Director Zaida Bergroth On Cult Drama 'Maria's Paradise': "The Idea Was To Concentrate On The Love And Power" - Toronto Studio

Damon Wise
September 15, 2019
Deadline

There were quite a few films about cults at this year’s TIFF, and one of the more provocative meditations on human manipulation came from Finland. Titled Maria’s Paradise, Zaida Bergroth’s film was inspired by the true story of Maria Åkerblom, who ran a cult in rural Finland that caused a major scandal back in the 1920s.

“I got extremely intrigued by this main character, Maria Åkerblom,” Bergroth told us when she came to the Deadline studio with her cast. “She lived in Finland in [the] 1920s, she was a leader of a Christian cult, and she was extremely charismatic, but she had a very dark side to her. After that, we started to write the script and explore her character, and then we came up with a story about Maria and her favorite girl follower, Salome, a young teenager who absolutely adored her, and didn’t see anything negative about her actions. It was their relationship that really intrigued me.”

Pihla Viitala, who plays Maria, admits that she was a difficult character to portray. “She’s very complicated,” she said, “and when we started to build up the character, we were wondering how she ended up being like she was. Basically, I was thinking that she wanted to have love and admiration from people, and, in this very selfish way, she was getting it. It was interesting to play because she was very unpredictable and limitless, so anything was possible.”

“The main idea was to really concentrate on the love and power in their relationship,” said Bergroth, “because I think no relationship is free from that power balance anyway. But it’s very interesting to me how Maria used love to control, and this was the main issue we really focused on. What we know about the real-life cult of Maria was that the members of the cult were not allowed to speak to anybody else… [She would say] ‘We are special, you need to be really loyal to me, and if I can’t count on your loyalty, then all hell will break loose.’ All of these really simple things that really affect your emotions—and that’s how you’re played.”

To hear more about Maria’s Paradise, watch the interview above.

https://deadline.com/video/marias-paradise-zaida-bergroth-interview-video-toronto-film-festival/

Surviving Scientology's suppression

Actor shares her story about life after religion

Randall King 
Winnipeg Free Press
July 23, 2018

A few years ago, actor Cathy Schenkelberg was considered enough of a celebrity that she warranted an audition to be Tom Cruise’s new girlfriend in the wake of his breakup with Nicole Kidman./ Winnipeg Free Press)

That’s the theory anyway, recounted at the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival in Schenkelberg’s Scientology survival show Squeeze My Cans, performed at the Platform Centre (Venue 24).

At some point, she was ushered into a room in Los Angeles’s Scientology "Celebrity Center" and invited to talk about Scientology’s most prized celebrity without knowing why.

THEATRE PREVIEW
Squeeze My Cans
Written and performed by Cathy Schenkelberg
Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival
Platform Centre (Venue 24), to July 29

Suffice to say, she blew that audition.

It probably wouldn’t have lasted anyway. As an actor, she was literally invisible, earning most of her revenue as a voiceover artist for commercials, to which she would lend her warm, expressive voice.

And anyway, after spending close to a million dollars at the church to achieve one of the highest ranks possible — an OT VII — she effectively chucked it all when she realized her continued participation in the church would risk not only her sanity but her relationship with her only daughter.

That story is recalled in the one-woman show Squeeze My Cans, a bawdy-sounding reference to the metal cylinders attached to an e-meter, employed to measure electrodermal variations in a Scientologist’s body during "audit" sessions.

It’s a hair-raising story, but it’s told in an entertaining and engaging manner that transcends the subject of the religion started by science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard.

"The show isn’t just about a cult and Scientology," Schenkelberg said. "It’s about: what did you survive? Did you have a job you hated? Were you in an abusive relationship?"

“I was brainwashed. I think back and I get choked up because, emotionally, it’s hard for me. I have to relive it, but every time I tell the story, it’s the first time you’ve heard it."

Schenkelberg makes her journey so relatable, it’s not unusual for her to receive consoling hugs from audience members after the play’s emotionally charged conclusion.

"We all have our crosses to bear," she said. "Why don’t we leave something when we know it’s not good for us? Because we think: if I leave, I’ll lose my family or I’ll lose my insurance. I’ll lose my child.

"So I do get a lot of hugs and I’ll tell you, the hugs I get from 20-somethings and teenagers are the best hugs ever," she said. "Because I’ve had people tell me, ‘Oh, I walked down Hollywood Boulevard and they wanted to give me a stress test,’ or ‘I picked up this flyer but I didn’t know it was Scientology, so I went in.’

"So this is what makes me incredibly happy, to reach that demographic."

That helps, given that two decades with the church bring up bad memories for Schenkelberg, not only of her treatment by the church but of her beloved family.

"I was brainwashed," she said. "I think back and I get choked up because, emotionally, it’s hard for me. I have to relive it, but every time I tell the story, it’s the first time you’ve heard it. That means I get to tell you how much I loved my dad, and how close we were, and how my brother’s death affected me.

"So my journey, getting through two decades and a million dollars, has been a long one," she said.

"I still relive it, but I’m functioning and I’m happy. I make very little money, but I’m happier than I was when I made a lot."

"My journey, getting through two decades and a million dollars, has been a long one."

She has experienced some mysterious, petty acts of sabotage against her once she left Scientology. In one instance, a person walked up and down the aisles during one of her spoken-word performances.

In another, she found the air had been let out of her and her daughter’s car tires at their home.

Still, she said she has not endured the abuse suffered by other "apostates."

"I was declared a suppressive person in 2011," she said, referring to the religion’s designation of a known subversive.

"I took a picture of the letter and posted it on Facebook," she said. "It is kind of a badge of honour because you’ve survived something. But everybody has a story to tell. I think of the story of a girlfriend who just got divorced after 17 years in an abusive relationship.

"That was her cult."

randall.king@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @FreepKing

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/entertainment/arts/surviving-scientologys-suppression-488938631.html

Apostasy

28 February - 1 March
Glasgow Film



Daniel Kokotajlo’s intelligent, gripping drama is set among a close-knit community of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Oldham. Ivanna (Siobhan Finneran) is a true believer and has raised two teenage daughters to follow her values. Luisa (Sacha Parkinson) is at college and facing bad influences and irresistible temptations. Fears for her younger daughter Alex (Molly Wright) prompt Ivanna to arrange a match with church elder Adam (Robert Emms). Tensions slowly grow in a powerful, strikingly restrained story of the clash between blind faith, family and freedom. 

Utterly absorbing... a supremely intelligent and gripping drama - Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

A daring, devastating debut - Guy Lodge, Variety

Director: Daniel Kokotajlo
Cast: Molly Wright, Siobhan Finneran, Sacha Parkinson
Certification: N/C 15+
Running time: 1h35m
Country: UK
Year: 2017

https://glasgowfilm.org/shows/apostasy-nc-15

"Colonia Dignidad" at the Diego Rivera Theater, Puerto Montt

Elmostrador
19 February, 2017

Translation by Google

After three full-length performances, the outstanding production "Colonia Dignidad" - starring Emma Watson, Daniel Brühl and Michael Nyqvist - will have a new show this Monday, February 20 at 8:00 pm at the Teatro Diego Rivera, With a value of $ 1,000 pesos.

Organized by the Cultural Corporation, the presentation of the 110-minute film is inspired by real events and tells the story of Lena and Daniel, a young couple, who get caught in the 1973 Chile military coup.

Daniel is kidnapped by the secret police of Pinochet and Lena follows him to an area in the south of the country, called Colonia Dignidad, which is presented as a charitable mission by lay preacher Paul Schäfer, but which, in fact, Is a place where no one has ever escaped from there. Lena decides to join the cult in order to find Daniel.

"Colonia Dignidad" had to be filmed in various locations such as: an abandoned mine on the outskirts of Luxembourg as well as cities such as Berlin, Munich and Buenos Aires. Chile, for various reasons, could not be the place to shoot the film.

Another element to emphasize is the soundtrack that compiles subjects from Janis Joplin to others of Carlos Santana, in addition to the arrangements composed by the French André Dziezuk and the Spanish Fernando Velázquez.

The film, part of the history of the German enclave - established in 1961 in the Region of Maule - is still controversial in establishing that the European State will address the complaints of the victims of that country, denying that right to Chilean children and families Sexually abused or exploited.

http://www.elmostrador.cl/cultura/2017/02/19/colonia-dignidad-en-el-teatro-diego-rivera-puerto-montt/

'Dark' opera looks at polygamist sect

Eriech Tapia
The Oklahoman
February 16, 2017

The actresses portraying sister-wives practice for the Oklahoma debut of "Dark Sisters." [Photo by Eriech Tapia, for The Oklahoman]


Performers and stage crews are preparing for the Oklahoma debut of the opera "Dark Sisters" this weekend at Oklahoma City University, with the original conductor being on hand.

“The whole opera is about control and things being bigger; something is bigger than anybody else,” opera director David Herendeen said. The atonal opera is based off a raid on a polygamist sect at a Texas ranch in 2008, when authorities swept over 400 children into state custody, after a report of child abuse on the compound. “Despite that juicy topic of polygamy and underage marriage, it is really not about that,” Herendeen said. During the opera, scenes of struggles between the five sister-wives and prophet are shown and what Herendeen describes as a scripted interview with Larry King during a CNN interview. “It is based very closely on the interview, and if you watch the original interview, it is a little creepy,” said Austin Martin, who plays the role of Larry King. “As you watch the interview, you realize how fake they are in this; you can easily tell that they are being told what to say,” Martin said. The compound was a split from mainstream Mormonism, and Herendeen said the opera symbolically shows the struggle of the sister-wives. “Despite that really interesting and tabloidal context, the whole opera is about control,” Herendeen said. Being the youngest commissioned composer by the Metropolitan Opera, Nico Muhly collaborated on "Dark Sisters" with Tony Award-winning writer Stephen Karam. The opera has two acts with the first being 55 minutes followed by an intermission and free cookies on opening night. The second act is around 40 minutes. The performance will have a cast of 19 and a 19-member orchestra.

Learning opportunity

The original composer, Muhly, also will spend the week working with the cast and crew on the opera and allowing them to learn about his career. “We bring in composers, when we can, into our environment as a teaching moment for everybody,” Herendeen said. “On the other hand, I want to educate him about Oklahoma.” He will host a preshow talk at 7:15 p.m. Friday for guests, speaking on his career and any questions. “Hopefully, audiences will be excited about that, getting to at least see him or talk to him,” said Matthew Mailman, music director and first cousin to Muhly. Herendeen said having the family connection to Muhly was instrumental in bringing him to Oklahoma, which is a mission of the Oklahoma City University's opera and music theater company. “There is nothing more important as artist in our performances than connecting with the audiences,” Mailman said. “A lot of it you have to find clues in the music and this score is very hard musically,” Monica Thompson said. “It happens within a short period of time just in terms of where the story takes place.” Thompson plays Presendia, the first wife to the prophet, which she said requires her to be overly dramatic in her role, but still address a serious topic. “It is very hard music to learn, some of the hardest I have ever learned,” Thompson said. “It is one thing to practice it on your own and another thing to come to gather and hear everybody else's part.”

http://newsok.com/article/5538017

Why You Should Boycott Marc Gafni’s Movie, “RiseUp”

Stephen H. Dinan Author, CEO of The Shift Network
Huffington Post
May 4, 2016

I’m writing to bring attention and sound a serious warning about what are, in my opinion, deceptions taking place around the movie RiseUp, which has been enrolling many trusted leaders and has begun a major fundraising campaign at Generosity.

I strongly urge you to educate yourself and others and consider boycotting this movie due to the participation of Marc Gafni, who appears to be using credible authors, speakers, musicians, and business leaders to establish a socially-acceptable front.

Gafni has been the subject of more than 35 recent articles in the press that describe a very troubling history, some of which are included below.

In January, more than 100 of the most respected rabbis and cultural leaders in the Jewish world came together in a Change.org petition to give a very strong warning of the danger Gafni poses. They said, “Marc Gafni has left a trail of pain, suffering, and trauma amongst the people and congregations who were unfortunate to have trusted him.” As further support to their statement, more than 3400 other signatories from all periods of Gafni’s life signed as well, many with extensive comments.

I strongly recommend reading the petition, as well as 75 of the comments on the petition that share many terrible first-hand accounts. It’s also valuable to watch the video testimony of Gafni’s third wife, and Rabbi Ingber.

These accounts state that, in the Jewish world, Gafni went through many congregations and changed his name several times, trailed by allegations of sexual abuse, plagiarism, lying, financial misdoings and more.

In more recent circles, the allegations of misdoings have continued, leading many to break with him completely (Terry Patten’s article is a great example).

In January, I joined with 33 other respected authors and leaders including Deepak Chopra, Jean Houston, Andrew Harvey, John Robbins, and Joan Borysenko to publicly pledge not to have anything to do with Gafni or promote anything he is a part of, based on our direct or indirect knowledge of the harm he has caused others.

It’s important for speakers in the movie or those promoting it to know that, perhaps unbeknownst to them, by participating in this film they may be directly giving more power, influence, and money to this man and his close collaborators.

In my opinion, it is deceptive that Gafni’s presence has been removed from the movie’s fundraising sites, even though it has been co-envisioned, written, and co-produced by Gafni, according to his own website at the Center for Integral Wisdom (see screenshot here if removed at the original link, where you’ll need to scroll way down). The text reads:

Rise Up Movie from the Success 3.0 Summit With Michael Bernard Beckwith, Marc Gafni, Barbara Marx Hubbard and special Guests John Mackey, Tony Robbins, and Hillary Swank, and interviews with speakers and guests of the summit. Directed by Michael-Shaun Conaway, co-envisioned and written by Marc Gafni, co-produced by Kate Maloney, Alex Melnyk and Marc Gafni

It appears that the RiseUp production team is now minimizing or hiding Gafni’s role during the fundraising and enrollment process for leaders.

However, RiseUp has long been listed as a project of Gafni’s Center for Integral Wisdom, of which he is clearly the primary founder and leader (see New York Times article). They also announced via email on April 6, 2016 that Success 3.0, the in-person Summit in which Gafni played the leading speaking role, was rebranding into RiseUp.

Plus, there is an upcoming event announced on the Center’s website in which Gafni’s bio includes the following line: “Marc is also the initiating visionary and co-director of the Success 3.0 Summit and RiseUP.”

In addition, there are Facebook pictures posted on March 15, 2015, by Gafni’s close ally and Board member Chahat Corten (original post, reprinted here) that discuss filming the movie and that show Gafni clearly in a director’s role as well as being filmed himself. There is also an old trailer of RiseUp in which Gafni is featured (see minute 1:34) and a place where he mentions his work on the movie in a voice recording leaked to the Forward (see minute 7:50 here).

In addition to the publicly available facts, there was also a leak of information from the most recent Center for Integral Wisdom Board meeting. I was informed through an ally that they explicitly discussed that the strategy for the movie and Summit would be for Gafni to call the shots from behind the scenes, then appear as a “surprise guest” at the Summit that will follow the movie (if not be in the movie himself).

The reason all of the above is important is that Gafni has been called a “New Age Cosby” in the Huffington Post. Several women have come forward publicly with detailed stories alleging sexual abuse when they were minors (Sara Kabakov and Judy Mitsner). He’s been accused by the former mayor of Salt Lake City of plagiarism. Major recent articles about him have addressed other serious allegations in the New York Times, New York Daily News, Alternet, Forward, Tablet, Jewish Week, and many more.

One noteworthy piece was called “In Recorded Conversation, Gafni Considers Strategy Against His Critics“ and consisted of an accidental leak of a recording to the Forward in which Gafni, his lawyer, and his PR person discussed which news organization to sue to send a warning to others.

I have personally spoken at length with 9 victims from Gafni’s past and I’m aware of more than a dozen others by name, most of whom are scared to share publicly, some because of threats. Hearing their reports of trauma has been truly awful to witness.

These survivors have told me that Gafni is masterful at deceptive seduction and then exerting varying degrees of mental control over people, which includes getting people to lie for him. One survivor quoted him as saying, “I don’t bring anyone into my system that I can’t control.” These survivors report that when he first meets someone he can be quite charming, intelligent, and winning but soon finds a weak spot or a blind spot with which he can manipulate them over time. This behavior is typical of sociopaths, a diagnosis that has been commonly applied to him.

In addition to the above, there are other things I believe are deceptions as well.

Arianna Huffington was initially used as one of the top headliners in the movie and for their February 2017 Summit, which was initially advertised on the fundraising page (since taken down). It turns out Arianna had not given authorization to use her name and “had no idea that they were using her name as a participant for their February 2017 Summit” according to her press team. Her office issued the following statement to Mark Oppenheimer, the author of the New York Times and Tablet articles, who tweeted it out: “Arianna does not...have an affiliation w/ Marc Gafni or with this movie. She was not aware that her name was being used to help raise money for this.”

RiseUp subsequently removed Arianna from the campaign but RiseUp had nonetheless already raised over $250K while using her name without her knowledge or consent. Arianna is still listed in the online Forbes profile on the film, so she was clearly being used as a major headliner.

Additionally, the movie is raising money as a non-profit “cause” on Generosity, a site created by Indiegogo specifically for humanitarian projects and thus one in which the usual Indiegogo fees are waived. There has been, to date, nothing on the fundraising page about what organization is the actual recipient of the funds. The lack of disclosure around what is clearly an engine for generating a lot of money with little discernible philanthropic purpose is troubling to me.

When fundraising began, it was interesting to note their $250K “goal” was reached on the first day with fewer than 100 contributors. In fact, the very first contributor was for $100K (anonymous), the third was from Alex Morton for $30K (since marked private), and the fifth was for $75K (from anonymous). Based on the number of people getting different prize levels, it appears that the second, fourth, and sixth contributions (all marked private), likely included at least one contribution above $50K and another above $20K. In other words, it appears to me that approximately $275K came on the first day from five individual contributors, in all likelihood from the first six contributions based on the number of other private contributions.

That was, in my view, intended to give the illusion of a big “success” in online fundraising by having their major funders put in $275K right away and artificially reach their initial $250K “goal” even though there were under 100 contributors overall.

The people whose good names and reputations are being used as the public face of the RiseUp movie need to know the above.

In my opinion, RiseUp does not warrant your support on any level and will be damaging to be involved with in any way, giving Marc Gafni a major financial and promotional platform for his next moves.

I strongly encourage you to boycott this film and to do what you can to educate your friends and allies as well.

I realize that I will likely attract attacks from Gafni and his allies (probably even those I have been friends with) by writing this article but I feel strongly about people fully educating themselves about Marc Gafni before deciding to support this film.

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/boycott-marc-gafnis-movie_b_9829656.html

Squeeze My Cans

 

Spending most of her young adult life inside a cult, writer-performer Cathy Schenkelberg emerges to premiere her new original solo show “Squeeze My Cans” for nine performances during the Hollywood Fringe Festival (June 10 – June 26, 2016) at Sacred Fools Theater.

The Church of Scientology had actress Cathy Schenkelberg for 14 years; it took another 5 years to leave them behind in the face of harassing phone calls, midnight knocks on her door by “outreach” staffers, an expensive custody battle and social rejection. She has the courage to tell us this hilarious and horrifying story under the direction of Shirley Anderson with lighting design by Brandon Baruch, sound design by Victoria Deiorio and graphic design by Brett Newton.

Learn More at www.squeezemycans.com


http://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/3443

Indigo Childen: When ADD Becomes a Cult

DEREK BERES
Big Think
April 22, 2016

 

Hawk Lane desires nothing more than to leave high school. Meyerist rules state that he must remain among the IS’s—Ignorant Systemites, Meyerist slang for us ordinary folk—until age sixteen. Eddie, his father, keeps reminding him that he’s special; it’s simply Movement Rules. Still, Hawk is certain he’s ready to climb the Ladder. These IS’s are only dragging him down.

The fictional cult at the center of the Hulu series, The Path, reminds us of everything we disdain about upstart religious movements: egotism and chauvinism, nonsensical verbiage, holier-than-thou attitude. The show’s success is in attention to detail. We might shake our heads at character's wildly self-centered musings, but if you’ve ever studied cults (or watched people involved in them), writer Jessica Goldberg gets many details correct.

For example, Indigo Children, the star of a new Vice documentary. The concept was developed in the seventies by author and proclaimed synesthete Nancy Ann Tappe, describing children who have unusual supernatural abilities. According to a website honoring her,

Nancy’s DNA heritage provided her with a combination of synesthesia and “the sight,” as her Scottish grandmother might have said. Today scientists define her abilities as accessing a part of the brain that others cannot.

Leaving aside that the scientists in question are unnamed, which is often the case for metaphysical acolytes hoping to align their brand with something provable, Tappe's main focus was ‘Colorogy,’ which attributes spiritual qualities to various colors—fans of Aura (or Kirlian) photography hold similar beliefs. Essentially, your ‘color’ defines your personality; colors shift all around us, but each of us is endowed with one color that defines us for life.

Indigo children are not a far leap from there. Like Tappe herself, certain children are blessed to be on a universal task

to globalize humanity through technology. Their energy is constantly changing and fast, almost hyperactive. Technology is an innate skill for them; cellphones are an extension of their body.

Marshall McLuhan would argue that all technologies are bodily extensions, but in cultish thinking certain humans are simply a little more blessed than others. These particularly blessed individuals tend to suffer from ADD, hyper-arousal, and learning disabilities. In Indigo this disease is a gateway, not a hindrance.

During one segment of the Vice documentary host Gavin Haynes, who is quickly told that he too is Indigo (since children become adults, there are Indigos everywhere), interviews New York City-based rap duo The Underachievers. Both were Indigo children because, well, Issa diagnosed himself after reading about it on the Internet. (Online tests also let you self-diagnose.) He ow advocates that anyone given an ADHD diagnosis is actually Indigo.

He doesn’t stop there—he doesn’t “believe in ADHD.” Everyone, according to him, is Indigo, which conflicts with Indigo code. Nevertheless, here cult and reality collide. Misdiagnosing and overprescribing children is a serious problem. Dutch psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk, once an advocate for pharmaceuticals, eventually recognized that drugs were often doing more harm than good. He writes,

In many places drugs have displaced therapy and enabled patients to suppress their problems without addressing the underlying issues.

In fact, everything Indigo, which, Haynes states, “seems to be a catchall for a range of New Age experiences,” appears reactionary. A plague of pharmaceutical-dependent zombie children and mercury fillings—holistic dentistry has ties to Indigo—are real problems. The frustration with corporate-sponsored solutions is widespread. It does not, however, forgive a lack of common sense. Believing in magical colors is not a viable alternative to not taking Ritalin.

Haynes chats with clinical psychologist George Sachs, who believes that diagnosing your child (or yourself) as Indigo can lead to narcissism. He continues:

Saying that you, without doing anything, are unique and special, and different than every other child, is not helpful.

Yet does that not summate the modern quest for fame, in which a fifteen-second video can make you a star? There is no need to suffer for your art; being obnoxious and outlandish on social media now supports plenty of people, financially and otherwise. It’s hard to miss the fact that technology, the supposed heavenly extension of Indigo children, can also be implicated in the fact that they can’t pay attention to what’s right in front of them.

Neurologist Oliver Sacks, the man most responsible for introducing synesthesia to broad audiences, had his own quest for indigo—the actual color. Since few people agree on exactly what indigo looks like, he went on a quest to see the true color in 1964, aided by LSD and cannabis. Twenty minutes in he stared at a white wall and demanded that indigo appear and…voila! It did, briefly. He died over a half-century later never seeing it again.

Sacks realized his moment of indigo was created by his brain, which is essentially how we all face life. Not wanting your child on pharmaceuticals is an issue many parents face, with no easy decision. Yet grasping the furthest reaches of the imagination to counterbalance a diagnosis can be a sickness in itself. Cults are easy targets, but from the dozens I’ve studied, each one can contribute something to society; many are based on real-world assumptions. But as Haynes concludes,

We’re all told we’re special. It’s just that when some people are told they’re more special than others that the awkwardness starts to creep in.

And Indigo is awkward.

http://bigthink.com/21st-century-spirituality/indigo-children-when-add-becomes-a-cult

Director Deborah Esquenazi on What Drew Her to a Satanic-Ritual Abuse Trial in Texas

Claire Landsbaum
NY Magazine
April 17, 2016

In 1994, four lesbian women in San Antonio, Texas, were convicted of sexually assaulting two girls ages seven and nine. Three of the women — Anna Vasquez, Cassandra Rivera, and Kristie Mayhugh — were sentenced to 15 years in prison. Elizabeth Ramirez, the aunt of the alleged victims, got 37.5 years. Vasquez, Rivera, Mayhugh, and Ramirez came to be known as the San Antonio Four, and their conviction came at the tail end of the satanic-ritual abuse panic in the late ’80s and early ’90s. All four women were convicted based solely on testimony from the two children and medical evidence (which later turned out to be scientifically flawed) proffered by a pediatrician. All four maintain their innocence to this day, and although the state of Texas has granted them the right to new trials, they’re still fighting for exoneration.

In Southwest of Salem, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival Friday, director Deborah Esquenazi introduces each of the San Antonio Four and tracks the gradual unraveling of the evidence against them. The documentary, which is also Esquenazi’s first feature-length film, spins the story into a true-crime narrative that’s as emotional as it is infuriating. As Mike Ware, an attorney for the Innocence Project of Texas puts it in the film, “if people only knew how little truth and justice had to do with the legal system, they’d probably storm courthouses with lighted torches.”

In lieu of torches, we spoke to Esquenazi just after the premiere about criminal justice reform, the sudden popularity of true-crime narratives, and how she became interested in the story of the San Antonio Four.

What drew you to the story of these four women in the first place?
I got a call from my mentor, a woman named Debbie Nathan, who said, “You should look into this.” So I read I read Liz’s trial transcripts, and they were horrific. They included phrases like “gang rape,” “cult-type activity,” “a certain perversion,” and it was all very sexualized. When I finished reading, I was broken.

Then she sent me a VHS tape that they had recorded on their search for exculpatory evidence, and I was like, oh my God, this is a story not just about injustice but about a family torn apart. It really hit home for me because at the time I was also in the process of coming out — I didn’t come out until I was 33 — and Debbie said to me, “This could be you.”

So you went to meet them?
Yes — I met Anna Vasquez first, and I was stunned. She’s so powerful on screen; imagine if you had seen that in a prison. Then I did interviews with Liz and Cass, and after that, I mean you can’t let it go. If you meet people like that, you have to do something.

But you’d never made a feature-length film before, correct?
I’d made many shorts, but never a full-length film. I really wanted to do it as a radio piece, but no one wanted it. At one point it was going to be a short film for Texas Monthly, but again, it didn’t pan out. It was really hard to get funding. But something happened after we released the footage [of one of Liz’s nieces recanting her testimony in 2012]. I caught her reaction on tape, and I thought, “This is a reason for people to start giving a shit.” So I released it to the local press, and I found myself in the middle of the story.

That sort of reminds me of what happened with Serial when one woman contacted a journalist with evidence of a botched trial. Do you think enthusiasm for the film had anything to do with the momentum behind things like Serial and Making a Murderer and people becoming invested in these kinds of stories? 
I do think we’re in the middle of an important questioning of criminal justice right now. I don’t think it should just be about policing — we also have to investigate prosecutions and juries and the way people frame stories in a courtroom because all of that is part of the narrative of criminal justice in America. So I do feel like this film is part of a zeitgeist.

Speaking of enthusiasm, the women were incredibly well-received at the screening tonight. 
Getting them here was such a pain!

How so?
They can’t leave beyond 75 miles of their homes in San Antonio, so every time they travel the Innocence Project of Texas has to, has to file a series of court orders, and then they have to be cleared. So we cleared them for Tribeca, but we’re going to Hot Docs in Canada after this, and we just found out that because of their convictions Canada won’t let them in.

What has it been like to advocate for these women and to see them fighting for exoneration now?
I love these women. I’ve come to think of them as my family because I was there in November 2012 when Anna was released, and I was there a year later when the other three were released. The power of those women is such that when they speak their truth, they mobilize others. I don’t know what they’ve learned or what they’ve grown in their souls, but when they advocate for themselves, they’re incredibly powerful.

It’s also a testament to the power of film. I started to do screenings of unedited footage because I wanted to get them out of prison, and we went from 30 people in one of those screenings to 250 people. The film gave a voice to the women, and when people were in that screening room, they had to listen.

http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/04/deborah-esquenazi-on-her-doc-southwest-of-salem.html

PREPARE TO BE CONVERTED: THE TOP 10 MOVIES AND SHOWS ABOUT CULTS

PREPARE TO BE CONVERTED: THE TOP 10 MOVIES AND SHOWS ABOUT CULTS

By Kayla Cobb
April 13, 2016

Photos: Everett Collection, HBO; Photo Illustration: Jaclyn Kessel

We’re not going to lie; though we may be staying for the brilliant acting and storytelling, star power and cults are what initially drew us into The Path. Perhaps it’s because cults are the ultimate form of community or because most of them are genuinely insane to outsiders, but cults are always fascinating. Also, they’ve been dominating our pop culture long before Hulu made them oh-so-sexy.

The Path follows Eddie (Aaron Paul), a member of the fictional Meyerist Movement who is starting to have doubts about his dedication to the movement. Eddie has to balance his dedication to the truth with what’s best for his family, resulting in an equally gripping and smart drama. The series also stars Michelle Monaghan and Hugh Dancy. In celebration of our latest cult obsession,The Path, we’ve compiled a list of some of our other favorite religious outskirt stories on streaming. From in-depth explorations of the religious movement you want to know about the most, Scientology, to dramatized reimagining of famous cult murders and fictional cult comedies and drama, there’s a lot to be obsessed with on this list. Just try not to get too hooked. 

1

'Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief' (2015)

If you’ve ever wondered what the appeal of Scientology is but don’t want to pay the money, you need to see Alex Gibney’sGoing Clear. This is perhaps one of the most important and eye-opening documentaries that has been created in recent years. Going Clear doesn’t merely offer an insider look into this ominous and historically legal-happy religion. The documentary surprisingly humanizes its members, helping viewers to better understand why Scientologists exist.

[Where to stream Going Clear]

2

'The Master' (2012)

A down on his luck Freddie (Joaquin Phoenix) still struggling from the trauma of World War II meets the charismatic Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman), and the rest is mind-bending cult history. This drama is especially great because it focuses on chronicling a cult experience we often gloss over — what causes people to join these counterculture movements. Also, it’s not hard to imagine Joaquin Phoenix in a cult.

[Stream The Master on Netflix]

3

'Children of the Corn' (1984)

There are two kinds of Stephen Kingadaptations: killer King and camp King, and Children of the Corn falls hard into the campy territory. But forget the movie’s countless sequels, and focus on the first time you encountered the deceptively peaceful Gatlin, Nebraska. After a young couple agrees to help a boy looks for his parents, they soon find themselves in the middle of a nightmare filled with child preachers, sacrifice, and corn gods. This one will make you even more distrustful of children.

[Where to stream Children of the Corn]

4

'Jesus Camp' (2006)

Photo: A&E Indie Films

Perhaps the scariest things about cults is how close to reality they are, at least that’s the case with this documentary. Jesus Camp blends all the elements of a good horror movie — intense religious values, indoctrinated children, a political message — except it focuses on the real-life children of one of the most popular religions in America, Christianity. One thing is for certain: Religious extremism is horrifying.

[Where to stream Jesus Camp]

5

'The Institute' (2013)

If you’ve ever signed up for something without fully reading the terms and conditions, you’ll be able to relate to this documentary. Focusing on an alternate reality game in San Francisco called the Jejune Institute, this organization enrolled more than 10,000 players over the course of three years. Filled with cryptic narratives and an interesting look into an underground organization, The Institute will definitely increase your mistrust of the world or at least flyers.

[Where to stream The Institute]

6

'Helter Skelter' (1976)

Photo: Lorimar Entertainment; Courtesy Everett Collection

There are a lot of documentaries and movies out there about the notorious Manson murders, but we’re going TV miniseries for our pick. Based on the true crime book of the same name, Helter Skelter, this one was co-written by prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi. However, what makes this miniseries stand out is Steve Railsback’s perfectly disturbing portrayal of Charles Manson. We’re still shuddering.

[Where to stream Helter Skelter]

7

'Martha Marcy May Marlene' (2011)

Oh, look who’s in another fictional cult account. Hugh Dancy, of course. This thriller follows a former cult member, Martha (Elizabeth Olsen), just as she escapes to live with her sister (Sarah Paulson) and her sister’s husband (Dancy). But as Kimmy Schmidt taught us, escaping isn’t the same as making it, and Martha soon finds herself tormented by flashbacks.

[Where to stream Martha Marcy May Marlene]

8

'Rosemary’s Baby' (1968)

Photo courtesy Everett Collection

Sometimes you need to treat yourself to a cult classic, and few are better or more horrifying than Roman Polanski’s horror masterpiece. When a young pregnant woman (Mia Farrow) comes to the realization that her baby is not of this world, she has to turn to secret religious cult to determine the father. Get ready to watch one of the most terrifying cases of “Who’s the daddy?” around.

[Where to stream Rosemary’s Baby]

9

'The Sacrament' (2013)

Directed by Ti West, this found footage horror film is a modernized take on the scary movie trend of stumbling upon cults. When three friends learn about a spiritual commune inspired by the infamous Jonestown Massacre, they decide to create a documentary. However, there’s a darker side to this seeming utopia.

[Where to stream The Sacrament]

10

'Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt'

Sure, this Netflix Original doesn’t deal with the day-to-day problems of being a cult member, but Kimmy’s incessantly optimistic attitude nails what it’s like to live after being in a cult against your will. Amidst the many musical numbers and pop culture quips, the series actually works as an interesting reflection on what forms repression can take and how different people can respond to the same trauma. Plus, it’s hilarious.

http://decider.com/2016/04/13/top-movies-and-shows-about-cults/

EMMA WATSON RISKS IT ALL FOR HER MAN IN COLONIA

Rob Hunter
Film School Rejects
April 14, 2016

REVIEWS

When is a historically-based political thriller not a historically-based political thriller? When it only pretends to be one for twenty minutes or so before switching gears to become an action/drama about life inside a mysterious cult. This isn’t automatically a bad thing…

Lena (Emma Watson) is a stewardess who arrives in Chile for a few days of rest, relaxation, and time with her boyfriend, Daniel (Daniel Brühl). He came to Santiago several months earlier to assist the people in their protests against a harsh and unfair government, but when a military coup sends the city into chaos he and Lena find themselves trapped. He’s taken prisoner and sent to a remote camp called Colonia Dignidad, and while she’s free to leave for safer shores she instead stays in Chile intent on finding him.

Colonia Dignidad is, on its surface, a charity-based camp filled with people dedicating their lives to God through hard work, spartan living, and obedience to their leader, Paul Schäfer (Michael Nyqvist). That’s all true, but it’s also a cult where members are beaten, violated, and held against their will. No one has ever escaped before, and now Lena must willingly enter its grip if she ever wants to see Daniel again.

Colonia feels at first like a film and story in the vein of Costa-Gavras’ Missing or Pablo Larrain’s No, both dramas exploring the Augusto Pinochet regime through the eyes of those caught up in the oppressive madness, but director Florian Gallenberger and co-writer Torsten Wenzel are really only interested in that as a backdrop. The film quickly sheds that historically dramatic weight and becomes more of a generic thriller about escaping from a cult. The story retains a basis in the truth and still features some exciting beats, but it ultimately feels far from memorable.

Watson is front and center here as the dramatic core of the film, but while she gives a focused and stressed performance at times the script leaves her character hanging more than once. Lena is no spy or trained agent, but her entry into the camp and actions within seem far too simple. The camp is on lock-down and the men are armed, but she roams freely, spies through a window by standing directly in front of it, and willingly sets herself up to be beaten half to death on the off chance she can reconnect with Daniel. There’s a steady string of dumb decisions that seem to only work out thanks to an equal number of contrivances. Daniel fares a bit worse as his actions both before and after the coup leave viewers questioning just what she sees in him.

As unconvincing as some of the plot turns are though the camp itself offers its share of horrifying and unsettling moments. The sexes are kept apart, and is often the case with religiously-fueled cults the women bear the brunt of mistreatment. They’re dressed drably, beaten by male mobs under the pretense of spiritual cleansing, and verbally degraded on a regular basis. Schäfer appears to have a thing for little boys — a disturbing character trait to be sure — but it feels tossed in simply to drive home just how hypocritically evil the man is.

The production design succeeds in crafting an early ’70s Chile in the first act, but similar efforts in the camp itself are challenged by the script. The physicality of it is certainly oppressive and suffocating at times, and onscreen maps tied to the chapter headings offer reference, but the freedom allowed to Lena and the camera opens it all up too much.

Colonia offers Watson something different in a lead role, and she succeeds in portraying a woman of persistence and dedication. The why and how of it all is far less convincing. There’s an interesting story here to be sure, one involving the camp, it’s association with the Pinochet regime, and the conspiratorial relationship with the German consulate. The movie touches on all of these things, but it devotes most of its efforts to generic thrills and individual acts of violence, and the overall impact suffers for it.

The Upside: Emma Watson’s performance; intense sequences inside the cult

The Downside: Quickly sheds any pretense of importance; grows more generic by the minute; character motivations too loosely drawn

http://filmschoolrejects.com/reviews/colonia.php#ixzz45prJS4ei

Hugh Dancy on Playing a Cult Leader on The Path and Why He’s Hopeful Hannibal Will Return to TV

Jackson McHenry
Vulture
April 12, 2016

In Hulu’s drama The Path, Hugh Dancy plays Cal, the leader of a fringe religious movement (“it’s not a cult,” his character is quick to correct) and a recovering alcoholic who has entered into a sexual relationship with a young recruit (Emma Greenwell). Dancy’s first response to the character? “Cal seems like a pretty happy-go-lucky guy.” To be fair, in comparison to Dancy’s most famous recent role — a turn as the tortured Will Graham, who was somewhere between an adversary and protégée to Hannibal Lecter on Hannibal — that might be true. Plus, as Dancy admits, he has a tendency to underestimate the darkness in his characters as a whole. We caught up to talk about the latest developments in The Path, why Dancy wants to return to Hannibal, and the experience of looking back on scenes and thinking, “What the hell did I just do?”

I was trying to come up with the best way to describe your character Cal to a friend, and I ended up with your character on Hannibal, Will Graham, but at the end of the show. He has this very empathetic side, but it's twisted by this darkness.
I understand the urge to find a through link, but I feel like the only thing that really connects them, which just about connects any interesting character, is that they're in conflict as to who exactly they are. You can actually say the same thing of Aaron [Paul]'s character [Eddie], and, for that matter, Michelle [Monaghan]'s [Sarah]. Everything about the way Cal carries himself, the way he approaches other people, the stuff he's carrying around — I didn't have to slough off Will Graham, if you know what I mean.

You bring in a lot of that darkness, and also that attempt at connection.
For me, the darkness — and this is a truism — but not many people think of themselves as dark. And even though I knew what I was doing, when I watched the first episode, I did have to stop and recognize, "Oh yeah, there's something pretty bleak about this guy."

Because from my perspective, and this becomes more true as you move into the middle of the show, I was thinking about him as somebody who is shouldering this massive burden. For his own sake, and for the sake the movement and the sake of everybody else in it. He's decided that, probably accurately, the only way the thing is going to continue is if he absorbs what he's now learned about Steve [the leader of the Meyerist cult], i.e. the fact that he's mortal, the fact that the rungs [part of a critical text in the movement] aren't going to be completed by Steve. He can't share that with anybody. It's a very solitary and lonely position. For Cal, he himself is built on such shaky foundations, that the preservation of the movement is essential. That's his lifeline. It probably saved his life.

It's self-preservation for him.
And that's both desperate, and it can be genuine. He sees it as something with a very positive message for himself and other people. At the same time, just because of who he is, it so happens that selfless decision dovetails very neatly with everything in him that's also very ambitious and very alpha and very driven and domineering. Those two things are kind of both growing and moving forward hand-in-hand. That's what makes it interesting to me.

On a more comedic note, I loved the little moments where you see Cal in his car listening to inspirational tapes, trying to figure out how to be leader.
I read the first two scripts when we first signed on and got a few more quickly afterwards, and that in a way sealed the deal for me, a.) because it's funny, b.) because you realize this isn't some guy who's been running a cult all his life. He's been a follower and an acolyte and a devotee. And to some extent he was marked and chosen, but he never thought he'd be in this position. He wouldn't want to be, because who wants to think that your savior is actually just a guy? I like that about him, and that he's really trying to quickly learn the lessons he needs to run a cult.

There's so much detail in the structure of the Meyerist movement. Did you talk about the underpinnings of it? To me, there's a bit of Scientology, a bit of New Age EST or Esalen qualities to the cult.
First of all, it's easiest to talk about cults because at this point, we've packed so much into that word. But one thing that I've come away from this is thinking "my cult is your religion is your movement." It's very much in the eye of the beholder. I don't think that's just because I was trying to be fair to the character. I think that everything, from major religions down, at some point has been this unpalatable, unacceptable little offshoot of something. And then either it gains traction or acceptability or it doesn't. Obviously some of them are more sinister, but they've got so much in common. In the '50s, there was this big upshoot of cults, because the apocalypse was coming due to nuclear destruction. Now it makes sense to me that, because of what's in the air, the apocalyptic thinking would be based around the environment.

In one episode, we see this big focus on climate change in the cult.
It's like the worst possible iteration of the farm-to-table movement.

There's this tension with Emma Greenwell's character, Mary, where Cal has saved her, but he also preys on her to an extent. You can see a very dark aspect of the power hierarchy of a cult.
It's interesting with this character of Mary. In some very basic way, she's this perfect fit for Cal. There's something inside each of them that they recognize, and she is more honest about it than he is. Maybe he's got too much else on his plate. But he can't keep himself away. I don't think it's that he's decided, "Oh, great, here's this vulnerable young woman I can take advantage of." When he's under pressure and the cracks start to show, that's where his compulsion drives him.

I think that also comes out in his relationship with Sarah, in that she's so devoutly invested in this movement, while he's still an outsider.
My feeling about Cal, and some of it is my best guess and some of it is from talking to Jessica [Goldberg, the show's creator], is that he's been very much head down, working for the movement for years now. We know he's a recovering alcoholic, and he's had these lapses. He had a relationship as a young man with Sarah. But he put all that to one side. He's probably been borderline celibate for the better part of a decade, or longer. He doesn't really engage in extracurricular activities. He doesn't hang out. He puts the more human part of himself on ice. What that means is his first love was really his only love, and we've all had our first love and it's significant, but for him, Sarah is still on that pedestal. He's got this very idealistic attraction to her, which as much as it's real, also represents something for him. And he's got this other thing going for Mary, which he can't possibly allow to be real, but is in fact, very real, and keeps seeping over into his life.

It becomes his catharsis.
I mean, hey, we've all been there. [Laughs.] No, no. There were a lot of moments, actually, shooting this where I thought, "What the hell did I just do?" But it was interesting because it was only after doing them. On the page, and I hope on the screen as well, they all seemed to follow quite naturally. It was only in the act of actually doing them that you felt a little concerned.

One of the things that happens in The Path going forward is that it starts to reckon with the mythology of the cult, with the images of vision, and things that seem supernatural. Things that I thought would be proven false start to become part of a magical-realist aspect of the show.
I like that a lot, and you can take it however you want to take it. You can take it as happening within the subjective experience of the characters, or go one step further. I remember talking to Jessica about a scene at the beginning of episode five. I asked her, "Hey, what's up here? [Eddie’s] having a vision." I was being very literal about it. The response was, "Well, maybe 7R [the program Eddie has started] works." I thought that was a much more enlightened way to think about telling the story.

This project was brought together by Jason Katims, of Friday Night Lights and Parenthood, and Jessica Goldberg, also of Parenthood. Had you watched their stuff before? What brought you to the script?
I knew of Jason, and actually Jason worked on My So-Called Life, which my wife [Claire Danes] worked on when she was a kid. But really it was that Hannibal had just ended, kind of abruptly. Maybe the writing was on the wall, but I completely didn't see it. I was just casting around to get a sense of what's out there, more for me to [figure] out how I felt than to look for something. This was literally the first thing I read. And so I stopped looking because it became more and more intriguing.

Because you couldn't put it down?
You try to find faults in something. You think, "What's the problem with this? What's the risk?" The risk seemed to me that you take this thing at too superficial a level so that you just play the Svengali-like nature of the cult leader and you amp up the sinister nature of it. It seemed to me that, rather than doing that, Jessica and Jason were really invested in the belief of all the characters, or the desire of their belief, at least. That's very interesting to me. I find that very universal.


Speaking of Hannibal, I know that lots of people, myself included, would love to see more of it. Do you have any hope for the future?
I do. I've spoken to Bryan [Fuller, creator of Hannibal] about it. I know that everybody involved would like it to have some sort of a future. I've actually spoken to Bryan in more detail about what that would look like. It's complicated, it's about getting everybody back together, and it's also about the rights to the novels [Fuller has discussed the difficulty of acquiring the rights to The Silence of the Lambs]. Ten years ago, it probably would have been a pipe dream, but for me, I would very much hope so.

There are so many different places, like Hulu, that are producing things now.
And maybe it doesn't have to look exactly like it did before. It doesn't have to be in the same place. It doesn't have to be 13 episodes, or whatever. And given where we left off, and given what Bryan had described to me, if there's a few years in between, I think that makes perfect.

After they've returned from swimming across the ocean and jumping off that cliff.
After they've done a very, very big swim.

After Will Graham, followed by Cal, do you imagine yourself playing a happy-go-lucky character as a change of pace? 
You know, it's always bit of a surprise to me. I think, "Cal seems like a pretty happy kind of guy." A change of pace is always nice, but for me the differences far outweigh the similarities. We're trying to do something very heightened, but set in the real world. These people could move in next door to you. In Hannibal, it was much more of a dream state, and there was a challenge every day of trying to enter into that. I'm really enjoying playing someone who is totally off his rocker, but who is existing here and now and with other humans.

http://www.vulture.com/2016/04/hugh-dancy-the-path-cult-leader.html#

Cultsploitation and True Believers

Being duped and blinded to the truth is no laughing matter. So why are we so obsessed with cults?
Alissa Wilkinson

ChristianityToday.com
April 6, 2016

 

Mild spoilers for the first episode of The Path and the first season of The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt follow, along with extremely vague plot points for all seasons of The Americans, The People Vs. O.J. Simpson, and The Leftovers.

Near the end of the pilot episode of Hulu’s The Path, Cal (Hugh Dancy) stands on a platform in front of a room full of people, followers of the Meyerist movement, his back to a brightly-lit screen. “This morning, I’m going to tell you the story of Plato’s cave,” he says to the eager crowd.

Using overheads—for all the world like a sermon you might listen to any Sunday morning in America—he does just that. A group of people have been living in a cave all their lives, he says, watching shadows projected onto the wall by things that have been passing in front of a fire behind them. For the prisoners, the shadows of reality are reality. They’re all they know.

But one day, in Cal’s telling, one guy goes outside and discovers that the shadows are actually just muddled visions of real things that are walking over a bridge. “There is a real, true world out there that his fellow prisoners, his friends—they don’t know,” he says. The man comes back ranting and raving, telling his fellow prisoners that what you think is real is not in fact real.

As Cal tells this story with warmth and charisma, the Meyerists look up at him expectantly, smiling. They are grateful for their enlightened way of living, away from the prisoners of ignorance outside their movement.

But there’s one face in the group—Eddie (Aaron Paul)—for whom the story has a totally different meaning. As the first episode has shown us, Eddie is having doubts about whether Meyerism is real at all. It might be his cave. He might be the prisoner. And then Cal asks the key questions.

“What would the prisoners do?” he asks the crowd. “Would they, if they could, stone this man? Kill him, rather than have their reality destroyed?” As they nod along, he draws out the application questions: “What would you do? Would you choose to remain in your shackles? Would you choose to hold on to your pain and your suffering? Or would you dare to break free?”

They cheer. He smiles. Then he delivers the sucker punch: “Would you dare to let me unchain you and lead you up, up out of the cave?” He benevolently looks at the group. Eddie looks back, eyebrow cocked.

That one scene acts like cipher, helping to explain a growing trend in American pop culture: an exploding fixation on stories about cults. For those who’ve escaped them, cults are neither gripping entertainment nor a laughing matter. But that hasn’t stopped everyone else. To name just a few from just the last year: The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Midnight Special, The Leftovers, The Americans, True Detective, The Path,Holy Hell, Going Clear, My Scientology Movie, Prophet’s Prey, the end of Mad Men—you can even argue that The People Vs. OJ Simpson is a cult story. (More on that in a moment.)

Cults look bizarre by nature to the outsider, and that can’t-look-away weirdness is part of the attraction. It’s telling that Scientology is the cult de jour—two documentaries have opened at major festivals about the strange religion (Going Clear and My Scientology Movie), and a few years ago, P.T. Anderson’s movie The Master starred a Philip Seymour Hoffman character with a suspicious resemblance to L Ron Hubbard. Scientology is expensive and arcane, abusive, secretive, and created by a science fiction novelist. Celebrities like Tom Cruise and John Travolta raise its profile, and audiences don’t feel bad about picking on them.

All Scientology films also home in on the same question: how could people get suckered in? How do ordinary, interesting folks wind up spending their fortunes and decades of their lives in something that sounds bizarre to the outsider?

The post-Rapture (kinda) drama The Leftovers is full of cults, all of which have sprung up after 3% of the world’s population disappeared, apparently at random. Some characters spend their time battling cults from within, while others stay outside and others just join up, finding rest for their weary souls in someone else telling them what to believe. The Path takes a similar tack, portraying those who join the Meyerists as broken and weary individuals in search of healing and enlightenment.

The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt opened its first season with an introduction to our heroine, kidnapped as a teenager and imprisoned in an underground bunker by the leader of a bizarre doomsday cult for fifteen years. She is freed, and she moves to New York City. Capers ensue. The first season’s theme is that everyone has their own “bunker” to overcome—but by the finale, Kimmy must confront her former captor, in one of TV’s most fabulous cameos.

In the first season, an episode skewered SoulCycle as a substitute cult, and that theme is revisited early in season 2 (which premieres April 15). No spoilers, but one episode centers around a character who can’t shake the cult—and doesn’t want to. She “needs” a cult to belong to. Her identity comes from the group, not any individual.

Or consider The Americans, which has—from its start—been about faith and religion. It begins by probing its Cold War-era characters' faith in two competing, totalizing systems of belief: the ideology of the Soviets, and the competing blind patriotism of the FBI. As the show has gone on, it’s grown to encompass Christian faith, and, recently, the pop psychology cult of EST. The show handles all of these with a gravity that befits the characters’ own attitudes towards them; as Ruth Graham noted in Slate, “It’s easy to sneer at the opium of the people. But it’s far more interesting to ask why the masses are lighting up.”

In Jeff Nichols’s sci-fi thriller Midnight Special, the characters escape a cult early on. When we meet them in the first scene, they’re fleeing for safety. But it’s wreaked havoc on their lives, causing them to doubt the world around them.

Even Broad City, a raunchy little comedy about following the beat of your own zany drum, recently repainted SoulCycle (again!) and health-food coops as strange mini-cults.

In their own way, each of these revisits the same question: Why do people join? Why would even native-born citizens trust their government enough to submit to terrible abuse and ethical horror in its service? Why would a smart man seasoned and proficient in deception join a pop psychology cult? What kind of trauma must a person have sustained to join the Guilty Remnant? Why is a “movement” based on “the light” and “the ladder” attractive to natural disaster victims or drug addicts? Why do gorgeous people with the world by the tail follow a weird, enigmatic, abusive leader? Or punish themselves (and their friends) with their devotion to CrossFit or grocery collectives?

And why do we care?

You could argue (maybe rightly) that beneath this obsession is a human longing for organized systems of belief, especially since Americans are less affiliated with institutional religion than ever before. And maybe so.

But you get a better sense of the real motivator by observing the eyes of Robert Kardashian, the attorney played by David Schwimmer, on the terrific and just-concluded show The People vs. O.J. Simpson. If there was a cult of O.J.—even setting aside cultic devotion to celebrities, which the show portrays well—then its high priest is Kardashian (who also was a devout Christian, something highlighted with purpose and respect).

Kardashian starts by defending Simpson with every fiber of his being, with blind love, even against evidence. But the camera shows us, repeatedly, the moment when doubt begins to flicker in his mind. It doesn’t take much. And when it breaks across him with too much strength to be ignored, the result is devastating.

That same doubt is embedded in the scene at the beginning of The Path. Cal intends his listeners to see him as the way away from the darkness and into the light. Down in the audience, Eddie is starting to wonder if Meyerism itself isn’t the cave. It’s a loaded sermon, and the rest of the season spends itself on trying to sort out its implications.

What if you believed in something with all your heart, enough to change your life for it—and then found out you were wrong? What if you thought you’d found the light, only to discover it was actually another cave?

We have so many choices about what or who to believe in, today. From political candidates to religious systems to exercise regimens, we can have it all, and we can surround ourselves with friends and news sources and Twitter accounts and Instagram feeds that reinforce our beliefs while crowding out the others. Because of this, we cling all the more tightly to those whose lead we choose to follow—the cult of Bernie or Hillary or Donald or Ted, of Driscoll or Piper or Meyers or Keller—and sneer, demonize, or patronize those who believe in someone or something else. (Christians are no less guilty of this than anyone else—just look at how non-Christians are portrayed in the God’s Not Dead franchise.)

But in our pop-culture cult fixation—our cult of cults, if you will—we see the resulting anxiety made manifest, right before our eyes. Again and again, we play out our fears about our own beliefs, our own choices. “Cultsploitation” is our way of trying to figure out what we’d do if we found out we were wrong, or how we can avoid getting sucked in, too.

And yet, to believe and belong is a universal human desire; the trick and the virtue is in how we do it. So here’s something interesting: of the shows and films I’ve named (I won’t say which, so as not to ruin the surprise), several turn this proposition on its head. The cult’s system of belief turns out to be the correct one, the one that turns out to accurately describe the world, against all odds.

Which perhaps reveals something else we’re wondering: what if we were to spend our lives laughing at one group of weird “others,” with their strange beliefs and practices—only to discover they were right all along?

Alissa Wilkinson is Christianity Today’s chief film critic and an assistant professor of English and humanities at The King’s College in New York City. She is co-author, with Robert Joustra, of How to Survive the Apocalypse: Zombies, Cylons, Faith, and Politics at the End of the World (Eerdmans, May 2016). She tweets @alissamarie.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/april-web-only/cultsploitation-and-true-believers.html

The First Clip From Louis Theroux’s Scientology Film Is Tense As Hell

Meg Watson

Junkee

April 7, 2016

Louis Theroux has been trying to make a documentary about the Church of Scientology for more than a decade. Following on from work he’s done with other maligned groups such as the Westboro Baptist Church, Theroux claims he’s always wanted to “bring a sense of nuance and perspective to people’s understanding [of the church]”. “I hoped to see it from the inside and make a human connection with its clerics and congregants,” he’s said. But, despite his determination and proven skill in doing just that, those requests have been consistently knocked back. 

This is what led him to make My Scientology Movie. Currently doing the rounds on the international festival circuit, the film follows his attempts at gaining a real understanding of the organisation from the outside. He speaks to former members of the group, recreates their bizarre accounts (inspired by Joshua Oppenheimer’s work in The Act of Killing), and slings relentless questions at any official representatives he can get close enough to annoy. Now he’s released the first clip from the film.

This exclusive scene given to Entertainment Weekly ahead of the film’s premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival features a very tense encounter with a couple of members of Scientology’s Sea Organisation. They seem none too happy to see him outside the group’s base in California. Also, they appear to be filming him in return.

Giving some context to this, Theroux told EW of the continued difficulty he had in making the film. “I came to believe I was being tailed by private investigators, someone in Clearwater, Florida [Scientology’s spiritual mecca] attempted to hack my emails, we were filmed covertly, I also had the police called on me more than once, not to mention a blizzard of legal letters from Scientology lawyers,” he said.

It’s a familiar story — Alex Gibney raised similar concerns around his investigations in last year’s Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief. When Junkee published an interview with Gibney discussing those topics raised in that film, we received our own letters from the church as well. However, describing themselves as “an organisation that values dialogue”, their main request was that they receive fair response — essentially what Theroux is propositioning.

Louis maintains he was always interested in showing more than these mysterious defences. “At every step, I remained open to Scientology’s good points and tried to see it for what it is: a system of belief that is not so different from other religions, capable of enlarging the soul as well as crushing the spirit.”

Fingers crossed we get to see whether that comes across in the film sometime soon. Though it doesn’t yet have an Australian release date, the full program for the Sydney Film Festival is dropping on May 11. Just saying.

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You can read more about Theroux’s experience making My Scientology Movie here, or buy tickets to his upcoming Australian talks here.

http://junkee.com/first-clip-louis-therouxs-scientology-film-tense-hell/75819

The Path Hulu’s new series about a Scientology-esque cult is a uniquely measured, nuanced take on religious extremism.

Willa Paskin
Slate
March 31, 2015

In The Path, followers of the Scientology-esque Meyerist Movement operate within boundaries to feel safe. Above, Hugh Dancy portrays unofficial leader Cal.

Lucid Road Productions

Hulu’s effort to establish itself as a big-time purveyor of original content kicked off in earnest earlier this year with the release of11.22.63, a just-OK alt-history miniseries connected to various splashy names: James Franco, Stephen King, JFK. Starting Wednesday, Hulu debuted The Path, a much better drama also linked to various splashy names, including the splashiest of all: Scientology. The Path,produced by Friday Night Lights’ Jason Katims, co-stars Aaron Paul, Michelle Monaghan, and Hugh Dancy as three senior members of the Meyerist Movement, a religious cult that is not exactly Scientology but is close enough to provide Scientology-adjacent frisson.

The Path is set in upstate New York, on and around the compound of the Meyerist Movement, a religion begun by a war vet named Stephen Meyer. Meyerism was born in the hippie era: Acoustic guitars are at every gathering, and psychedelic drugs, particularly ayahuasca, play an important role in members leveling up the “ladder” toward “the light.” Meyerism has communes across the country, but it is still small and young, eschewing outside attention.

As the show begins, Cal (Dancy), the unofficial acting leader of the movement and a deeply troubled, charismatic alcoholic, has ambitions to grow the church. In the show’s opening scene—which is unrepresentatively cheap and silly looking—Cal and other Meyerists arrive at a tornado disaster site in New Hampshire before the Federal Emergency Management Agency bringing water and aid. Cal is close with Sarah Lane (Monaghan), who was born into the church, is one of its senior members, and acts as an adviser and drug counselor. (Meyerism, like Scientology, offers rehab services.) Sarah’s husband, Eddie (Paul), has just returned to her and their two children from a spiritual retreat to Peru, where he had a drug-influenced experience that rocked his faith and drives the show’s plot.

Meyerism, like Scientology, is full of jargon. Meyerists do not pay to reach the next level of knowledge, but they are constantly trying to level up: Cal is a “10R”; Sarah an “8R”; Eddie went to Peru to become a “6R.” As with Scientology, members engage in intense and prolonged questioning sessions, though they are not called audits, sometimes while hooked up to devices that look like but are not called E-meters. People who are not Meyerists are called Ignorants, not Suppressive Persons. Leaving Meyerism is difficult and will get you labeled a Denier, with no rights to see your children.

The Meyerists have such a zero-tolerance policy toward religious doubt, it is easier for Eddie to pretend he is having an affair than to tell Sarah he is not sure the ladder is real. Eddie, after confessing to this fictional affair, has to spend 14 days “in-house,” going over what happened in mind-shattering detail, all while drinking a spiked, truth-telling “juice.” The woman he claims to have had an affair with—played by FNL’s Minka Kelly—denies it, and no one will believe her: She is essentially held prisoner, until she is brainwashed into admitting she did something wrong.

For all this, The Path is not focused on the ways that Meyerism—or Scientology or any religious cult—makes its members odd or other or dangerous. Rather, it is devoted to exploring the ways Meyerism meets its members’ all-too-human needs for purpose, certainty, and a sense of belonging. The Meyerists do good work; they aid the flailing, feed the lost, provide treatment for substance abuse. If its members sometimes revert to uplifting chatter full of Orwellian doublespeak and have the smug contentment of the brainwashed, Eddie and Sarah’s home life is warm and jovial, full of family dinners, gossip, and bonhomie. In this regard, Meyerism is like any zealously strict religious movement or well-functioning police state: Operating within the boundaries of what is acceptable, one feels safe.

Cal, Sarah, and Eddie are The Path’s three protagonists, and they each mark out a different quadrant on a matrix measuring devoutness and decency. Dancy, Paul, and Monaghan all act their tails off, but somehow Monaghan seems infinitely more mature than either of them. Cal is devout, but power hungry. His careerist ambitions are utterly tangled up with his ambitions for Meyerism. He listens to audiotapes about sales technique and animal communication in his car. When questioned, he gets violent. He has a creepy sexual rapport with newbie Meyerist Mary (Emma Greenwell), an abused addict who is probably better off with the cult than her pimp father but is only staying with the cult because of her and Cal’s perverse dynamic. Eddie, in contrast, is a good man but increasingly skeptical of Meyerist teachings, though not of the life and family Meyerism has brought him. This is unacceptable to Sarah, whose faith is so strong it occasionally trumps her decency: As she toggles between these two poles, she toggles between the two men.

One of Eddie and Sarah’s major points of conflict is their teenage son, Hawk (Kyle Allen. I would bet money he’s in the running for a superhero series in the next couple years, which I mean as a compliment; he’s very good.), who falls in love with a non-Meyerist girl. The thought that Hawk might leave the church distresses Sarah so much, it drives her to an awful rigidity. Simultaneously, the thought of what Cal’s missteps might do to the church concern her so much, they drive her to distasteful flexibility. The Path is not a rollicking Scientology takedown but a more measured, slow-building dismantling of the insidious accommodations required to maintain absolute religious certainty.

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/television/2016/03/hulu_s_the_path_reviewed.html