malcolm let the girls sort things out for themselves.
All of it hinges on performances that keep the tone from tipping into melodrama. The will-they-won’t-they pull between Lori and Malcolm works, in large part, because Scott Foley and Erinn Hayes bring chemistry that feels grounded rather than contrived.
The show’s faith element stays visible, but it’s not packaged like propaganda.. “It’s Not Like That” doesn’t focus solely on adults. and it doesn’t shy away from showing how children and teenagers experience grief.. It also keeps its boundaries clear: Christianity functions as a guiding light for the characters, without thrusting beliefs on others.
That matters because the series doesn’t treat the world as conveniently unified.. David is a recovering alcoholic. Merritt and Flora are teens with hormones and emotions. and one of Malcolm’s best friends is an imam—meaning discussions around alcohol. sex. and other religions show up as part of life. not as plot decorations.. In the show’s world, believers and non-believers alike can be thrown off balance by everything life demands of them.
“It’s Not Like That” premieres all eight episodes on May 15 on Prime Video, arriving as a faith-based family drama that tries to do something rarer than it claims: tell the truth about what happens when love, grief, and daily responsibilities collide.
It’s Not Like That Prime Video faith-based drama family grief Atlanta Scott Foley Erinn Hayes parenting Christianity