Apostasy (2017)

Crappy film

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Blistering performances.

This is an amazing movie. It's not perfect, but this is the director's first feature film and - as an ex-Jehovah's Witness myself - is a highly accurate depiction of life inside the group. The movie should be watched to appreciate just how harmful this group is. It's a shame there appears to have been a campaign by current JWs to down-rate the movie just because it goes against their indoctrination. Then again, I guess I'd probably have done the same when I was a JW! That's cults for you.

Thought provoking film with a central plot line featuring the Jehovah's Witness faith. It follows Oldham, Lancashire, UK single mother Ivanna (Siobhan Finneran) a devout follower of the faith as she brings up her two teenage daughters. Facing struggles with both of them that question the faith. Now I don't want to pass judgment on that faith however certain scenes and plot lines make the audience do I'm sure. Chloe the youngest daughter has medical issues with anaemia that required the forbidden blood transfusion at birth. Luisa the elder sister has a relationship out of marriage and inter faith. She falls pregnant. As a consequence of her actions she is deworshipped from the faith and faces a long struggle to be accepted again. A struggle that she eventually gives up on. Finneran gives an excellent performance. It is remarkable that she played Rita in Rita, Sue and Bob Too back in 1987.

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.

JWs who watch or are aware of this need not be overly concerned about it. Its just a movie -- a story told based on the individual identity of the story teller. We can file this in the HUGE pile of stories told about Witnesses over the past 100 years or so. They are all virtually the same and you learn nothing new from them. That being said, there are many inaccuracies in this film. Witnesses are well-rounded people, don't steal babies, and have hobbies and live productive lives. In fact, people have worked with Witnesses for years and never knew it. That's because we are normal people, and in that context, fit right into the society around us. But why not be concerned? Little to these former members realize, but they are generating interests in Witnesses that we otherwise would not have gotten, whether the interest ends positively or negatively. God's name (Jehovah) is being made known, people are going to both our websites. They are looking to verify what they are watching. Our website is the number 1 religious website in the world, and is in the top 300 websites on the planet (out of hundreds of thousands of websites) This is not merely because 8.5 million people are visiting it. Other people are visiting because, while they think they are destroying interest, they are really generating it. We have faith that people can evaluate information on their own. They compare movies like this with what they KNOW about us. So we don't need to worry, nor does the organization have to "review" or acknowledge the movie. We've been doing well for 140+ years in the face of critical movies and media reports. History is merely repeating itself.