We Got This Covered
The Church of Scientology has become the big bad of documentary filmmakers. Last year brought us Going Clear, a movie that delved into the bizarre history of Scientology and the strange, terrifying figure of its current leader David Miscavige. This year brought us a book by former Scientologist and actress Leah Remini, reigniting interest in the notoriously secretive and notoriously litigious group. Now, My Scientology Movie, from British journalist Louis Theroux and director John Dower, takes us ever deeper into the weird world of Scientology and the people that…make movies about Scientology.
Louis Theroux documentary investigation into what goes on behind the scenes at the Church of Scientology.
Empire
Making a Scientology documentary will always guarantee you an audience. A small army of lawyers, in the first instance. 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. 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.
Variety
The very title “My Scientology Movie” suggests a juvenile goof-off on a serious subject. It could even be read as a dryly self-deprecating acknowledgment — as befits writer-presenter Louis Theroux’s very British demeanor — of its shagginess in the wake of Alex Gibney’s searing Scientology inquiry “Going Clear” earlier this year. Underestimate Theroux at your peril, however: His and director John Dower’s approach may be a lot daffier than Gibney’s, complete with casting sessions for a fake Tom Cruise and an uninvited cameo from a bikini-clad starlet, but this riotously funny doc yields its own penetrating insights into the fiercely guarded administration of the church that Ron built.
