MY SCIENTOLOGY MOVIE - Review By Greg Klymkiw - "Act of Killing - Lite" on Scientology

Louis Theroux - Brit Michael Moore sans Bulk.

My Scientology Movie (2016)
Dir. John Dower
Scr. Louis Theroux
Prd. Simon Chinn
Starring: Louis Theroux, Mark Rathbun, Andrew Perez, Jeff Hawkins

Review By Greg Klymkiw

"One of the systems of faith that are based on the belief in the existence of a particular god or gods, or in the teachings of a spiritual leader."
- The Oxford Dictionary definition of the word "religion"

Founded by the dreadful and prolific Science Fiction pulp writer L. Ron Hubbard and presided over by the enigmatic David Miscavige since Hubbard's death in 1986, the Church of Scientology has taken more than its fair share of volleys over the years, including the brilliant fictionalized fantasia The Master by PT Anderson and Alex Gibney's searing documentary Going Clear.

Examining the aforementioned Oxford definition of the word religion, in addition to the various film exposes, including My Scientology Movie, I really do have to wonder what finally separates Scientology from any other religion, whether it be Catholicism, Christian Fundamentalism, Judaism, Islam and any other major/minor systems of faith. Scientology, like all the rest, feels it is the best religion, places emphasis upon recruitment, needs to survive upon financial support from its followers and is not without cult-like leaders and/or elements of cultish indoctrination.

With My Scientology Movie, Director John Dower, Producer Simon Chinn, Host/Star/Writer Louis Theroux and chief commissioning entity, the BBC, were obviously denied access to the inner workings of Scientology and have taken their cue from the in-your-face (and decidedly entertaining) shenanigans of Michael (Roger and Me) Moore and the extremely visionary film artist Joshua Oppenheimer (The Act of Killing, The Look of Violence), to craft this lightweight, often amusing, occasionally chilling bit of shock journalism.

To the former, Theroux blunders about Los Angeles in his oh-so-Blighty fashion on the outskirts of various Scientology headquarters and to the latter, orders up auditions with young actors to play Scientology types in scripted and improvised recreations of speeches, presentations and alleged actual inner workings of the Church.

Young actors portray Scientology officials in recreations.

Host Theroux is accompanied through most of the film's cheeky gymnastics by former high-ranking Scientologist Mark Rathburn who left the Church, exposed its inner workings and was, not surprisingly, discredited by the Church itself. Via Rathburn, we get a sense of his own experiences within the organization and an even greater sense of how his life has become severely beleaguered since his break from Scientology. He comes across, probably to the chagrin of the Church, as an extremely sympathetic figure. Much of our empathy for him, however, comes more from Theroux's annoying and eventually badgering of Rathburn, attempting to get the man to respond to his own "complicity" in events and actions of the past.

One cannot fault Theroux for being a journalist, but one can certainly question his methods in the film, especially as they relate to Rathburn. Firstly, the movie inadvertently exposes how investigative journalists will try to be "friends" with their subjects in order to get what they want out of them. If My Scientology Movie was a film, as opposed to what it is, little more than reasonably watchable TV-style doc-journalism, this fascinating aspect of what makes investigative journalists do their job, might have elevated the proceedings considerably if it had been less (and seemingly) inadvertent.

Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, Theroux's timing and methods to address Rathburn's "complicity" in the actions of the Church, seem so fumbling and wrong-headed that we can't help but feel for the former Scientology big-wig. At one point Theroux, in a somewhat smarmy and definitely clumsy fashion, uses information and points-of-view from letters he's received from the Church's lawyers to needle Rathburn. This not only pisses Rathburn off, but us as well.

Granted, Theroux interviews another former Church official Jeff Hawkins, who not only adds considerable insights to the proceedings, but states unequivocally that he believes Rathburn has been hiding more than a few skeletons in the Scientology Closet. As a journalist, Theroux is bound to act on this. That's the theory - the practice, however, is something else altogether and backfires on him. This kind of recoil is what will give the Church of Scientology considerable ammunition to discredit the movie itself.

I couldn't really blame them.

Andrew Perez as David Miscavige - Star Turn!!!

The film as journalism barely gets a passing grade. As a film, it registers a "gentlemanly" grade of "B". This is no work of artistry, voice and vision (like, say, Joshua Oppenheimer's great, important films). Still, My Scientology Movie gets points of the old-college-try variety for its dramatic reenactments - not because they're especially good, but because the actor they've chosen to play Scientology's topper David Miscavige, Andrew Perez, is undeniably charismatic and rivetingly scary.

His recreations of public Miscavige speeches go well beyond simple Rich Little-like impersonations, he genuinely creates a "character" of considerable human dimension. In the fictionalized dramatic recreations of the Church's inner workings, Perez dazzles so astoundingly that one wonders why he's not already on the road to the same kind of superstardom that celebrity Scientology church-member Tom Cruise is on. Perez is clearly a great actor. The camera loves him and I think audiences would love to see him in more movies (as opposed to what seems to be his only role since making this movie, a bit part in some TV show).

Hell, if Miscavige ever chose to produce his own approved biopic of himself, he'd be well advised to sign up Perez for the role. The kid exudes power and charisma, and that's what Miscavige has in spades.

This is not a bad picture by any means. It has elements that do provide considerable entertainment value. At times, the movie even flirts with Oppenheimer potential. There are a few sequences where Theroux is filming Scientology types as they are filming him in turn. These duelling cameras moments come close to capturing the kind of picture this could have been, if it had been a real movie made by real artists - not just another glorified TV documentary.

THE FILM CORNER RATING: *** Three Stars


My Scientology Movie is a Kinosmith release. Canadian playdates include:
February 6 & 8 Victoria Film Festival, Victoria, BC
February 17 – 23 Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema, Toronto, ON
February 24 – March 2 Globe Cinema, Calgary, AB
March 3 – 5 Salt Spring Film Festival, Salt Spring, BC
April 14 – 18 Bytowne, Ottawa, ON

THE SACRAMENT - Review By Greg Klymkiw - #TIFF 2013 - Scary-ass religious-cult thriller blessed with malevolence galore and an astonishing Oscar-calibre performance from character actor Gene Jones!!!

TIFF VANGUARD - #TIFF 2013
Programmed By Colin Geddes
The Sacrament (2013) ***1/2
Dir. Ti West
Starring: Joe Swanberg, AJ Bowen, Kentucker Audley, Amy Seimetz, Gene Jones

Review By Greg Klymkiw

Why would a Christian commune, dedicated to the creation of a Heaven on Earth in homage to the pacifist principles of Jesus Christ, require armed guards? Are they there to keep people out or keep them in? Well, as we discover during the creepy slow burn of Ti West's new thriller The Sacrament, it's clearly a little of both. The name of the game in Eden Parish is secrecy which, like all religious cults (including most mainstream organized religions), is what keeps them powerful. Indoctrination, coercion, exploitation, deception and brainwashing are the key elements of all faith-based ministries or, if you will, industries. Some, however. are more extremist than most and such is the case with the religion/cult that Patrick's (Kentucker Audley) sister Caroline (Amy Seimetz) has fallen in with. Accompanied by Sam (AJ Bowen) and Jake (Joe Swanberg), two pals/colleagues from a major online multimedia news outlet, the trio journey to a strange, undisclosed island on foreign soil to investigate her whereabouts and well-being.

Armed only with cameras, the three men are initially freaked out by the surly and burly machine-gun-toting guards who guide them into the compound, but as they explore the inner workings of the camp - populated with those like Caroline who lost their way in the world through various addictions and found their way back to what seems to be a clean and green way of life - it begins to seem like Eden Parish is not without merit.

The silver lining, however, is just that. Tranquility in the parish is only skin deep. As they slowly begin to notice an alarming number of aberrations, they fear for their own lives as well as those who are not quite fitting in to the extremist views of the charismatic cult leader, Father (Gene Jones). In addition to being charming, persuasive and highly intelligent, Father, an oft-cool-shades-adorned fleshy orator with definite fascist undertones is a downright creep - a skilfully malevolent manipulator and exploiter.

This is one chilling, scary-ass movie that grabs you very early in the proceedings and doesn't let up - steadily mounting in its intensity until a climax that will have you begging for mercy. There are no cheap shocks and the violence is always muted, roiling jus below the surface. I doubt Mr. West is a student of the late, great Val Lewton (most young contemporary filmmakers have yet to make his acquaintance), but if he is, I'm not surprised and if he isn't, he should be since he still has a few tricks to learn from a real master. (God knows, Scorsese, Friedkin and many other greats continue to acknowledge their debt to Lewton.) With this film and his previous effort, the fun and scary paranormal thriller The Innkeepers, West is proving to be a potential master of finding chills, thrills and evil in dark, yet unlikely corners and like Lewton, his genre indulgences are about so much more than the simple, but effective narrative coat hangers he adorns his explorations of humanity on.

One element that doesn't quite hold up in the movie is the inconsistencies with respect to the film within the film - the documentary that the trio is making on Eden Parish. Most of the time, we're carried along by the sheer force of West's fine direction, but occasionally, we're ripped out of the proceedings by some of the intrusive title cards that remind us we're watching a finished product that's already gone viral. It occasionally takes us a bit of time to get back into the otherwise riveting trajectory of the tale. It also suggests that someone will escape the evil, though in fairness, we're never sure who and just how many are getting out.

This is, though, a bit of a drag because the movie has a kind of paranoia-infused 70s sensibility that suggests we might be cascading into a completely hope-bereft conclusion. That we're treated to a tiny taste of hope so early and so consistently doesn't quite fit the form. I even wondered if, at any point during the post-production process, West and his team gave the old college try to mute the film within the film stuff, toss the title cards and use the more obvious doc-styled footage "naturally" within the narrative and actions of the characters rather than the manner in which they are employed. Part of me thinks, based upon the coverage that appears onscreen, that this might have been a worthy pursuit. Then again, I wasn't sitting in the fucking edit suite, so what the fuck do I know? Maybe it was a consideration and didn't work, but I do hate to think it wasn't at least tried.

My only other quarrel with the picture is that it's full of babes and there's a fair bit of talk and suggestion of boink-o-rama activity in Eden Parish. No offence, but the issue of sex within the compound is brought up and that we get nary a flash of said activity is a bit like introducing a loaded gun into a scene and not firing it. Let's not forget the immortal nude harvest dance in the original 70s The Wicker Man - totally creepy and hubba-hubba-sexy.

But, I digress.

Happily, the performances from all the leads in The Sacrament are top of the line and it's to West's undying credit and great eye that the picture features the finest use of extras and background performers I've seen in any recent movie. If, however, there is anything resembling justice, Jesus and/or the God of Abraham on Planet Hollywood, Gene Jones as Father deserves as many supporting actor accolades as it is possible to bestow upon someone - including an Oscar nomination. This is no chew-the-scenery nonsense that so many more established stars will barf up when they play a villain - Jones is malevolence-incarnate because his performance is brilliantly muted.

The camera loves the guy and it's impossible to take your eyes off him whenever he's onscreen - not just the hallmark of any charismatic cult leader, but he brings a depth of intelligence and understanding to the character that makes us (almost) like him. He also infuses the performance with an element of tragedy - he's no mere manipulator, but rather, a man who has come to believe so strongly in his beliefs that he's managed to convince even himself that his might is right and it's that very element of self-faith and self-love that Jones steadfastly nails to a cross that convinces us why such individuals are alternately on top of the world just as clearly as they're on a fast-track to destruction.

You might remember Gene Jones from the Coen Brothers' No Country For Old Men during the famous coin-toss scene which, for me, was the performance in that movie that set the bar and proved the old adage: "There are no small parts..." Here, though, West has given Gene Jones the role of a lifetime. I sincerely hope Jones's work in The Sacrament is recognized, acknowledged and propulsive. The world needs more character actors of his calibre and I demand that he become as gloriously ubiquitous as Edward Arnold, Lionel Barrymore, Walter Huston, Charles Durning, Ned Beatty, Hume Cronyn, Paul Giamatti and every other great actor who more than propped up their fair share of pictures, but also created a myriad of living, breathing human beings who somehow, with their very appearance made their own work and that of everyone else touched with a bit of that old silver screen immortality.

All in all, The Sacrament is a terrific little thriller and I'm looking forward to seeing it again. Maybe that will be enough to change my curmudgeonly nattering about the film within the film elements and the lack of sex. Probably not, but it won't matter. I like the picture - a lot!!!

"The Sacrament" is programmed by the brilliant Colin Geddes in the TIFF Vanguard series at the Toronto International Film Festival 2013 (#TIFF13). Get your tickets at the TIFF website HERE.