Going Clear : Scientology & The Prison Of Belief

 GOING CLEAR : SCIENTOLOGY & THE PRISON OF BELIEF

Director : Alex Gibney

Year : 2015

Genre : Documentary

Rating : ****1/2

 

With 'Mea Maxima Culpa : Silence In The House Of God', documentarian Alex Gibney exposed the hideous truths behind the vile abuse of deaf children by Catholic priests in the USA in the 1970's and 80's. 2013's 'The Armstrong Lie' uncovered the facts about one of the most controversial scandals in living sporting memory. Now Gibney turns his camera on the Church of Scientology in 'Going Clear : Scientology & The Prison Of Belief', a shocking and frequently infuriating look at the notorious cult which has taken billions of dollars from innocent people and destroyed the lives of those lured into the religion with fake promises and astrological ideologies.

Using interviews with former members of the Church including Academy Award winning film maker Paul Haggis, Gibney traces Scientology back to it's very beginnings with the sci-fi ramblings of the self-aggrandizing L. Ron Hubbard to present day America where the cult is as omnipresent as it has ever been. Along the way, Gibney reveals the horrible truths about the Church including the bizarre process by which potential members are chosen (or 'auditing' as they call it), the sneaky ways in which the heads of Scientology managed to convince the Internal Revenue System to recognise the cult as a tax-free non-profit organisation and even, most shockingly, the never before seen forced labour camps which are still operational to this day.

'Going Clear : Scientology & The Prison Of Belief' cements Alex Gibney as the most important documentarian working in the movies today. Every single one of his films has something vital to say about the world in which we live in and this one is absolutely no different. It is chilling, unflinching and at times, deeply disturbing. The overwhelmingly negative effect of Gabriela Cowperthwaite's extraordinary 'Blackfish' resulted in Sea World's attendance dropping drastically when it's hideous treatment of it's killer whales was finally exposed. I just hope that 'Going Clear : Scientology & The Prison Of Belief' has the same results and that the cult is finally seen by the world to be the manipulative and dangerous con it truly it.