A thoughtful, deep film about young men who were dealt tough cards. The way they deal with this and make sense of a world they know so little about is moving and fascinating. A stark reminder of the power abuses that exist today.
... View MoreThis might well be the worst 'documentary' of cult kids I've ever seen. It may as well be some episode of Jack Black's 'Documentary Now!', it's that bad. That said, I'm SGA: a cult kid. This 'film' is absolutely wretched. The 'film-makers' should go back to Brooklyn or wherever they are from and never do this again. The problems: there is, among cult kids, what I have grown to call the Persistence of Belief: that is, the exiting cult kids retain the basic beliefs while experimenting with the outside world; in this case, the extreme Mormon beliefs these kids were raised with are only, and I mean ONLY, magnified expressions of LDS doctrine, and when these kids exit, they exit into only a slightly less virulent version of what they grew up with. Nowhere is it explored if they have changed anything except their desire for broadened sexual opportunities. There is a very telling 'interview' in which a kid describes some vague bad guy as 'That guy who killed those kids', and the alleged film-makers interject, 'Hitler'? and the kid politely agrees with them: in fact the person he is referring to is Bill Clinton. The Waco Branch Davidian Compound crime sent shock waves throughout splinter groups in the USA and THAT is what that kid was referring to, and these morons knew nothing about it. This is an excellent example of how some people should not be allowed cameras. Worst rating. Terrible. Awful. For the ignorant.
... View Moreand Sons of Perdition is documented proof. This piece of work is excellent, one of the best documentaries I've seen. The 85 minutes I spent watching felt more like fifteen. Almost from the beginning I became unaware of the cameras. Speaking strictly as a non- professional film critic, only someone who enjoys watching documentaries and movies of multiple genres, this film should have won numerous awards. It was riveting, eye-opening, gratitude inducing, educating, heart wrenching and easily held my attention to the end. It's so difficult to grasp the kind of mental bondage that would hold anyone captive to such a bizarre lifestyle, particularly the women who are treated as commodities, used and abused for the men's pleasure. The Jason Bailey review in the critics section did a great job summing it up.
... View MoreThis documentary is about teenage runaways or more precisely runaways from very disturbing sect led by their leader Warren Jeffs. The sect is called Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints(FLDS Church)and probably one of the most fundamentalistic mormon groups.FLDS Church owns lots of land, and controls their members with iron fist. Polygamy is encouraged by Jeffs, also the use of childbrides between older men and teenage girls. Sexual abuse, mistreatment etc seems to be common in this organization and according to what police and FBI found out later Jeffs was one of the biggest perpetrators of these crimes.This doc however doesn't solely focus on these serious matters but shows the teenagers and families that escaped this very dangerous sect and tries to adjust to normal life. But this however seems harder then one might think.How to enjoy freedom when you never had any freedom before? And as the filmmakers follow these kids around you get the feeling that their real problems starts AFTER they escaped the sect.This doc is well-made and should be seen by anyone who liked Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple (2006), Jesus Camp (2006)etc.Religious fanaticism shows it's ugly face regardless if you are Christian,Muslim, hindu etc and therefore docs like this one is so important.
... View More