Category Archives: Cult Brainwashing

2021, Acceptable for teenagers, Amazon Prime Brit Box, British Drama, British Mystery Series, Bullying, Controlling personality, Cult, Cult Brainwashing, Detective, DO NOT MISS, Emotional abuse, Ethical struggles, Gay theme, Homophobia, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Narcissistic Personality, Personality or religious cult, Psychological Tension, Reconciliation, Religious Cult, Suspense, Uncategorized

The Long Call (2021)

From IMDB:

Follows detective Matthew Venn as he returns to an evangelical community in which he grew up to attend his father’s funeral.

From Amazon BritBox:

Following the discovery of a dead body, DI Matthew Venn is led back into the community he left behind – and the deadly secrets that lurk there.

From Amazon BritBox you can stream the 4 episodes of this single season production. Each episode lasts exactly 46 minutes.

DI Matthew Venn’s investigation of the death of a Simon Walden leads him back to the religious cult in which he was raised, and to which he also returns for his father’s funeral.  Years before Matthew left the cult because he is gay and therefore was considered by the cult to be a sinner.  Matthew lives with his partner Jonathan Roberts who works hard to bring comfort and self-acceptance to Matthew who battles the guilt inculcated into him by the cult.  Eventually we learn how involved the cult is in the death of Simon Walden. Along the way Matthew tries to make peace with his mother Dorothy Venn.

Two notable actors are:

  • Martin Shaw plays Dennis Stephenson the leader of the cult. Martin Shaw may be familiar to you as Inspector George Gently. In this production he was 76 years old.
  • Juliet Stevenson plays Dorothy Venn, Matthew’s conflicted mother. Juliet Stevenson has a huge resumé.  My earliest recollection is her role as “The Politician’s Wife”.  In “The Long Call”  she is a aged, somewhat haggard woman. During production she was 65 years old.  In “The Politician’s Wife” she was a mere 26 years old. How time flies!

Well-done and worth a DO NOT MISS!

 

2017, Abandoned child, Abduction, Abuse of Women, Bloody scenes, Bullying, Character Driven, Child custody, Conspiracy, Controlling personality, Cult, Cult Brainwashing, Detective, DO NOT MISS, Drugs, Eccentric Detective, Emotional child abuse, Ethical struggles, Lesbian Theme, Mental Illness, Missing Person, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder by poison, Murder Investigation, Netflix Streaming, Police Investigation, Rape, Serial Killer, Small Town, Suspense, Trial Scenes, Violent

The Sinner (2017)

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From Netflix you can stream 4 seasons of this intense series centering on the central detective character Harry Ambrose.

Each season consists of 8 episodes, each about 42 minutes.

  • Season 1: “Cora”  Cora is a young mother that inexplicably stabs and kills a young man during a family beach outing.   Detective Ambrose must discover why she killed in order to defend her.
  • Season 2: “Julian” Julian is a young boy who confesses to murdering his parents. Ambrose has to investigate the cult to which the boy belongs in order to defend the boy.
  • Season 3: “Jamie” Jamie is the father of a family and is also a serial killer. Ambrose needs to understand Jamie in order to stop his killing and prove his guilt.
  • Season 4: “Percy” Percy is the troubled daughter of the Muldoon fishing family.  In the start of the story Harry thinks he sees Percy commit suicide.  Alongside personal relationship  problems, Harry must once again put himself in danger to get to the bottom of a serious corruption scheme.

As Harry Ambrose the actor Bill Pullman plays a stubborn detective with a very unique personality.  Quiet, always with a knowing shy smile on his face, Harry is his own mystery.  With the other “criminals” he shares a tortured past which we learn bit by bit. Harry takes some remarkable chances in order to solve a mystery.

As far as detective series are concerned:

DO NOT MISS!

2018, Abuse of Women, Acceptable Trash, Addiction, Adultery, B-movie, Bad Acting, Bloody scenes, Brother-Brother relations, Bullying, Conspiracy, Controlling personality, Corny, Corruption, Cult Brainwashing, Detective, Drugs, Dysfunctional Lives, Eccentric cast of characters, Eccentric Detective, Emotional abuse, Ethical struggles, False Imprisonment, Family Conflict, Flashbacks, Frame someone for a crime, French, Good Brother - Bad Brother, Imperfect, Improbable details, Jealousy, Mental Illness, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Must suspend disbelief, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Often downright silly, Outrageous Behavior, Police Corruption, Prison, Problematic Ending, Psychiatrists, Psychological Drama, Revenge, Romance, Sex Offender, Sexual Harassment, Sexual Predator, Sometimes seems silly, Suspense, Troubled Personality, Unjust crime conviction, Violent

The Break (2018)

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From Netflix:

Soon after arriving in Heiderfeld, inspector Yoann Peeters is called to the scene of a suspected suicide and begins uncovering troubling details

From Netflix you can stream the 10 episodes of Season 2 of this French (English subtitles) crime soap-opera.  Each episode lasts about 50 minutes.

SECOND REVIEW: Please note that there is already a review for Season 1 which is dated 2016.  To appreciate Season 2 you should first watch Season 1.  My review for Season 1 raves positively and might now be taken with a grain of salt.  It is still true that I was so taken with the plot, characters, and mystery that I once again binged on the series. However, this time let me be a bit more critical.

For adjectives describing this strange-fest consider: exaggerated, corny, repetitive, histrionic,  improbable, riddled with inconsistencies,  and ending in a questionable conclusion.  How’s that for damning with praise?

So what is so watch-worthy?  For one thing the cast consists of some of the more peculiar non-Hollywood characters I have ever seen.  All names hereafter are the character names because it is unlikely that any of the French and Dutch actors will be familiar.  Dany Bastin is the center of attention as the accused.  He is a skinny young man whose entire body is marked by a severe case of psoriasis.  When was the last time you saw an actor with truly repellent skin? He, his brother Christian, his brother’s wife Zoe, and his mother all seem to be underfed, sub-intelligent, unattractive, poverty-stricken  members of some lower order of humans.  Astrid du Tilleul is the wealthy, nasty, dissolute, drug addict murder victim. Her jealous sister Astrid and Astrid’s husband are the oddest looking pair of scheming and murderous morons to hit the screen.  Even dumber are some of the police officers.  At least one officer, Marjorie, is, however,  honest despite her physical unattractiveness.  Not so honest is her partner.

On and on and on goes the series. Yet somehow I was eagerly drawn to each episode (like a moth to a burning candle?)  If my description has not yet turned you away from this mess,  just have fun watching the exaggerated set of unlikely events.  You won’t know “who done it” until the very end.

2020, Acceptable for teenagers, Based on true facts, Bisexual theme, Classical musicians, Cult Brainwashing, Divorce, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Explicit sexual discussion, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Gambling, Gay theme, Good Acting, Hasidic Jews, Jewish Culture, Lesbian Theme, Mother-daughter relations, Mother-son relations, Netflix Streaming, Religious Theme, Sex Scenes, Wife leaves husband, Wonderful acting, Yiddish

Unorthodox (2020)

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From IMDB:

Story of a young ultra-Orthodox Jewish woman who flees her arranged marriage and religious community to start a new life abroad.

From Netflix you can stream the 4 hour long episodes of this masterpiece.

At this point in April 2020  critics are raving about the film. For example you can find a discussion in the New York Times.  Unfortunately you must subscribe to the NYT to read full articles. From that review we read:

“Unorthodox” is loosely based on the best-selling 2012 memoir by Deborah Feldman, who left the Satmar sect of Hasidic Jews in Williamsburg and ultimately settled in Berlin.

In the film the young woman Esther Shapiro, who is called Esty, is played by the slight pixie of an actress Shira Haas.  Shira Hass is an incredible performer who presents her role to perfection. 

There are also short documentaries on the making of this film and how it strived for correct Hasidic details by hiring Hasidic men to help with the filming. Only the mink fur men’s hats are fake.

Constant switching between the past and the present, between New York and Berlin, might be a tad confusing.  Just keep in mind that the Berling portion of the film is fictional while loosely based on the memoir.

For me the most stunningly breathtaking moment in the film occurs when Esty auditions at a music school. We are talking real gooseflesh.

DO NOT MISS!

2017, Abduction, Abortion, Abuse of Women, Adultery, Amnesia, Cult Brainwashing, Detective, Dysfunctional Lives, Family Conflict, Forensics, Horses, Jealousy, Kidnapping, Marital Infidelity, MHz Choice, Missing Person, Mother-daughter relations, Murder Investigation, Personality or religious cult, Police Culture, Religious Theme, Serial Killer, Sex Scenes, Suicide, Swedish, Swedish crime series, Transvestite theme

Missing (2017)

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From IMDB:

Police superintendent Maja Silver goes back to her old hometown in the Swedish Bible belt to see her daughter, when a terrible discovery paralyzes the small community.

Helena Bergström stars as Maja Silver in this Swedish TV series streamed from MHz Choice.  Only season 1 is available and consists of 4 episodes, each about 45 minutes. Swedish with English subtitles.

Religious fanaticism is the center of this series. Someone is driving young women to commit suicide. Police inspector Maja, on a visit from Stockholm to see her estranged daughter, reluctantly agrees to head the case in the small town after the police chief dies suddenly of a heart attack.

All the usual police detective soap opera pieces are in place: a jealous colleague, a former lover, an estranged daughter, a resentful police force, a transvestite father, a sexual predator, and a few religious perverts and nutcases.  None of these elements detract from a compelling four-part series.  Until the last portion reveals the answer to the puzzle I suspected the wrong person.

Try your luck at guessing who is abducting the women.

2014, Abduction, Acceptable for teenagers, Ambiguous Conclusion, Ambitious Dirty Tricks, Anti-Semitism, Bloody scenes, Brother-Sister relations, Conspiracy, Corruption, Cult Brainwashing, MHz Choice, Murder, Personal Betrayal, Political Suspense, Politicians, Racism, Swedish, Swedish crime series, Thriller, Violent, White Supremecy

Blue Eyes (2014)

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From MHz Choice:

A taut, contemporary Swedish thriller set in the run-up to a general election as a series of terror attacks sends shock waves throughout the nation.

From MHz Choice (foreign films only) you can stream this Swedish TV series consisting of 10 1-hour episodes.

Essentially the film centers on the rise of white supremacy in Sweden, its political repercussions, associated terrorism, and its effects on different characters.

Secondarily the mystery in the series involves several murders which are a result of a conspiracy by some politicians to hide their greed-inspired push to allow uranium mining.

Most tragically we watch a young sister and brother being groomed to become white supremacist terrorists. Here the sister is motivated by the false belief that her mother was murdered by immigrants.

It seems only fair to warn you that the ending, much like life and the political process, is somewhat ambivalent. Expect no black and white conclusion.

Tension that drew me in like a magnet!

 

2016, Abduction, Action Film, Action Hero, Amnesia, Art History, Art Treasures, Based on a Book, Bloody scenes, Cambridge University, Computer geeks, Conspiracy, Contract Killing, Cult Brainwashing, Germ Warfare, International thriler, Istanbul scenes, Mediocre, Motorcycles, Murder, Netflix DVD, Nothing special, Personal Betrayal, Rome scenes, Suspense, Thriller, Violent

Inferno (2016)

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From IMDB:

When Robert Langdon wakes up in an Italian hospital with amnesia, he teams up with Dr. Sienna Brooks, and together they must race across Europe against the clock to foil a deadly global plot.

Netflix sent me a DVD.

At the time the film was created Tom Hanks was 60 years old. Not bad for 60! Already we have followed Hanks as the expert in ancient symbols, Robert Langdon, in “The Da Vinci Code”.  “Inferno” was just more of the same  involving Robert Langdon.  Not to say that the film wasn’t fun. Just don’t expect anything different.

2015, Alcoholism, Amusing banter, Arson, Bloody scenes, Bullying, Comic Moments, Crime, Cult Brainwashing, Depression, Detective, DNA, Eccentric Detective, Financial malfeasance, Firemen Culture, Gay theme, Murder Investigation, Netflix Streaming, Personality or religious cult, Philosophic Discussions, Religious Theme, Revenge, Serial Killer, Sex With Minors, TV Series, Unbelievably smart detective

Backstrom (2015)

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From IMDB:

The Portland Police Bureau’s Elite Special Crimes Unit is led by Det. Lt. Everett Backstrom, an alcoholic and smoker who is in failing health, but takes on cases in special circumstances.

From Netflix you can stream 13 episodes of season one.

Rainn Wilson (who played Dwight Schrute in “The Office”) plays Everett Backstrom as a cynical, alcoholic, smoking, bad food (if at all) eater, who must report regularly to a doctor whose reports either keep Backstrom employed or gets him dropped from police work. Repeatedly in the series he thinks out loud beginning with “I’m X (fill in a suspect) and I operate as follows (fill in case facts) …” He is a disappointed heterosexual who shares a dump of an apartment with a gay roommate who won’t accept Backstrom’s nonsense and often tries to help him. Everett Backstrom always looks like the wrath of God.

Backstrom has the help of Nicole Gravely (played by Genevieve Angelson) whose job is really to make Backstrom’s clever case solutions look as if he operated legally.

You may remember Dennis Haysbert as President David Palmer in the TV series “24”. Here he plays a manager in the police unit.

Because the plots and solutions and methods are original, this is as good a detective TV series as most.

 

 

 

2016, Clever Plot, Cult Brainwashing, Drama, Frenetic, Made For TV, Netflix Streaming, Suspense, Thought provoking, Unusual, Violent

Rebirth (2016)

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From Netflix:

Long-lost buddy Zack gets suburban dad Kyle on a bus to a Rebirth seminar, sending him down a rabbit hole of psychodrama, seduction and violence.

Again a Netflix Original film, this time one full-length feature lasting 1 hour and 40 minutes.  Several languages available both in subtitles and audio tracks.

What seems to start as some almost boring story picks up when Kyle reaches the Rebirth seminar, From then on the story crescendos into a horror story of violence, brain washing, and the frightening power of a fanatical cult. Recall how the novel “1984” ends? This is no different and the ending is chilling indeed. Could that ever happen? Think about Scientology.

Such a film may fascinate or horrify you, but it will not make you happy.