Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (2015)

I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Yes my summary is meant to mean more than one thing. Not sure if the Church of Scientology (self proclaimed I may add) can say the same thing about their beliefs and programs. But the documentary does point out many things that are wrong with them. And if you do a documentary, this one is a good example how to do it right.Of course a lot of things came together, former high ranked Scientology officials, who are not with the "Church" anymore. There are also people from Hollywood (Paul Haggis is the biggest name to come out of the whole thing and he's talking about his experience) in this. So while Travolta and Cruise did not comment or rather refused to be interviewed, you do see official clips, that do get commentary or stand for themselves especially in light what other things are being shown and discussed. Very informative and really well researched and amazingly put together structure-wise.Highly recommended and very interesting, even if you didn't care that much about them before watching this

Many can agree that religion stands tall as one of the most controversial topics, and has been since the beginning of time. When engaging in crucial conversations about religious beliefs with your family, friends, or anyone in general; topics like Christianity, Atheism, Buddism, Judaism, or any other religion may be brought up. Then there is the newly found Scientology, a religion found by L. Ron Hubbard, a World War II veteran who journeyed from a lonely military deserter to a highly persuasive leader of this mysterious religion in which many including government officials describe as "corrupt", "strange", or "sinister", too many words to name at the top of my head. Based on the religious practices by the church and the belief system as a whole, it's not too difficult to see why people would conclude to such opinions like these. This jaw-dropping documentary directed by Alex Gibney paints a vivid picture about the works and practices in the Church of Scientology. It begins with a biographical study of L. Ron Hubbard from his tumultuous relationship with his first wife Margaret Grubb, to the finding of the Church of Scientology in the early 1950s, to the rise of followers who worshiped Hubbard as a treatment to mankind, to the morally corrupt practices during the continuation of the church years after his death of a stroke in 1986. The film includes various interviews and news clips by L. Ron Hubbard and the church's chairman David Miscavige as well as some notable celebrities like Paul Haggis, director of the 2005 Oscar winner 'Crash' and actors like John Travolta and Tom Cruise who've risen as some of the most recognized Scientologists in America, and perhaps the world. It is a gripping documentary that shows that sometimes reality is stranger than fiction.This film is more likely than not what I would call somewhat unrealistic if it were made as a suspense thriller. However, this picture is not anything fiction. This is not a documentary dealing with some tragic historical event or a particular individual, it is a documentary dealing with something a deeply corrupt organization that's operating for the past six decades and is still going on today. Diving into crucial aspects such as L. Ron Hubbard's motivations in the foundation, church's abnormal practices by the followers, the various court cases conflicting with the church, and the overall belief system of the Church that sound more like elements of sci-fi flick; this film does not shy away from details or does it try to meander crucial facts, though some may argue that Alex Gibney aims for a bias direction. The further the film ventures through these spine-chilling topics, the more it captures your interest as it progresses, you become hungry for more and more information as the film goes on. Throughout the two hours, you can't help but think about actors like Tom Cruise and become pessimistic about how it could affect his life and possibly his career judging by how the Church of Scientology, according to many, manipulated him into divorcing his lover Nicole Kidman because they saw her as an enemy, though Cruise himself disclaims this. It also makes you wonder about how they played in role in the split between him and his wife Katie Holmes, although the documentary surprisingly never covers this.The Church of Scientology has been involved with crime, espionage, privacy violations and other heinous acts to protect their beliefs, and the law enforcement has tried time and time again to put a stop to their behavior but have struggled due to the interference by the freedom of religion of the first amendment. From then on, the controversial lifestyle of the church has continued and have intruded with other businesses and organizations including the legal system. The more you learn you about this, the more infuriated you feel about the unsettling influence it has on the members of the church, particularly on John Travolta and Tom Cruise who once held Hollywood's most crowd-pleasing image but experience a decline in their reputation for their involvement in the church. Viewers may ask why do they just leave, from the information the film gathers, leaving the church is nowhere near as easy as one might imagine. In fact, it is one of the most dangerous situations a member of the church could make. The church does not accept leavings of the church very well and enact heinous retaliations of those attempt to do so, hence the subtitle "Prison of Belief". According to CEO David Miscavige, a member is either full into the church or not in the church at all.Going Clear: Scientology and The Prison of Belief is a highly engrossing documentary of one of the most controversial organizations in the world. It is a film that is destined to leave viewers swallowing and engage in deep conversations long after the credits roll. This is by far one of the most thought-provoking and important documentaries everyone needs to see.

Scientology is a controversial, albeit not overly well-known topic in today's society. Many people ask if it really is a religion, and different answers appear. However, one thing is for sure—it confuses people. However, this confusing nature makes it, in a way, appealing. This is because people are interested. They want answers to their questions. This is what Scientology preys on.Going Clear, a documentary by Alex Gibney, is not meant to be an exposé. Instead, it is meant to give insight on what Scientology is about in order to quench the aforementioned confusion. The movie begins with many voices describing their experiences with Scientology. The sheer amount of voices is overwhelming, and in my opinion, really gives background to how many people were into Scientology. Throughout the course of the movie, many people give their insight on the topics of Scientology, and their relationship to the self-proclaimed religion is also mentioned so that the viewer can connect to them. The documentary starts off by talking about L. Ron Hubbard, giving background context to his life. The details of his life were shocking to say the least. With an abusive relationship with his wife, as well as constant threatening, emotional manipulation, and lies, his background is destructive and honestly scary.Wanting income, he created a religion, or what some people consider to be a cult. He called this religion Scientology. In this religion, people believe that people are "asleep" and they need to "go clear" by awakening themselves. To awaken, they go through auditing sessions, which are meant to help clear their traumatic experiences so that nothing is left in their unconscious. However, the sessions cost increasingly much, and slowly force oneself to reveal secrets so that they can be "relieved" of them. However, as they keep on paying more and more to Scientology and go deeper and deeper inside the ranks, they learn more and more about "Lord Xenu" and some of the more sketchy parts of Scientology. However, they can not leave the religion due to the secrets they revealed during the auditing sessions. If they do leave Scientology, they are threatened with these secrets for fear of them being released. The movie encapsulates the mental trauma people have gone through because of Scientology in an unbiased and concise manner. Both horrifying and genius, this documentary has surpassed by expectations. By providing insight to Scientology in a manner that can only be described as mind-blowing, this documentary allowed me to see inside Scientology and left me awestruck. In conclusion, I would rate this film a strong 9/10. With very little room left for improvement and almost no cons, I would recommend this documentary to anyone wanting to learn more about Scientology.

I finished this movie with more disappointment than revelation. Maybe it's because I live in the UK - where several other programmes about Scientology have aired throughout the years. But this film didn't really tell me anything new. Some of the Hubbard stuff at the beginning was interesting, (struck me as a sociopath) but it never really seemed to get to the nub of the issue. And at the end of the day, despite perhaps the intentions of it's leader, Scientology sure does seem to behave like most other religions in the world. I mean the Catholic church introduced confession as means of collecting more money. What in the world is different between that and Scientology fleecing it's participants for audits and larger levels? Yes, it does have that niggling problem with what exactly it's about - but if your stated goal is making individuals better, one at a time, through what is basically a psychoanalyses process, that must suffice. And that's the part that no one seems to point out - that essentially this is a religion at this point. A deeply screwed up, hypocritical, often abusive, religion - just like the rest of them. The other bit that was missing is asking the various interviewees just what it was that they either WERE getting or thought they were getting out of it. Because these people were in it for decades - they obvious did think they were getting something out of it. AND - a truly unbiased mind would have to ask if perhaps they actually DID get something out of it. Despite some pretty horrific stories of manipulation and abuse at the Gold Camp, these people are not crying wrecks of humanity. Quite the opposite - they seem like quite centered and clear individuals. Rathbun actually left and set up an independent auditing service (which is why the church hounded him so harshly and for so long) and yet the film actually left that bit out. Rathbun still believes in the efficacy of the auditing process. So it wasn't unbiased enough for me and nor did it delve deeply enough into the motivations of people involved. I would have liked to see a section on what we know of brain-washing and how it compares to the auditing and general Scientology processes. I would have liked to have seen more background on Miscavige - another raving sociopathic loon. Perhaps it's too difficult to get this information still - but at this point it feels necessary in understanding what's going on with this organisation.