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"Holy Hell"
U.S. Documentary Competition
HHH
The documentary "Holy Hell" gets as close to a subject as one can imagine: A from-the-inside look at a cult, told by its former "official" filmmaker. Director Will Allen spent more than 20 years in the Buddhafield, a group of beautiful people (as many as 150 at one point) in the thrall of a muscular peacock of a leader known as Michel. Though Michel began by stressing he wasn't an object of worship, the Buddhafield's tenets of good health and spirituality soon devolved into a cult of personality in which Michel (who later went by Andreas) conducted hypnotherapy sessions on his flock and prepared them for an encounter with God called "The Knowing." Allen has combed through scads of footage he shot of Michel/Andreas and his followers, and collects poignant interviews with former members who go into horrific detail about the cult leader's abusive behavior. The revelations are fascinating, though one wishes Allen had marshaled his material with more structure.
— Sean P. Means
"Holy Hell" screens again at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival: Thursday, 7 p.m., Redstone Cinema 2, Park City; Friday, 9 a.m., Library Center Theatre, Park City; Saturday, noon, Salt Lake City Library Theatre.