Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
First screened in January 2016
Director: Alex Gibney. Biographical portrait of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, followed by a survey of the checkered, controversial career of his Church (sic) under the leadership of David Miscavige. Interview subjects include Paul Haggis, Mike Rinder, Marty Rathbun, Spanky Taylor, Jason Beghe, Tom De Vocht, Tony Ortega, Hana Whitfield, Lawrence Wright, voices of Alex Gibney, Sherry Stringfield, Marina Zenovich. Screenplay: Alex Gibney (based on the book by Lawrence Wright).

 Twitter Capsule: Why watch this instead of reading the book? Intriguing, but weird emphases, credibility problems. Soft on its subjects.

VOR: ②  Much was made of the filmmakers' risk in angering the Church (sic), but there's very little here to surprise anyone who hasn't already cottoned onto Scientology as a grift.


Photo © 2015 HBO Documentary Films/Jigsaw Productions

Not yet reviewed in full. Grade: C

Primetime Emmy Nominations and Winners:
★Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special
★Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming: Alex Gibney
★Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming: Alex Gibney
Outstanding Cinematography for Nonfiction Programming: Samuel Painter
Outstanding Film Editing for Nonfiction Programming: Andy Grieve
Outstanding Sound Mixing for Nonfiction Programming: David Mitlyng and Tony Volante
Outstanding Sound Editing for Nonfiction Programming: Bill Chesley, David Ellinwood, and Daniel Timmons
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