[7.2/10] Certainly an interesting documentary. Through a combination of South Park’s extended scrap with Scientology, my own wiki-wormholing, and the scuttlebutt and articles that followed in the wake of this very film, I already had a decent grip on much of the information presented, taking away some of the punch of it. Still, seeing archival and recent footage of Scientology’s major figures past and present, and hearing the concerns and horror stories of former adherents in their own words (particularly Paul Haggis) was shocking and affecting.

You do get the sense that you’re only getting one side of the story, which, given the horrible things done through Scientology, isn’t the greatest sin, though does make it feel harder to trust what’s presented. Still, as Haggis said in his letter, if even a fraction of it’s true (and I believe the vast majority of it is, for the record), it reveals the horror and pernicious qualities of this organization in a fashion that shocks the conscience.

The film does a nice job at dividing its topics up into various chapters, making it possible to follow the themes and throughlines even when it becomes easy to mix up some of the personalities involved. Overall, I think someone less acquainted with Scientology’s ills and controversies would get more out of it, but it’s still an arresting look at the terrible things perpetuated in the name of this “church.”