sirat-202-178299 Surely the two most fundamental things that a film needs are good acting and a good script. This one had neither. I have no ideological ax to grind, I have no religious beliefs but am interested in religion as a phenomenon. Nobody in this piece came across as sincere or passionate. Blank expressions were the order of the day, and all opportunities for real drama were thrown away. They managed to make potentially promising material simply boring. I couldn't believe in any of the characters or the story itself. All the film managed to achieve was to make the JW cult appear dangerous and ridiculous, which is pretty easy to do. One to avoid in my opinion. See 'First Reformed' instead.

gt_wog As a Witness that was shunned for saving my little boys life after giving him blood, this movie hit home hard for me. Its excellent and life like portrayal of life as Jehovahs Witness was difficult to get through as it confronts the person I used to be. Im happy i left this life behind, but it still haunts me. This movie is a must see for any ex JW or anyone studying with them. And as you can see, the comments left by the Jehovahs Witnesses here, the cognitive dissonance is so very strong. Just like the mother in this movie, they are blinded by the doctrines in this cult. GO SEE THIS MOVIE.

bsmith-68347 If you are a former JW who has dealt with being shunned, this will likely have a strong effect on you emotionally, so be aware that if you do not have EX-JW support, you will want to know that it will likely trigger you, so be sure whomever you do have for support knows this and can help you if you are feeling emotional or numb afterwards. This film represents both sides for the duration of the film, the first half of the film represents the JW's side quite heavily and tells the story through the eyes of the "faithful" JW Daughter, the second half is primarily told trough the eyes of the Disfellowshipped (excommunicated, shunned) daughter and the Mothers story is told throughout. Having been raised in this terrible cult, I (as well as many others) can attest that it's destructive. The shunning is real and is preached about at every recent convention of these people. They will claim that they are only follow biblical teachings, they will claim that EVERYONE who left them is "disgruntled" and attacking them, and they will continually victimize themselves with how "persecuted" they are by former members....... members who they once loved and now they shun them, treat them like strangers and give them looks of disgust simply for them making the decision that they no longer believe in the same religious philosophy. (Me being one who was taught by my parents that I needed to be baptized into this cult and I did so at 10yo, I obeyed them and followed this religion until I was an adult and out of their home, but after growing up and realizing it wasn't for me I was excommunicated and shunned by my family...... and if you wonder what that looks like, imagine not seeing or speaking to your parents or siblings for 18yrs all based on a "decision" I made at 10yo...... loving "Christian" Organization?) I know that I AM a victim of this cult, I won't victimize myself more for that or use it as an excuse for poor quality of life, I have a wonderful life in spite of the past and what was stolen from me by being raised in a cult. I feel that the name of the movie is slightly misleading as what the witnesses define as apostasy is represented very little in this movie, it's more of a story of shunning than an activist film. However, it's an attention grabbing title. ***BE AWARE that some of the reviews on here of the movie are from current JW's and they are not going to tell you much about the movie because they are forbidden to watch any "propaganda" by Apostates (former JW's that speak out against the religion) so none of them will have actually watched this film, they just want to give bad ratings to sway others from watching it as they know that it won't portray them in a positive light to the people outside of their rank and file.

lauraphilomenascanlon I saw this movie recently with a friend. It's power lies in its realism. It gives us a glimpse into a very secretive process (JW judicial hearing) and shows us just how strange the JW world is - a world dominated by hierarchies of men. Woman in the JW world are second-class citizens. This movie doesn't mean to be dark but it is and I loved it!!!