My Scientology Movie review – amusing but lightweight 3 / 5 stars 3 out of 5 stars. The young performers are very game for their task, and some go deep into the dark emotions that Rathbun describes. At other times, though, the mock-ups are a blunter device. Scientology is a complex subject that takes quite a bit of work to understand. The treatment of ‘Suppressive Persons’ — Scientology’s supposed apostates — is tackled with terrifying gusto by the actor playing Miscavige. And similar things occur in other circumstances, most comically when they’re filmed twice by a cameraman who claims to be just a freelance shooter-for-hire but won’t identify his employer. My Scientology Movie review: Louis Theroux turns lack of access into a virtue with funny, sinister results Louis Theroux presents an entertaining but rather light doc on the infamous Church. How close can a filmmaker get to Scientology? Unlike one of the main inspirations, Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act Of Killing, Theroux’s gambit is only half successful. British provocateur takes a novel approach to investigating Scientology. This Louis Theroux-starring film belongs to the Michael Moore school of docu-making, in which much hinges on the personal viewpoint and observational wit of the on-camera investigator. 3 out of 5 stars. For the current era, Alex Gibney’s authoritatively damning “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief” is likely to remain the movie about the pseudo-scientific mind control cult that calls itself the “religion” of Scientology. My Scientology Movie is a hilarious, if at times provocative, documentary. Alex Gibney estimates 160 legal eagles watched last year’s Going Clear before its release, and it’s hard to imagine Louis Theroux’s addition to L Ron Hubbard’s DVD cupboard wasn’t given a similarly fine-toothed treatment. Anticipation: 4/5 I was disappointed not to catch My Scientology Movie at the cinema. Review by Graham Williamson. Oppenheimer’s film has real people recreating their own shocking acts of genocide; here Theroux’s actors make willing surrogates, but they’re no substitute for access to the organisation itself. Scientologists profess to believe that humans are ancient cosmic souls who must reincarnate endlessly until they free themselves from negative thought patterns. With Louis Theroux, Tom Cruise, Marty Rathbun, Paz de la Huerta. Louis Theroux versus the Church of Scientology. Read full review I n My Scientology Movie, it doesn’t take long for documentarian Louis Theroux to get rattled by fears of harassment and surveillance by agents of the Church of Scientology.During an interview with former Scientology enforcer Marty Rathbun, a woman in a bikini saunters up to them to ask what they’re doing. For example, we hear nothing about recent reports that the Scientology ranks are rapidly aging since the influx of new recruits has slowed dramatically. I frequently revisit his earlier Weird Weekend series just because each time I watch the peculiar world Louis navigates, I find myself met with a renewed sense of astonishment.… Rathbun also participates in the film’s most productive contrivance, when Theroux sets up auditions for actors to play the parts of Miscavige and Cruise in a fictionalized probe into the Scientology story. DVD WWE Smackdown 20th Anniversary DVD review. It’s clearly one role you wouldn’t want to go Method for. My Scientology Movie 2015 ★★★½ . Photograph: Flat … Godfrey Cheshire is a film critic, journalist and filmmaker based in New York City. Jon Dower and Louis Theroux test that in My Scientology Movie (Dower, 2015). The personal pronoun in the title of “My Scientology Movie” makes sense in more ways than one. ... “My Scientology Movie” relies on a shaggy, meandering charm. He has written for The New York Times, Variety, Film Comment, The Village Voice, Interview, Cineaste and other publications. This is my review of My Scientology Movie (spoiler free) *** (3/5) MAKING A DOCUMENTARY about such an elusive subject like Scientology will always guarantee the filmmaker a decent sized audience. Watched Oct 10, 2016. Yet we get a hint of this late in the film where a small posse of members show up at the soundstage where Theroux is shooting. For the current era, Alex Gibney’s authoritatively damning “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief” is likely to remain the movie about the pseudo-scientific mind control cult that calls itself the “religion” of Scientology. Some gloriously surreal moments … Louis Theroux in My Scientology Movie. Louis Theroux's My Scientology Movie has been released in the UK and is soon coming to the US. For years, Theroux confesses, he had hoped to make a film that would discover a more positive side to Scientology than the countless negative images projected in the media. The very title “My Scientology Movie” suggests a juvenile goof-off on a serious subject. The two eventually chosen to embody the Great Leader and his Movie-star Acolyte (whose way of staring is carefully examined) are eerily good at playing men who sometimes seem not altogether human. The actors sit awkwardly while Rathbun explains the organisation’s doctrines, and there’s little in his explanation of its world view, tools of manipulation and intimidation strategies that hasn’t already been covered in Going Clear and Panorama’s explosive 2007 documentary Scientology And Me. My Scientology Movie. Movie Review: My Scientology Movie Lesley Coffin March 13, 2017. A small army of lawyers, in the first instance. Directed by John Dower. He has written for, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, The TV Homages of WandaVision are an Amusing, Unfulfilling Distraction, On the Disempowerment of Promising Young Woman, Entertaining 30 Coins Examines Depths of Evil with Style. He’s also one with a clearly stated goal that sets us up for the droll chagrin that follows. Scientology is particularly in the public eye right because of an expose documentary series that is making the rounds - Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath ("Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath", 2016). ... Louis Theroux’s ‘My Scientology Movie’ is a must-watch. My Scientology Movie relies on a shaggy, meandering charm. “After four hours of the same car being behind you,” he notes during a drive through LA, “you start to get suspicious.” Often lingering on the edge of his frame are edgy footsoldiers, awkwardly filming him as his crew films them. The personal pronoun in the title of “My Scientology Movie” makes sense in more ways than one. goons outside Scientology’s dusty Californian compound about whether he’s on its land illegally. Where they do pay off is in a recreation of the infamous Hole, a prison for senior Scientologists (or Sea Orgs) where the most extreme abuse is alleged to have taken place. Scientology maintains its power through secrecy and intimidation, and Theroux gets a view of both when he visits the group’s notorious “Gold Base” in Riverside, California, a sprawling rural enclave that’s surrounded by high walls and a phalanx of security cameras. There is no denying that Scientology’s mysterious influence … For much of the movie, Theroux drives a rent-a-car around Los Angeles and its environs, looking at Scientology locations and talking to people who have escaped the cult’s grip about its byzantine doctrines and practices. WWE: The Miz - A List Superstar DVD Review 2019. “You’re not trespassing.” It’s the film in microcosm: funny, occasionally menacing, but ultimately stranded just outside the inner sanctum. American viewers familiar with the documentaries of Nick Broomfield may find those provide an apt point of comparison for “My Scientology Movie,” although Broomfield is an actual documentary filmmaker while Theroux (son of writer Paul) is the species of TV personality that Brits call a “presenter.” He has a weekend show on the BBC, that is, and when he arrives in Los Angeles to launch his own investigation into Scientology, the film’s tone suggests that it is aimed at viewers already familiar with his low-key comic persona. BBC filmmaker Louis Theroux sets out to make a documentary about Scientology, but is soon stymied by its leaders’ refusal to participate. Except that Kim Jong Un doesn’t have Tom Cruise bounding on stage to lend his support to the idolatrous acclamation that Scientology’s leader commands. There are some tense and violent moments, including a disturbing scene in which actors who have been hired to portray some of the highest-ranking members of Scientology show what behavior is alleged to take place … This review was written by WatchThatTV. My Scientology Movie review – Louis Theroux gets smart with the cult church. For instance maybe a small army of lawyers. Louis Theroux documents his investigation into what goes on behind the scenes of the infamous Church of Scientology. 0 Shares 0 0 0 0. 3 out of 5 stars. Theroux’s first big-screen doc is an entertaining affair, peppered with surreal moments and wry wit, but its elusive subject remains out of reach. This film has a lot going on in it and I have quite a few thoughts about it. I have been a long-time admirer of Louis Theroux’s documentaries. That’s not to say Theroux doesn’t burrow gently under his subject’s skin. Parents need to know that My Scientology Movie is a 2015 documentary in which broadcast journalist Louis Theroux attempts to find a way into the inner workings of Scientology. Film, Documentaries. It’s delicious fun to watch the insane things the church does to try and stop the production of this documentary. Instead, he decides to cast actors to do the job for them. “You don’t have to go,” Theroux shouts after them. Only the good-natured Theroux seems to stand between them and an Anchorman-style camera crew battle. My Scientology Movie SUMMARY Without the highlights of the reactions to the reconstructions, the rest of the film is fairly ‘so-so’, tabloid-style baiting - as … Few people are more likely to goad this litigious organisation than a man who’s turned the tables on everyone from white supremacists to Westboro Baptist’s rabid flock just by asking the right questions, listening a lot and being disarmingly goofy. A number of interesting issues are touched on not at all or only tangentially. Review: ‘My Scientology Movie,’ an Offbeat Inquiry. It leads to the film’s most impactful scene, a depiction of bullying and the abuse of power that’s shocking even on a film set. The effort to do that is behind the group’s use of “E-meters,” which supposedly help members release the debilitating thought forms. Their efforts to intimidate are dulled by the fact that they all look well past 60—a sign, perhaps, that the cult may not last much past Miscavige’s passing, if that long. ‘My Scientology Movie’ Review: Cult, Film 'My Scientology Movie' Movie Rating: 3.5. Because the Scientologists react so reflexively and predictably—as they do in threatening emails to Theroux—it makes you wonder if they’ve learned nothing in decades of dealing with media that have long ago figured out how to bait them. My Scientology Movie Director: John Dower Rating: NR Release Date: March 10, 2017. SYNOPSIS: Louis documents his investigation into what goes on behind the scenes of the infamous church of scientology… Theroux serves up TV clips from Scientology rallies of recent years, where Miscavige and the torrents of worship washing over him resemble nothing so much as the cult of the Great Leader in North Korea. 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