Honestly, I thought this movie was pretty accurate portrayal of life growing up a Jehovah's Witness. Until our main character Gabe has sex with his cousin. Lemme repeat that. The main character. The one we're supposed to root for and feel for. Had sex. With. His. Cousin. And from that point on he becomes more and more of a selfish prick, only concerned about his own desires, as evident by when he sexually assaults his longtime crush, who is not only engaged but repeatedly tells him, no I can't while bawling her eyes out. This is the protagonist? We're supposed to feel for this? If I was his father and I found out my son slept with his cousin and sexually assault a young engaged sister, I would've kicked him out of my house too.
There were some really sad emotional beats in the movie such as when his best friend committed suicide after being disfellowshipped for spreading apostasy with the Crisis of Conscience book. And unfortunately, in the 80's, mental health wasn't as much of a thing so no one around his friend could see the signs that his mental health was struggling so bad. And unlike what his father said, we do not teach suicide is murder. Jehovah can and will take into consideration any mental health issues that weren't addressed when he makes his judgement.
Overall, it feels like the movie is trying to say, look at how screwed up I am because I was raised a Jehovah's Witness. But if this truly was based on the director's life I would tell him, no you're screwed up because you had sex with you cousin. And it turned you into a terrible person.
There were some really sad emotional beats in the movie such as when his best friend committed suicide after being disfellowshipped for spreading apostasy with the Crisis of Conscience book. And unfortunately, in the 80's, mental health wasn't as much of a thing so no one around his friend could see the signs that his mental health was struggling so bad. And unlike what his father said, we do not teach suicide is murder. Jehovah can and will take into consideration any mental health issues that weren't addressed when he makes his judgement.
Overall, it feels like the movie is trying to say, look at how screwed up I am because I was raised a Jehovah's Witness. But if this truly was based on the director's life I would tell him, no you're screwed up because you had sex with you cousin. And it turned you into a terrible person.