O Messias do Mal

The film is an attempt to cross a dark psychological thriller with a profound character study - the result: a film that feels like a stew that has been thrown together and the ingredients don't seem to fit together. The main character is believable and also shows moments of real intensity, but everything else seems to have gotten out of hand like an amateur theater group. The supporting actors deliver an affected acting that invites laughter more than thought. The plot is thus somewhere between exaggerated pathos and clumsy drama. There are unintentionally funny dialogues and the film just doesn't really want to captivate. There is no tension for a thriller about a strange cult and these characters are too weakly cast for an autobiographical character study.

There is no words that can adequately define the impact that this movie will have, its the sort of movie that you watch once but will stick with you forever simply due to the fact that such a horror movie could not be imagined if it was not True !!.

This is such a powerful yet darkly disturbing movie that my advice is don't watch it alone or if you are easily upset.

Marvelous performances by Polly Walker as the emotionally invested social worker will have you Loving her, and Luc Picard as the what can only be described as a Perverted and deeply destructive Cult leader. Make this a very rarely seen master piece that deserves to be watched just to applaud the womens strength in facing there Demon.

I hope you get as much from this film as i did, but i wont say enjoy it because you truly shouldn't enjoy this story.

Roly

Gripping, if flawed, version of the events surrounding Rock Theriault's commune/sect in 1980s Quebec.

Mario Azzopardi's TV training (Stargate, Outer Limits) is weirdly effective in that the look of the film – all 'movie of the week' clichés (flat lighting, static camera) – makes the coarse language and violence all the more jarring and effective.

And if Polly Walker (Patriot Games) does little to dispel this atmosphere, the performances of Isabelle Blais (The Barbarian Invasions) and (in particular) Luc Picard as Theriault go along way to dignifying an otherwise standard and manipulative affair.

This excellent drama is one of the best films about a cult that I have seen since the early eighties (SPLIT IMAGE and TICKET TO HEAVEN spring to mind from that era). The supporting performance by Quebecois actress Isabelle Blais is Oscar-worthy. Her portrayal of a brainwashed woman who finally sees the light is the film's most memorable aspect, but all of the performances are top notch.

This movie is quite disturbing and not exactly pleasant to watch. However, that is not to say this isn't a very good and important film because it is.

There's a reason why Religion produces more pain, conflict and death than anything else in the history of mankind. It is used as an instrument of fear and power, and of course the weaker minded will always have gravitate towards the unknowable, and those who claim exclusive access to it. Not to say Religious concepts have no meaning or good qualities...and if humanity survives well into the future without destroying itself due to conflicting faiths, it will surely look back upon most Religious concepts as nothing more than unnecessary barbarism and tools for a weaker civilization.

Case in point...Savage Messiah. A psychotic and truly evil cult leader who tortures, kills, maims, molests, abuses...all in the name of "Love" and "God". Obviously this man was a complete lunatic, yet quite brilliant in some perverse ways. It's amazing that a few people still are loyal to him despite all the hard evidence against him, and even his ad hoc confession of guilt. Total brainwashing is a very easy process with some people it does seem.

As for the movie itself, it stays quite close to the known public truth about "Roch" and his self-proclaimed entourage. It is well filmed, realistic, and most importantly has some excellent acting performances by Polly Walker and Luc Picard. It's a movie that is important, even though most people won't ever get the chance to view it.