Was ready to quit this after first episode but just finished the third and its starting to get better,stick with it.
My main issue with the show is that episodes are way too long (none are under an hour), I don't think it is justified.
Under the Banner of Heaven made me feel constantly disturbed for seven consecutive episodes and not because of the gruesome deaths (even though they don't help) but because I reached a point where the religious theme, and especially if religious organizations are the topic, I'm just overly disturbed. Every time it started showing manipulation, officials spewing lies, and the whole lovely approach to women, I was all physically tense, snorting and huffing and puffing, visibly anxious, while spectator number 2 held my hand trying to calm me down. Jesus. That being said, Andrew Garfield is great, the whole cast of actors is really effective, it's beautifully shot (even though there's a palpable step down after the first two David MacKenzie directed episodes), the detective story plot works well and the feeling of fingernails scratching on the chalkboard never goes away.
Superb mini-series. You could make a blockbuster movie with its cast no problem, it reminded me a lot of True Detective seasons 1 and 3. Besides being an excellent drama, it's also a history lesson for non-Americans like me who have heard the term "mormon" but had no idea what it actually means and how these people are. It really hits you how manipulative and filthy religion really is, of any kind, not just mormonism. Andrew Garfield is slowly becoming my favorite actor.
We had a huge tidal wave of non-fiction shows this Spring, some felt like I could've skipped this while others didn't feel like they were unique enough to be labelled as must-watch TV, which I'd say in regard to this show. By no means is it bad or say terrible, instead, it's on par with True Detective Season 3, an intriguing detective story that required a cinematic eye to prevent the writing from dragging it and feel like a more mature Law and Order. It's a diss sure, but the reason HBO and FX are considered the places for top tier entertainment is due to being the place for shows that would get a-list talent but also feel like stories that big creatives could only tell. This has those two aspects, being led by Andrew Garfield and showrun by Dustin Lance Black. The result feels like a poor man's True Detective, one that's too informative with Morman history (and a character literally saying "this is what I was doing by doing this"). And sure, it's a true story but one that literally uses the beats of HBO's 2014 hit (a series that almost feels like a distant memory but may come back with a vengeance very soon). By no means is this bad and is very entertaining at many moments however, the series barely wows. Ever since Chernobyl hit the small screen in 2019, limited shows based on reality prove to be cultural phenomenons, some that even rival the likes of what is shown on the big screen, however, such a series requires a heavy cinematic eye to capture the views of TV watchers. Perhaps had David Mackenzie stuck around as a director and not relied on the TD formula of two cops solving a mystery, there'd probably be something unique but that's not the case. Don't get me wrong, I love how unconventional a duo Garfield is with Gil Birmingham (who steals the show constantly since everyone else is a devout Mormon). Performances are great but like its opening logo, it feels familiar and generic.
It's a slow burn but the as the story progresses it reels you in until you can't let go.
I'll have to admit I haven't seen Garfield in much before this but his performance blew me away.
One of the things I liked the most is that in the entirety of the series there is not one single filler shot where it's like a five minute music video without progressing the story at all which is like a plague in almost all other major productions these days.
This just tells the story and what a doozy of a story it is.
With all the real life crazy this show has to offer, at the end of every episode I could only think of how damn good this cast is. Seriously! Not a single weak link in this bunch. Such a pleasure watching them perform.
Under the Banner of Heaven was a really well-done dramatization of a true crime. I’m not usually a big fan of the true crime genre, but this one was gripping and very tense. As many people have rightly pointed out, Andrew Garfield’s acting was nothing less than phenomenal. His Emmy nomination for the role of detective Jeb Pyre was well-deserved.
This was an excellently done mini series about a disturbing true story. I think the acting was superb and believable - the very poorly designed fake beards in later episodes were embarrassing. Garfield knocks it out of the park in this.
True Detective meets Big Love indeed. Gripping and disturbing, pushes so deep into the darkness they don't even let you breathe over the 8 hours. Andrew Garfield should take the Emmy for this hands down.
As a reflection on fundamentalisms, it questions the foundations of the Mormon movement as the basis of an intrinsic violence that is already found in the genesis, but it also points to the cowardice of a latent masculinity that allows abuse in the most orthodox religious communities. As a thriller, it brings darkness to a plot that is perhaps too tangled, but has especially brilliant and deeply disturbing moments.
Complete anti Mormon bashing propaganda garbage.
A very interesting show that does a smart thing and focuses on the arc of the lead detective just as much as it does the true crime. It turns into more than just a dramatic retelling of a true crime story and also becomes a look at faith and religion both in broader strokes and in an intimate way through Detective Jeb's crisis of faith. I am not Mormon and in no way can speak to the historical events or religious elements of Mormonism the show touches on, so I can only go off of what the show gives me. And based off that I found the exploration and deconstruction of certain elements pretty fascinating. I think it does get a bit close to becoming too much of a direct criticism of religion and Mormonism at times, but from my outsiders perspective I thought that in the end it ultimately provides a balanced look and never becomes a full on criticism. The show is also able to maintain a great atmosphere throughout with plenty of good tension. Garfield is fantastic as you would expect, and I thought every performance was very good. Gil Birmingham was so enjoyable and a big standout for me, I loved every second of his character. It's not a perfect show and the pacing is a little bit weird at times. I think that the decision to frame a lot of the show through flashbacks as Jeb investigates and discovers more and more details of what happened is a smart one, as it allows you to feel the full effect of his internal struggle and arc in real time. But at the same time the balance between the present time and the flashbacks felt a bit off at times, and the decision to place things out of order in some episodes was a weird one that made the show feel a bit all over the place for a while. So maybe not perfectly executed, but nonetheless a very good and interesting miniseries.
This is the follow up season of True Detective we deserved but never got.
A furious evisceration of the hypocrisy of organised religion, while also seeing the value of faith - be it in those you love, yourself or your own moral compass. This horrific true story walks the line between infuriating and fascinating, remaining a stunning watch from start to finish.
I'm not sure I've ever seen Andrew Garfield be as compelling or so fully inhabiting a character as he does here. He plays a Mormon detective and it means he needs to navigate completely different worlds. I particularly enjoyed the relationship between him and his partner Bill.
The true crime dealt with in this story is not for the faint hearted, and the portrayal of the corrupted people behind it is strong. I won't highlight any names here for fear of spoilers, but some of the cast members put in truly disturbing performances.
The structure of the series is a little odd, being told with multiple flashbacks and timeline jumps. I think that mostly this is put together really well, but the 1800s stuff was probably unnecessary. I would have appreciated more time spent with Brenda's (Daisy Edgar-Jones) story instead.
One thing I really liked here was the slightly longer episode lengths. They ended up benefitting the story and really allowed me to get immersed. I wish I'd watched this sooner and would recommend it in an instant. Just take a few deep breaths because the behaviour of these people, especially their treatment of women, is a lot to take.
Really good storytelling and a great cast. A must watch!
what a damn fine cast
Sam Worthington gives maybe his best performance, the series plays around with the audience's perception of his character and he 100% nails what's asked of him to play into that (mis)perception. skimmed some interviews he gave on the Avatar 2 press tour about the fast fame he found after Avatar 1 and the roles he got after that and it's nice to see him in something really meaty he could sink his teeth into and he totally rises to the occasion
Wyatt Russell is an actor I find hard to take seriously in a dramatic roles because I love love love him so much as Dudley from Lodge 49 and I can only see him as a likeable surfer bro-type person (he's Goldie Hawn's son!) but DAMN he also rises to the occasion and makes his character so menacing, great stuff and I'm partial to Lodge 49 but this also may challenge it for Wyatt's best performance
Watched Denise Gough in Andor and thought she was absolutely wonderful there (that whole damn cast deserves all the nominations from all the awards ceremonies) so it was certainly a pivot watching her in more of a kowtowed role (loved seeing her fiercer side come out at the end)
I'll be honest, I thought Daisy Edgar-Jones was the lesser of the Normal People pair but only because Pauls Mescal's performance was so damn powerful and I'm a sucker for silent-but-deeper-emotions-underneath types but between this and the commercial success of Crawdads she's definitely on her way up. Like everyone else, she gave everything this role asked of her
Andrew Garfield reliably good, just keep giving me 1 Andrew Garfield man-struggling-with-his-deeply-held-faith role per decade and I'll be satisfied
Billy Howle made you feel for Allen so much and Gil Birmingham played off of Garfield so well as his partner and when he goes off on Garfield in the last episode it definitely felt pent-up and earned after six episodes of largely biting his tongue
solid writing that takes a serious approach to the religion thanks to Dustin Lance Black's Mormon upbringing and while it clearly comes down hard on blind faith and fundamentalism and the secrets and protectionism that places the religion over the individual's well-being, it's much more fleshed-out than the typical one-note 'religion bad mmkay' takes that often come out of Hollywood
amazing godspeed you black emperor scene
A gritty story about Mormon extremists and the work of two detectives to discover what is behind a heinous murder.
Good story.. didn't know Mormon's/LDS were so unhinged. Why would anyone sign up for this religion?
Anyway.. the episodes were very slow and at times tedious, but the story was interesting. Would have been better if they were edited down to 6 episodes - speed the thing up a bit.
Worth watching if not much else is on...
7.5/10
For my taste it's too long and too slow. The huge amount of characters and different time lines make it confusing. It's even more confusing if you (like I did) doze off from time to time, because of very long, irrelevant scenes. If I didn't fall asleep, I fast forwarded, otherwise I would have scratched my eyes out, I was so bored.
Would have been better if there were only 3 episodes.
My recommendation: play a drinking game: take a shot every time someone says heavenly father or brother. But be careful, you might be drunk after 20 minutes.
Review by Michael ConstantineBlockedParent2023-02-22T19:02:13Z
This fascinating, excellent, intellectual, thoughtful piece of art has to be a "must see" and a mandatory viewing for all religious people. All these poor souls who think there's a merciful God who nontheless permits an Holocaust of 6.000.000 innocent souls in WWII's Germany, or a genocide of a million+ in Rwanda, or a massacre of 8.372 in Srebrenica or even an earthquake with 50.000 victims in Turkey. As an atheist, I can only repeat and say again and again my opposition to this Mormons' religion's doctrine, which happens to be all religions' doctrine:
- If they tell you to put your questions on the shelf, never put your questions on the shelf.
This is the only way to honor the memory of this poor mother Brenda Laferty and her poor 15 months old baby, victims of the fundamentalism of some half lunatics bigots fanatics who think God told them to spill blood, in order to save some other people by killing them.
As the Indian detective says "religion is allergic to the facts, because facts lead to truth".