Sons of Perdition

Warren Jeffs, leader and self-styled prophet of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), was recently convicted of child sexual assault and sentenced to life in prison. But his influence persists, as evidenced in this BBC-aired documentary by filmmakers Tyler Measom and Jennilyn Merten, which follows over a three-year period the struggles of a trio of teenagers who escaped from “The Crick,” an FLDS community in Utah, to try to fashion lives in the outside world. While Joe, Bruce, and Sam may be free of the authoritarian rule of their fathers, their time in the cult haunts them—symbolized here by periodic excerpts of sermons by Jeffs, speaking in a smooth, Mr. Rogers–style voice. Cut off from their families, without any support system apart from other “exiles” and some kind outsiders—and ignorant of virtually everything but the manual skills they were taught—the teens find themselves searching to find their place in an unfamiliar world, whether it be a job, a surrogate family, school, or the military. Yet they persist, even trying to rebuild bridges to their dads or engineer the escape of their mothers and siblings. Told largely through footage documenting the subjects' post-Crick lives and their own recollections, Sons of Perdition is a deeply affecting portrait of the malignant effect such religious cults can have on children, while also holding out hope that they can ultimately overcome it. DVD extras include audio commentaries by the directors and the teens. Recommended. [Note: this is also available for $99 w/PPR for high schools and public libraries, and $250 w/PPR for colleges and universities from Collective Eye (www.collectiveeye.org).] Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)