8/16/2023 0 Comments Prophets prey online documentary![]() ![]() But late in the film, Berg plays an audio recording that was used to convict Jeffs of his crimes against underage girls. “Prophet’s Prey” is not rated and has very little in terms of offensive content (Krakauer uses the F-word on two occasions). And people of religious faith - LDS Church members in particular -will likely be disturbed to see how Jeffs was able to distort familiar doctrines into such awful ends. ![]() Utah audiences will already be familiar with much of this content as they see faces such as former Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, who spearheaded the effort to bring Jeffs to justice. Audiences also get a surreal few seconds worth of Jeffs covering Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind.” Berg does give us a wealth of testimonials other frequent contributors include Jeffs’ brother Wallace and Janetta Jessop, who at one point was Warren’s 63rd wife. Like many documentaries, “Prophet’s Prey” relies more on the power of its content than the artistry of its execution. In a videotaped prison phone call, Jeffs appears to give a full confession before veering back into a delusional state. But while the content often sounds familiar, his cool, eerie delivery belies a duplicitous intent. We do hear from Jeffs via a series of sermon excerpts that punctuate sequence transitions (the film never makes it clear where these recordings come from). Footage of Brower driving around Colorado City filming church members as they duck behind fences suggests a stark air of silence from the reclusive church. One-sided is really all you can get when your subject pleads the fifth in every deposition clip. The long court drama that ensued did get Jeffs behind bars, but “Prophet’s Prey” suggests that his influence over the remaining church members is still as strong as ever.Īs a documentary, “Prophet’s Prey” is understandably one-sided. In a little over an hour and a half, Berg explains how troubled FLDS members eventually found the strength to stand up to Jeffs, and how the leader wound up on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list and went into hiding before finally being caught north of Las Vegas. ![]() Assets rumored to be in the neighborhood of $110 million were used to acquire land in South Dakota for a presumed apocalypse survival bunker, and a 1,600-acre plot in Eldorado, Texas, was used to build a temple. Always keen to use the threat of the end times to motivate FLDS membership, Jeffs convinced the faithful to migrate to southern Utah just before the Olympics arrived in 2002.Īdditional testimonials explain how he used his skills of manipulation not only for sexual conquests but also to spearhead business ventures that lined church pockets at the expense of its members. According to Jeffs’ nephew Brent, Jeffs used his authority to molest numerous students.Įventually, Jeffs set his sights on the church’s top position. Step by step, and underscored by testimonials from former FLDS membership, “Prophet’s Prey” traces the path Jeffs took to supplant his father, Rulon, and take over the role of FLDS prophet.Īccording to interviewees such as Brower, author Jon Krakauer and Ron Rohbock, who used to handle security for the church, Jeffs rose from a childhood of privilege to take over as principal of the FLDS-owned Alta Academy shortly after his own high school graduation. In the film, a telling image traces FLDS priesthood authority and includes photographs of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young and John Taylor, then veers to FLDS leadership. The mainstream LDS Church outlawed plural marriage under President Wilford Woodruff, the faith's fourth president. Her efforts paint a disturbing portrait of a notorious leader and a poignant warning about religious manipulation.īerg’s narrative moves chronologically, zeroing in on Jeffs after a brief introduction that explains how the FLDS Church split off from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which discontinued the practice of polygamy in 1890. In “Prophet’s Prey,” director Amy Berg adapts private investigator Sam Brower’s seven-year investigation of Warren Jeffs and the polygamist Fundamentalist LDS Church into documentary form. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |