MIFF2018 film review:: Apostasy (2017) - Daniel Kokotajlo - 8-9/10

Finished watching my first MIFF film & boy did this years festival start off well! APOSTASY - a film about life as a Jehovah’s Witness. Incredible portrayal of the struggles many JWs deal with, the emotional connection with your family (or lack of), the commitment to the faith & the programming that can leave a huge scar well after a member has left.

It’s told in a very objective manner, without excess emotion or portaying any character as a victim. Moreso it’s an accurate insight into life as a JW without any frills. Some tense moments are so restrained due to how ur meant to behave as a JW, which only adds to the underlying anxiety and repressed emotions. After reading some reviews online from exJWs, it confirmed how well the characters, the dialog & situations were executed.

This level of detail could only be delivered by an exJW, the director did a brilliant job in showing the bare bones of the religion/cult. The lengths many Jehovah’s Witnesses go to remain faithful, as well as show those who can’t commit any longer and their lives afterwards. Either way it shows how much of a burden every JW carries, weather active or ex members. An educational as well as captivating experience that will stay with me for some time...