My Scientology Movie review: “Hysterically funny”

My Scientology Movie review: Extremely brave; a very funny documentary into the Church Of Scientology.

Louis Theroux moves from television to film with this glossy, and indeed very brave documentary that sees him taking on the world of Scientology.

Theroux, the British broadcaster and journalist, has made some really successful, and hugely popular documentaries for the BBC in the past, including the ‘When Louis Met…‘ series where he famously interviewed and delved into the lives of Paul Daniels, Max Clifford and even Jimmy Savile, and also the US-based specials where he took on the difficult subject of the Westboro Baptist Church, the world of pornography and even Michael Jackson, where the entire programme revolved around him trying to secure an interview with the King Of Pop.

With My Scientology Movie, Theroux employs a similar approach. When he is refused access to the big players in the Church Of Scientology, including the papal leader David Miscavige, Theroux contacts former Inspector General and church member Mark C. “Marty” Rathbun, to assemble a group of actors to reconstruct material in live form to try to understand the practises and ethics of the church, which boasts millions of members across the world. This includes casting sessions to fill the role of Miscavige and one Tom Cruise.

In typical Louis Theroux style, this British documentary is extremely funny from the off and throughout, as Theroux consistently comes across a series of hurdles that hinder his progress in achieving his goal. With a very visible, much higher budget than his previous television works, My Scientology Movie pulls out all the stops to make this feature-length documentary entertaining, exposing and informative as possible, all with a glossy, polished feel. While in places the material could be considered a little one-sided – against the ethics of the Church, it’s handles it all with a very light touch, with Theroux determined to get results using his very unique, very warming style of journalism. However one-sided you may feel that it is, that feeling is almost instantly dismissed when Theroux delivers his final sum-up, which I thought was perfect.

If you’ve seen Alex Gibney’s HBO documentary, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, then you won’t be too surprised by the findings of Theroux’s journey into the world of the church, as a lot of the material is duplicated, and some of the promotional Scientology clips offered up in both. What this does present however, is a much lighter-hearted, more entertaining approach, with Theroux’s exploits and personality diffusing the hostility that he encounters with much bravado and a very unique British sense of humour.

My Scientology Movie is everything you’d expect from Louis Theroux. British wit, superb investigative journalism, all presented in a well-pachages, and very succesful format, with superb direction from John Dower. Brilliant and above all, hysterically funny.

My Scientology Movie review by Paul Heath.

My Scientology Movie is playing at the 15^th Tribeca Film Festival and can be seen on Wednesday, 20 April at 3:30 pm at Regal Cinemas, Battery Park and on Friday, 22 April at 6:30pm at Bow Tie Cinemas, Chelsea.