Scientology, the North Korea of religions, is both an easy and hard target for a documentary. On the one hand, generating interest in the subject is not too difficult. However, gleaning enough information and new material to be able to make something we haven’t seen before can be tricky. Louis Theroux claims he has been trying to gain access to the church for years with no success. In My Scientology Movie, he sets out to bring them to him. It’s a clever ploy: go to L.A., the heart of the religion, and start to make a fictional film based on it. As soon as he even starts to cast the roles of some of the church leaders, word gets out and members of the organisation come knocking at his door. Seeing how the church reacts to a production about itself is enough to justify the existence of this film. People come out with cameras, filming everything to try and intimidate the curious. Theroux’s crew gets tailed by private investigators for hours on end. Threatening letters from solicitors arrive in the mail. It’s creepy and undeniably interesting. My Scientology Movie isn’t all gold. At times it attempts to mimic The Act of Killing and it doesn’t really work. However, it largely delivers on its promise, giving us a novel take on the secretive organisation. The novel premise combined with Theroux’s naive fearlessness make the film one of the more captivating documentaries about Scientology. http://benoliver999.com/film/2016/11/02/myscientologymovie/

I am a huge fan of Louis and the work he has done throughout the years. His films are often incisive and enjoyable to watch. His bumbling persona belies a sharp mind. He had a tough nut to crack here. The Church of Scientology is notoriously closed off to outsiders and Louis struggled to get in to interview current members of the church. Still, he provides a great documentary using the insights of ex-members to bring to light some of the alleged practices of the church. The church typically complained about what Louis was doing; If they had let him into the church to meet active members then they would have had a better opportunity to show themselves in a better light. As it is, their constant belittling of ex-members and antagonism towards Louis shows them for who they possibly really are. All documentary makers who have tried to discover more about the church have been forced into a one-sided approach because the 'other' side have been closed off and negative.

It's just unbelievable what is possible in the US. Harassment and delusions on that kind of level. It's always amazing seeing how well Louis handles these situations, keeps calm and especially paints a very objective picture of the situation.