(Some spoilers; just trying to describe the movie)
This was a telefilm produced by both the US and the UK and shown on PBS's Masterpiece Theatre. It's really like watching several seemingly different stories unfold, and the satisfaction of seeing them all tie into one another. It's a patient story, so I don't want to say it's "slow" or "boring" but I advise people to really let the film set its own pace, reveal its complex characters and the bigger story of what faith means to a person. It's not a religious story, but it shows multiple views of personal faith: the conflict between a logic-minded son and his father who is a church leader; the effect on Christianity and strict parenting which alienates a daughter and allows her to be vulnerable to a mysterious cult. It also touches on the secular blind faith behind historical institutions -- how our own histories are like Biblical passages, unwilling to be rewritten or reconsidered. I was really impressed by this story. It left more questions than answers, and that's what made it so compelling and unforgettable. The story picks up the pace when James Earl Jones' character, a de-programmer, is hired by the mother of the family who lost their daughter to the strange doomsday cult. In order to get her back, they essentially have to kidnap her and brainwash her again to get her back to normal, a process that is intentionally uneasy, meant to make you think cult de-programming is no different than cult re-programming. But don't get me wrong -- this in no way sanctifies cults in any way. To loosely quote a character from the movie: there are signs and wonders everywhere -- it simply depends on what you want see.
This was a telefilm produced by both the US and the UK and shown on PBS's Masterpiece Theatre. It's really like watching several seemingly different stories unfold, and the satisfaction of seeing them all tie into one another. It's a patient story, so I don't want to say it's "slow" or "boring" but I advise people to really let the film set its own pace, reveal its complex characters and the bigger story of what faith means to a person. It's not a religious story, but it shows multiple views of personal faith: the conflict between a logic-minded son and his father who is a church leader; the effect on Christianity and strict parenting which alienates a daughter and allows her to be vulnerable to a mysterious cult. It also touches on the secular blind faith behind historical institutions -- how our own histories are like Biblical passages, unwilling to be rewritten or reconsidered. I was really impressed by this story. It left more questions than answers, and that's what made it so compelling and unforgettable. The story picks up the pace when James Earl Jones' character, a de-programmer, is hired by the mother of the family who lost their daughter to the strange doomsday cult. In order to get her back, they essentially have to kidnap her and brainwash her again to get her back to normal, a process that is intentionally uneasy, meant to make you think cult de-programming is no different than cult re-programming. But don't get me wrong -- this in no way sanctifies cults in any way. To loosely quote a character from the movie: there are signs and wonders everywhere -- it simply depends on what you want see.