Synopsis
Two journalists set out to document their friend's journey to reunite with his estranged sister. They track her to an undisclosed location where they are welcomed into the remote world of "Eden Parish," a self-sustained rural utopia composed of nearly two hundred members and overseen by a mysterious leader known only as "Father." It quickly becomes evident to the newcomers that this paradise may not be as it seems. Eden Parish harbors a twisted secret. What started as just another documentary shoot soon becomes a fight for survival.
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Cast
- Joe SwanbergJake
- AJ BowenSam
- Kentucker AudleyPatrick
- Gene JonesFather
- Amy SeimetzCaroline
- Kate ForbesMindy
- ConphidanceGuide #1
- Derek RobertsGuide #2
- Shirley Jones ByrdLorraine
- Shaun ClayRobert
Recommendations
- 80
Variety
It’s a film that purists might insist isn’t horror in the strictest sense, though this slow-burning investigation of unseemly goings-on at a rural Christian commune is frightening in any genre language. - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
It makes savvy use of the well-worn found-footage format, modulating its creepy scenario with considerable skill. - 63
Slant Magazine
With The Sacrament, director Ti West has bitten off more of a premise than his classically modest barebones approach to horror movies can presently chew. - 60
Time Out London
As with all of West’s work this is a good-looking, well acted film shot through with moments of real power, but its conventionality is troubling. - 60
Village Voice
Restaging the 1978 Jonestown massacre for a present-day suspense movie is by most definitions tasteless, although The Sacrament infuses the past with ghoulish immediacy. - 58
The Playlist
The tension really is beautifully ramped up in these early scenes and gets an audience well prepped to watch carnage unfold around people you've truly come to care about. Then, when the thing goes off, it's not with a bang but with something more like a a whimper. - 50
The Dissolve
Its skillful execution of a bad idea doesn’t make the bad idea any better; in fact, the scrupulousness with which West and his crew evoke the past make the film that much more unsavory. - 50
The A.V. Club
Because the film is meant to resemble documentary footage, West is forced to effectively “play dumb,” disguising his craftsmanship behind a lot of intentionally cruddy handheld camerawork. Still, that’d be less of a problem if the material he was gracelessly filming weren’t such run-of-the-mill claptrap.
