Religion is the cave under the tree at Dagobah “What’s in there?” asks Luke, to which Yoda replies, “Only what you take with you.” People think they go to religion to find God, but what they really find is themselves. People have values, both good and bad, and they’ll use any existing social construct to reinforce their views. Jeff Sessions quoted Scripture to argue for obedience to a racist administration Bree Newsome quoted Scripture when she tore down the Confederate flag. Both Malala and the Taliban that tried to murder her claim adherence to Islam. Religion fueled both the Inquisition and the Civil Rights movement. The same Bible used by slaveowners to justify owning people was used by abolitionists to call for freeing them. As an atheist, I think religion is a social construct - but that doesn’t make it any better or worse than other social constructs we treat as bedrock realities and organize our lives around, like “money” or “democracy” or “the Constitution.” But just as economic policies around “money” can either lift up the masses or increase inequality, and various Supreme Courts have interpreted the Constitution to either restrict or expand basic rights, so too can religion be used to oppress or liberate. The more I’ve pondered this over the years, the more I’m coming to the conclusion that the problem isn’t religion per se the problem is people. How positive a fantasy is religion if it cuts you off from life and love on Earth? How positive a fantasy is religion if it cuts you off from life and love on Earth?įirst viewed during the 61st BFI London Film Festival Marvelously understated performances from the cast combine with Kokotajlo’s unwillingness to let dictatorial belief systems off the hook, even as he finds sympathy for those caught in this one’s hooks, to make for a scathing critique of inhumanity in the name of some imaginary and blatantly invented greater cause. Now Alex and their mom, Ivanna (Siobhan Finneran: Boy A), are left on their own - they must shun Luisa - to dig further into their social and familial isolation even when, surely, their hearts are telling them that kindness and understanding are more what Luisa needs from them. But she does appear to find real joy in her relationship with her slightly older sister, Luisa (Sacha Parkinson)… at least until Luisa does something to warrant “disfellowship,” or kicking out of the Jehovah Witnesses. And he depicts this with an underlit colorlessness and a mute suffocation that is as oppressive as the lives of his obliviously brainwashed characters.Įighteen-year-old Alex (Molly Wright) doesn’t seem to realize how bland and drab her life is, with seemingly little to occupy her beyond learning Urdu(!) so that she can proselytize to the “underserved” Muslim community in her hometown of Manchester.
A former Jehovah Witness, Kokotajlo knows the world he is exploring in Apostasy, all apocalyptic visions of salvation for only a chosen few, and stubborn adherence to dogma in an attempt to ensure one is among God’s favorites. What happens when religious faith bumps up against family love and loyalty? Nothing pretty, in British filmmaker Dan Kokotajlo’s quietly chilling feature debut.
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