If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

I enjoyed this, even though I am learning a lot more about the abuses of the "church" or scientology through Leah Remini's and Mike Rinder's series on A&E (highly recommended).I have always like everything LT does. He's like a high functioning Aspie who doesn't mind or get bothered by confrontation. I wish he would have participated in an auditing session (where you sit and hold the cans) and filmed it, but the way he had different scenes remade was interesting too. The kid cast as Miscavige was pretty spot-on, and a bit frightening in the Hole scene.No, the only thing I didn't enjoy was Mark Rathbun. I think he has issues and needs some help. His volatile nature made him an unlikeable victim of a cult, and that's a shame, because he IS a victim.Anyway, good job by LT on making this an interesting look at a scary subject.

The biggest problem with this documentary from Louis Theroux is that it is very, very low energy...and other documentaries have covered this same fascinating material and infused it with more energy and passion. My advice is to try one of these other films, such as Leah Remini's very passionate and personal series about the same subject, "Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath". However, instead of hearing folks talking about their own personal experiences, often Theroux recreates scenes or talks with very little energy or enthusiasm...which is strange because he CAN make amazing films on cults, such as his seemingly heartfelt films on the infamous Fred Phelps cult "The Most Hated Family in America"--and the best film about the Westboro Baptist Church and their hate-filled protests. I have almost always loved Theroux's films...but this one is clearly the exception and I wish he just hadn't bothered.

This has got to be one of the most disappointing movies I've seen and when it was over my mouth was literally agape at just how bad it was. I should preface this by saying that I am an absolute HUGE fan of Louis and my disappointment was amplified because I was hoping (expecting) to see something on par with his previous work. The film is stilted, disjointed, and feels poorly thought out. The lack of any real new material forces the crew to constantly cut back to the half-baked casting calls and 're- enactments' which never make sense and don't serve much, if any, purpose. The crew seem to set out with no real goal but to create a studio version of Scientology for Louis to take part in. That never comes to fruition, which is a good thing because it was a terrible idea in the first place and a horribly weak cornerstone to place the framing of the film on. Normally I find Louis' mode of interviewing very interesting- his characteristic long pauses and 'innocent' way of questioning his subjects through absolute frankness makes for surprisingly revealing answers, but here it just feels deliberately insulting. At one point in the film, a major player and ex-Scientologist is harassed by some members and is visually upset. Instead of using this to push the ex-Scientologist to another level, Louis instead decides to needle him some more with a not completely unnecessary but unbelievably poorly timed question.Pointless and disappointing are two words that immediately came to mind after finishing this film. Right near the end, the ex-Scientologist that was harassed insinuates that the gloves are coming off; I finally got excited, expecting some big revelations from this man, only to have the credits roll. This film set out with no goal and ends exactly that way- accomplishing nothing.

I find Scientology and cults in general a fascinating subject and have watched most documentaries on the subject including the most recent one by Alex Gibney, Going Clear. Both this and Going Clear are excellent exposes but in different ways. As one reviewer said Going Clear is more factual whilst this one gives you a better feeling of Scientology is all about - a good description in my opinion.I've often got the feeling that Scientology is somewhere between a cult and a religion but this film, more than any other, puts it squarely in the cult category.Right from the outset you get a feel for this. Requests for interviews by Theroux are turned down by the church an almost unheard of response for an organisation that large. Most will have P.R departments ready to go to any and all media interests.This makes it hard for Theroux of course. His usual film making style is subtle and he spends considerable time those involved, something impossible with this subject.So he decides to use actors and actresses to re-enact some of the abuse by the organisation's head, David Miscavige. This is powerful stuff which is different to simply hearing reports of the same abuse.But I found the real behaviour of the real Scientologists even more damning, particularly when coupled with commentary by ex-Scientologists. Near the end of the film the organisation sent a letter to Louis Theroux saying because he was making a documentary about them they intended to make a documentary about him. Such a response seemed just so totally infantile, like a young child's tit for tat: if you take mine I'll take yours kind of response. On top of the rest of the film this gave an insight into just how separated this group is from mainstream society - to even think that was an appropriate response.All in all one comes away with the a real sense that Scientology is run by a powerful and paranoid sociopath who has somehow managed to get away with what he is doing for years. A great effort by Theroux that worked much better than his older documentary on another cult: the Westboro Baptist Church.