Release Date: June 6, 2014 (Limited)
Currently Available on VOD Platforms
Director: Ti West
MPAA Rating: R
Film Pulse Score: 6.5/10
Director Ti West proves once again that he’s the master of slow-burn dread in his latest thriller, The Sacrament, which provides an interesting spin on the infamous Jonestown massacre. Although I’ve grown very weary of the mockumentary as a storytelling device, West proves that in the right hands, it can be used to a film’s benefit.
The film centers on a documentary crew from Vice Magazine heading to the African jungle to cover a religious commune where one of the filmmakers’ sisters lives. One the surface things seem weird, but genuine, although the true intentions of the group begin to boil to the surface leaving everyone in danger.
Structured like an actual Vice documentary, the film is mostly seen through the lens of the group’s cameraman, played by Joe Swanberg. Right off the bat, the first difference one notices between this and your typical run of the mill found footage horror is the high quality visuals. The camerawork is crisp and clean- no messed up video or lens breaks. It’s meant to be a documentary and it looks like a documentary. The audience must bear witness to all the grizzly acts held within with no cheap tactics to hide what’s going on. While it wasn’t completely believable, and there were a few key scenes that seem like there’s an extra camera floating around, the mechanic works.
The cast features the usual lineup of mumblecore super-stars including the aforementioned Joe Swanberg, as well as Kate Lyn Sheil, Amy Seimetz, AJ Bowen, and Kentucker Audley. While they all did solid work, it’s Gene Jones as the malicious cult leader that is the standout. Jones has been a well-respected character actor for years, but this role has all the makings of a breakout performance. He captures the creepy religious zealot so perfectly that every word he utters seems to make chills go down your spine.
Like West’s last two films, The House of the Devil, and The Innkeepers, The Sacrament is a slow burn. It takes its time in building up the tension causing the big payoff in the end to be more rewarding and impactful. The bloody finale features at least one shocking moment that literally made me say “Oh My God,” but don’t expect it to be a high-octane slasher film. This is the type of horror that gets under your skin and shocks you with the brutal reality of this event. Of course, it’s more horrific to think that the events in this film pale in comparison to the nearly 1000 people that actually died at the order of Jim Jones.
Because the viewer will never really believe what they’re watching is “real” there were a few moments that seemed silly, like the conversation between Kentucker Audley and Joe Swanberg involving him grabbing b-roll. If this was a real Vice documentary, I doubt they’d include a conversation between two crew members about b-roll unless someone was shooting at them during it. There’s also a “facts” sheet that comes up at the end of the film before the credits that seems unnecessary and slightly ridiculous. I get that it’s similar to what Vice does in their docs, but it was still hard to swallow.
Despite those few nitpicks, The Sacrament is still a well-made thriller that solidifies Ti West as one of the best genre directors working today. With an outstanding performance from Gene Jones and some genuinely terrifying imagery, it stands as one of the best horror’s of the year.
