Follow the Prophet
Katie Gunderson's debut.,Although the title of the film is "Follow the Prophet," the copyright is listed as "Follow the Profit.",I'll start off by saying the acting was great and the cinematic feel was quite effective for the dramatic feel they seem to have been aiming for. Having said that, let's get to the problems: While I am no fan of the Fundamentalists (who, by the way, are not Mormons, no matter what they claim, just as a "Muslim Extremist" is not a Muslim), I cannot simply ignore the overall impression this movie tries to give of the LDS church and its members. The events shown may be similar to those Warren Jeffs was accused of (and was no doubt guilty of, though I did not follow the trial as closely as many others did), but very little distinction is made between Fundamentalists and Latter-Day Saints. In fact, it isn't until a full hour into the movie that the Fundamentalists' split from the LDS church was even mentioned, and they never once identify any religion by name, leaving it to be assumed. Among other things, the movie gives the impression that the LDS church actively hid the actions of the Fundamentalists, when the truth is the LDS church has been trying to get rid of them from the start. There are numerous other points of complaint that a perfectionist such as myself would love to point out, but most would consider it nitpicking and trivial details (silk garments? really?), but I'll not get into that here. If you choose to see this movie, please keep in mind the vast differences between the two faiths and do a bit of research on your own. I suggest http://www.watchman.org/old_wf/assets/files/flds_profile.pdf I've not read it in its entirety, so I can't vouch for its full accuracy, but the portions I have read seem to be accurate to the best of my knowledge and research.,