The Sacrament (2013)

I thought The Sacrament was going to be a trashy, found-footage reenactment of the Jim Jones massacre at Jonestown (in 1978) but it turned out to be mesmerizing with a horrifying script and some incredible acting. Despite Eli Roth's name attached as presenter it is not a horror film; in fact, it brought to mind John Frankenheimer's Seconds which I had seen the week before. Gene Jones and Amy Seimetz, in particular, are excellent as the fanatic cult leader and his paramour but kudos go out to all the cast and crew (especially multi-hyphenate Ti West) for, if not helping us to understand these peoples' actions, putting them into a perspective.

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