Concealed just before its premiere at Sundance Film Festival, Holy Hell explores a 22-year journey within a spiritual community in West Hollywood through the eyes of one of its members, Will Allen. Having recorded much of his time there as the official videographer, the film features his candid footage, interviews with the cult members, and much more. Ahead of a theatrical release next month, the first trailer has now arrived for the Jared Leto-produced feature.
We said in our mixed review, “this film’s many faults aside, it has a documentary villain for the ages.” We added, “Will Allen spent over 20 years inside a cult and was filming things the entire time. Now he wants to tell his story. It’s a good one, filled with drama and craziness and tragedy — everything one could hope for from a movie about a cult. In the same manner as the fun 2012 documentary The Source Family, he even tells this tale solely through the voices of people who were on the inside. But maybe they needed someone else to put all this together. Despite its worthy plot and the wealth of great footage with which it had to work, Holy Hell is a mess.”
Check out the trailer below.
In 1985, Will Allen became a member of The Buddhafield, a Los Angeles area spiritual group. A recent film school graduate, Allen began to chronicle the group’s activities that centered on their leader, a mysterious individual they called The Teacher, or Michel. Over time, the group’s dark side began to surface, until finally, a shocking allegation against The Teacher tore the group apart – all in front of Allen’s camera. This incredible archive of video footage became the basis for HOLY HELL.
Now, for the first time since he left the group, Allen turns the camera on himself and asks fellow ex-cult members to come to terms with their past and the unbelievable deceit they experienced.
Holy Hell opens on May 27th.