The Sacrament

Title: The Sacrament
Director: Ti West
Released: 2013
Starring: AJ Bowen, Joe Swanberg, Amy Seimetz, Kentucker Audley, Gene Jones, Kate Lyn Sheil

Plot: Patrick (Audley) and his friends Jake (Swanberg) and Sam (Bowen) venture out to the cult like Eden Parish which Patrick’s sister Caroline (Seimetz) has joined. The trio believing that there is a good story to be found set out to film the experience only to soon find themselves way out of their depth when the dark secrets of the cult are brought to a head.

Review: In 1978 a total of 918 members of the Jonestown cult under the leadership of Jim Jones committed what they termed “revolutionary suicide” by cyanide. It would be an event that would go down as the largest single loss of American civilian life in a deliberate act until September 11, 2001. It’s also an event which provided the key inspiration for Ti West when it came to making this film. As a result the burning question is why he just didn’t make a film about Jonestown and it certainly hangs heavy over the film.

Shot as a found footage film this is actually one of those rare occasions were the format actually works for the film much like VICE allowing for their brand to be associated with the film which unfolds like one of their documentaries especially with the film embracing their style of immersion journalism. As such the trio are certainly happy to enter into the cult’s compounds despite the warning signs of it only being accessable via helicopter or those armed guards that patrol the perimeter of this supposed Utopia.

Things really stumble into darker waters however once Sam sits down to interview “Father” the leader of Eden Parish, who while initially open to answer their questions soon closes off and becomes more focused on proking into Sam’s personal life and dropping mentions of his pregnant wife back home. It’s a role played pitch perfect by Gene Jones, who shot the 17 minute interview segment in one take while his charismatic southern drawl perfectly brings in the audience making it easy to understand why his followers might be so willing to give up everything to help fund the community while making the sudden dark turn of the interview all the more jarring when that moment happens.

Once we get these first hints of the darkness lying under the idyllic surface it’s also the start of the nightmarish decline of the situation facing the trio and while West certainly takes his time establishing the tone with a slow burn first hour before cranking up the insanity once he’s lured us in. For the more impatient movie watcher it might be a little off putting but certainly the pay off makes the film worth sticking with, especially as the true power that Father has over his followers is made all the more clear with the end game for the cult showcasing some incredibly haunting imagery.

A reserved film as it build to the climax which is were West really lets go with showcasing the spectacle of this group imploding while still despite the gory shocks managing to work in a few more moments of genuine tension such as Jake hiding under a bed while one of the armed guards searches for him and his friends. These scenes bringing to mind the chaos of the group breakdowns we see in Red State and even to an extent the neo-Nazi compound of Green Room. The problem of course being that at times it feels like West is just inserting his characters into the Jonestown situation rather than crafting an original story.

If you can remove the film from it’s real-life inspiration which arguably West would have been better adapting than what can be seen as an exploitive use of the tragedy. As a director I have been aware of West since the release of House of the Devil but despite his rise to being one of the top names in horror it’s taken me until now to actually see any of his films so as a starting point it certainly left me keen to know what else I’ve been missing.