O Messias do Mal

An excellent, thought provoking film. Well acted throughout, disturbing at times, you feel for the characters. The theme of spousal/partner abuse is primary here, and I do not believe I have ever seen a better description of the "battered spouse" syndrome on film.

While this movie obviously didn't have a 50 million dollar budget, the results do not suffer. Brilliant and highly recommended.

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 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.

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.

The subject matter of the film is pretty gritty, compelling stuff. It was very hard to watch at times. The main character, the commune leader is played perfectly by Luc Picard. He's EXTREMELY creepy, and gets creepier as his world starts to fall apart. The courtroom sequence where one of the little girls tells in explicit detail the kind of debauchery that's been passing for recreational activity at the commune is absolutely disgusting. The cult leader's final attempts to regain control of his commune are deeply disturbing.

There's something unique about Canadian films. The early Cronenberg films had it... like Rabid, Scanners and Videodrome. Strange Brew had it. This movie has bags of it. It's kind of a 16mm vibe. There are also scenes that are simple and yet brutally honest that are used to develop character, break the tension and probably fill out a lean script. For instance, there's a scene in a bar where a group of women are hanging out. One of the women begins to tell a story about going out to find a man for the night. She's pretty obnoxious about it, using a lot of colorful language to describe her sexual needs. This story goes on and on, much longer than it would in any Hollywood film, but therein lies the real entertainment here.