Driving by his deep will of criticize and reveal the corruption of the Church of Scientology under the leadership of David Miscavige, Louis Theroux, an ambitious filmmaker, unites up with a former Scientologist, in order to reveal the violent works, done inside the church, after the church refuses to participate in his documentary.
While My Scientology Movie provides a very entertaining tour of some of the questions that swirl around Scientology, viewers who've followed the story through the years will find little that's new or unexpected.
Despite the disingenuous premise, the movie stands as an entertaining and alarming companion to Gibney's more comprehensive Going Clear (which was in production about the same time).
There's not a lot of shockingly new information per se, but watching Theroux filming covert Scientologists while they in turn film him, and so on, has its own sort of meta-charm.
The film's a little choppy as Theroux takes side trips to interview other former Scientologists, but it comes together as a chilling look at America's most famous 20th-century homegrown religion.
At times it plays like an extended skit on "The Daily Show"; yet its disorder also makes its insights - like how strongly the church's training sessions resemble acting classes - feel refreshingly organic.
My Scientology Movie isn't particularly deep-Alex Gibney's Going Clear comfortably remains the definitive film on this subject-but Theroux tackles what you might already know in a wryly compelling way.
He's not content to copy Alex Gibney, whose 2015 documentary [Going Clear] provides a stunning inside look at the religion... No, Dower is more of an entertainer, and he imbues his storytelling style with a somewhat lighter touch.
