Date Night: The Sacrament

In which I review a randomly-selected movie on Netflix with Becky.

Becky apparently picks out what movies to watch the same way that a child does: never mind the plot synopsis nor the creative talent involved, you'll learn everything you need to know from its cover photo and title.  That's how we ended up watching The Sacrament - a 2013 horror film from the same visionary writer-director that produced Cabin Fever 2, the V/H/S segment "Second Honeymoon" and The ABC's of Death segment "M Is for Miscarriage."

When his sister, along with the commune that she became a member of, disappears, independent journalists Patrick, Sam and Jake travel to the seemingly Utopian Eden Parish: where the desperate and destitute have come together under Father's leadership to show the world a better way to live.  But everything is not what it appears to be at Eden Parish.  For every rapturous member of Father's congregation affirming that they would rather die than return to the United States, there's another who skittishly says that they're not allowed to talk to outsiders.  And when they are confronted by a mob of terrified parishioners begging to be taken away from the commune when the three men leave, they realize that they are all in danger.

Despite its lackluster pedigree of creative talent, The Sacrament is every inch the movie that Red State wanted to be.  Both films depict radical Christian sects with frighteningly charismatic leaders commit abhorrent acts of evil in the name of God.   Unlike Red State, however - which was riddled with false starts, rapid tonal shifts and a garbled mess of a script - The Sacrament knew exactly what it wanted to say and spent its entire run-time developing that message.  Its narrative didn't lose focus by trying to introduce First Amendment rights, Second Amendment rights, homosexually-driven hate crimes, ineffective bureaucracies, post-9/11 politics and a corrupt government all too eager to cover up its own misdeeds.  With journalistic sparsity, it concentrated on how religious fervor can entrap and enslave a group of desperate people who find themselves on the outside of mainstream society.

Father, the patriarch of Eden Parish.

Like Red State, the film's greatest strength is in its charismatic antagonist: Father.  Watching the normally bit-player Gene Jones preach about the evils of the world is like watching a revelation on screen.  His dark Southern drawl is absolutely intoxicating, spoken with a sweeping momentum that commands the focus and passions of everyone caught in his presence.  Like Sam, you lose focus on the obvious objections to his compound - which at even a cursory glance includes sleep deprivation, surrender of your passport, donation of your life savings to buy into the parish, drug use and rampant sexual fornication as a means of recruitment - and surrender yourself to the calming embrace of his voice.

Unlike most post-millennial horror films that share its aesthetic, The Sacrament makes intelligent use of its found footage framework.  While most found footage films use it to gloss over budgetary constraints and continue to use it when it no longer makes narrative sense that the cameras would be rolling at that particular point of time, The Sacrament uses it as an organic framework - born of the inherent needs and goals of the film.  We never question why three reporters would be documenting their trip to an isolated religious commune, nor why they would continue to film when the mass suicide and execution of the unfaithful began.  We likewise never question Father when he orders his followers to record the mass suicide, given that it is intended to be a message of faith directed towards a faithless world.  The reporters even have the foresight to abandon their camera when they realize that it's impeding their escape from armed assailants - a decision which uniquely records the whole of the chase scene without breaking the illusion of found footage.

Despite a number of pacing issues and an entire cast of under-developed characters, The Sacrament is a surprisingly well-constructed and entertaining horror film.  Ultimately, the strength of its antagonist, framework and story are enough to carry the film through its ninety-five minute run-time.  I give the film a 7 out of 10 and Becky gives it a 6.

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