Savage Messiah

Savage Messiah is a true story. The story of a Canadian social worker, once beaten by her husband, who discovers the women and children of a small commune are being abused by their leader. This leader, it turns out, calls himself Moses and has made the nine women living with him his concubines, mistreating them in the most violent ways.

This story made quite a lot of noise when it came out during the late eighties, both in Ontario and Quebec, especially because of the cruelty of the acts involved and the outrageous control "Moses" (Roch Thériault) had on "his" people.

While attempting to depict, sometimes with success, how it was like to live on the Church River commune, the movie mostly follows, in a very straightforward way, the social worker who discovers the truth and tries to make everything stop. Thus, it very soon starts to resemble these true stories often seen on tv on Friday night. Of course, the budget here is a little bigger, and the actors quite a bit more talented, but apart from that it just feels like a big made-for-tv movie, very easy to follow, with its few strong emotional moments along the way, but no real character development. And although the advertising prompted the viewer to "be the judge", the movie clearly adopts a subjective point of view. In the end, it's an interesting story, although violent, but a movie that, sadly or not, will not make history.

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.

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

Periodically, we hear of religious cults gone wrong, leading to the deaths of many people. The Peoples Temple, the Branch Davidians, and Heaven's Gate are just a few of the infamous cults that have destroyed the lives of many people. However, there is a psychological factor in both the people who join and the people who lead these cults. "Savage Messiah" bravely explores these areas in an intelligent and thought-provoking way.

Paula Jackson (Polly Walker) is a social worker for Children's Aid, a government program dedicated to protecting children (and wives if applicable) from abuse. One day, she is visited by a group of women who live in a commune with a man named Roch (Luc Picard), whom they believe is the prophet Moses. The women ask for assistance in protecting the kids from the upcoming Canadian winter. She agrees, but after an infant from the commune dies, she begins investigating. What she discovers will lead her in an uphill battle to save the lives of the women and the children in the commune. And perhaps her own.

"Savage Messiah" is being marketed as a thriller, and that's not true. This is a dramatic film with little or no suspense in the way that we normally think of it. To be sure, this is a dark and at times disturbing film, but it is a drama. To be more specific, it's a mix between a detective story and a courtroom drama.

The acting is great. Polly Walker, an actress whom I've been a fan of ever since I saw her unforgettable performance in HBO's "Rome," gives another terrific performance. She's like Erin Brockovich, only less abrasive. She knows there's something going on at the commune, and nothing is going to stop her from finding the truth, even if it puts her life in danger. Although this makes her courageous and valiant, it sometimes has devastating consequences.

Her co-star, Luc Picard, is suitable for the film's purposes, but nothing more. He makes Roch into a credible psychopath, and we believe that he's dangerous, and how he can use his charisma to get insecure women to do what he wants, but he fails to be "go the extra mile." He doesn't really arrest our attention, certainly not in the way that Walker does. Still, he makes the movie work.

The other important character is Lise, one of the women from the commune. The actress playing her, Isabelle Blais, is also very good. She has that almost demented belief in her cult that is typical of someone in her position. But through Polly's persistence, she begins to realize how much Roch is hurting her and the people in the commune.

Mario Azzopardi attempts to give the film a dark and menacing atmosphere, but budget constraints clearly hamper his efforts. Still, the film is well-told, although there's nothing special about the way he presents the material. The film moves at solid pace, and all loose ends are tied up by the end.

"Savage Messiah" is not always an easy film to watch, but it's well worth it.