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The real horror here is going to open rental inspections in a nice area only to find heaps of others are interested in the flat too. And when you do find a place to live there's noises at night that compound the drudgery of day-to-day life. Very relatable stuff. But then the film deviates to a world of enforced anarcho-communism and some hardcore behaviorism is applied. A refreshing application of "torture porn" here and there, bundled into a movie with a story to tell that may not be a masterpiece, is still enjoyable.

In this film, David Marmor does a great job of dramatizing the way cults work on individuals to get them to join. Of course the seduction of a new member is accelerated and made stomach churning, but it's a movie, Would you really want to watch 12 hours of "classes" or "meetings?" Would you really want to watch the slow draining of bank accounts and inane barking about "suppressive" people by Tom Cruise?

No, you can see that in "Going Clear." This isn't a documentary. This is a cautionary horror movie about how cults work.

First, the cult picks lonely and vulnerable individuals who have a reason to feel left out of the mainstream. $cientology seems to prey on high school and college drop outs with money. AA picks up people who can't stop drinking. NXIVM picks attractive women with body dysmorphia and the men who love them. LulaRich, Amway, Mary Kay and all the multi level marketing scams pick at home mothers who need money and a life away from home. The Trump Cult picks white boomers and straight, single white men who are afraid of becoming the minority and need someone to blame.

In the film, Sarah is a shy LA newcomer who is trying to make it for the first time on her own in a new city. She's lonely and has an issue with her father. The Moonies send members to college campuses to look for "depressed" students.

Second, the cult love bombs the potential new member to take care of the fears and make the person feel accepted. Love bombing is part of the cycle in the normalization of the abuse the cult will heap on the member. The neighbors in the apartment complex love bomb Sarah to catch her off guard, and confuse her as the abuse begins. Every abuse cycle ends with love bombing.

In reality, the "hands on the wall" scene is taken directly from accounts by ex $cientologists about "corrective" abuse they underwent at "Gold Base" in Hemet. Many of the other scenes in the movie are thinly veiled references to confessionals by former members of $cientology and other cults.

Third, the cult isolates the new member from any and all people who aren't members of the cult so the new member has no way to check her own reality. In the film, the cult removes Sarah from her job and her only friend.

Fourth, the cult has a belief system that has all the answers to life's questions. The belief system usually has a sacred text. This is the book the cult forces Sarah to read.

Fifth, the cult forces the member to "confess" past sins to build intimacy, and make the new member more vulnerable. It's why the members ask her about her sex life and her father. It's why AA has a 9th step and $cientology has auditing,

Last, the cult has a charismatic leader. In the movie, the leader is Charles Ellerby, whose words, are repeated by the members again and again, "It's not crazy. It's science." It's why Sarah has to repeat the "four foundations."

The film uses these characteristics of cults to move along the plot and desensitize the audience to the possibility of Sarah (or anyone else) escaping the cult. The plot is helped by the acting of Nicole Brydon Bloom's portrayal of Sarah as an ordinary millennial, who may or may not give in to the horrors of the cult.

The movie is a combination of mediocre Netflix horror, and and extraordinarily well-researched premise about cult thinking.

With some genuinely disturbing parts. And just when you think it can't be much harder to watch, it gets harder to watch. It takes around 30 minutes to set up then the last hour a real rollercoaster ride with a fairly high squick factor. Overall a very satisfying horror/thriller.

I was plesantly surprised by this story of imprisonment with semi-political subtext.

Asides from the usage of the word "creepy" it didn't really do the little things that annoy me in horror/thrillers but even then they sort of justified it.

I can't tell you I loved this movie but refreshingly it's more of a case that they made it too well! Be warned how the characters in this will tick you off. It brings to mind the quote by Crystal Eastman "so much oppression takes the form of protection".

I think I kept watching just because I wanted a pay off to all the bullying by people who think they're in the right morally.

A lot of this just feels like torture porn and not in a great way. But that's kind of balanced out by the aforementioned features and it serves a function to help you follow the protagonists emotional journey. She was a bland and fairly passive protagonist (sort of the point really) but it's not really about her, it's about the situation.

More anger enducing than scary, without going into spoilers, this did not end, repeat NOT end in a way that left me feeling insulted or taken for a ride. There's several respectable surprises along the way too.

My final remark is that this is above average and I hope there are people who will appreciate this in they way I couldn't quite.

This has me interested from the get-go. I must admit I'm not usually a fan of these spooky bedroom type situations, but this is far from your bedroom goes bump in the night movie.

This could have been a little more intense, and in-depth, as far as story line goes, but the story that they have given you i think is well done, well acted and over all quite a good watch.

I wouldn't say this is a horror, at all, but it makes for a good thriller.