Directed by:
Ti WestScreenplay:
Ti WestCinematography:
Eric RobbinsComposer:
Tyler BatesCast:
Kate Lyn Sheil, Amy Seimetz, Joe Swanberg, AJ Bowen, Kentucker Audley, Gene Jones, Kris Swanberg, Derek Roberts, Shawn Parsons, Graham Reznick, Jermaine Rivers (more)Plots(1)
Two Vice Media correspondents set out to document their friend's journey to find his missing sister. They travel outside of the United States to an undisclosed location where they are welcomed into the world of "Eden Parish," a self-sustained rural utopia, comprised of nearly two hundred members. At the center of this small, religious, socialist community is a mysterious leader known only as "Father." As their friend reunites with his sister, it becomes apparent to the newcomers that this paradise may not be as it seems. What started as just another documentary shoot soon becomes a race to escape with their lives. (Magnolia Pictures)
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Reviews (3)
Certainly, with a film like The Sacrament, you might have an idea of how things will escalate, maybe you'll even guess how it will all end, but it doesn't change the fact that even the expected is very well filmed, and it sends shivers down your spine. At times, you feel scared as if you were trapped in the community yourself. Ti West manages to film a fairly classic subject in a way that makes an impression on the viewer, which is the film's main asset. The found footage format doesn't bother me in the slightest.
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Ti West has actually pleased me only once, with House of the Devil, so I consider him a purely mediocre director, and The Sacrament is unfortunately no exception. It's quite an interesting found footage project with classic shaky cam, but I'm not too excited about it. For an hour it's basically all talk and nothing interesting happens, then suddenly the film picks up and occasionally impresses with a functional atmosphere, but that's it. I could count the horror elements here on one finger. I wonder where the 4 million went. 50% so maybe next time.
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Up until the sixty minute mark I was pretty satisfied and thought of giving it four stars, but the moment “that” (which should be clear to any viewer) begins, the film lost me. At first, West manages to portray the atmosphere of an idyllic community or sect that hides something rotten under the surface, thanks in part to the stifling sunny southern environment where the sect lives. It has just the right shabby feeling of an exotic town full of brainwashed people and gave me an unpleasant and anxious feeling; and I could also relate to the protagonists, the journalists. But the moment “that” begins, all those feelings go to hell. The film loses all its atmosphere and tension, exactly what needs to happen happens (plus several improbably shot deaths), and The End. And I rather not talk about the questionable and surprising alternating between found footage, mockumentary and classic film… I still think that West is a very talented horror director, but the truth is that he hasn’t made me very happy lately. First it was his weak bit in the first V/H/S, then the utterly lazy contribution to ABCs of Death, and now this average mockumentary, and he wants to make a western next? What happened with the upcoming horror sci-fi Side Effect? That sounded ten times better than The Sacrament and a hundred times better than a western. Hopefully, he’ll recover.
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Gallery (8)
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