Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (M)
★★★★
Director Alex Gibney, whose previous films include the excellent Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, has made another fascinating and compelling documentary with this examination of the Church of Scientology. The film, based on a book by author Lawrence Wright, uses a mix of interviews, archival footage and narration. It tells the story of Scientology's founder, L. Ron Hubbard and the organisation he founded with a particular focus on what has happened in more recent years under the leadership of David Miscavige. The battle of the Church of Scientology to maintain its tax-free status in the US, among other countries, is just one of the many subjects canvassed.
Since Miscavige and other prominent Scientologists such as Tom Cruise would not, apparently, consent to interviews, they are seen only in old footage and the new interviews are largely with former Scientologists, some of whom attained very high positions, and the allegations they raise and the admissions they make about their past behaviour are frequently disturbing.
The film sometimes seems a little rushed and sketchy - this could have made a good multipart TV series and if there's a longer edit of the film it would be great to see it sometime - but the material is interesting, especially in its examination of how and why people became attracted to Scientology, and left it.
There's also a trailer and a worthwhile interview with Gibney.