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      Cleanflix

      2009 1h 32m Documentary List
      71% Tomatometer 7 Reviews 58% Audience Score 250+ Ratings The film industry sues a Utah-based company for sanitizing copyrighted films. Read More Read Less Watch on Fandango at Home Premiered Nov 08 Buy Now

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      Critics Reviews

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      Joe Williams St. Louis Post-Dispatch Even those who agree with its conclusions might wonder what's been edited out. Rated: 2.5/4 Aug 27, 2010 Full Review AV Club To some extent, the filmmakers fighting the clean-up business are contending that their work grapples with the ugly, messy, sexy world that some Mormons would rather not confront, and that the PG versions actually do their viewers a disservice. Rated: B Jan 6, 2010 Full Review Joe Leydon Variety Pic is undeniably amusing when focused on extreme measures by self-appointed censors, but there's only a token effort made to seriously examine central questions. Sep 29, 2009 Full Review Cynthia Fuchs PopMatters Even as customers express their enthusiasm for sanitized movies, Cleanflix turns its attention to those making money off this "righteous" business. May 12, 2010 Full Review Brian Orndorf BrianOrndorf.com A severe left turn into delicious irony derails the story, but doesn't dilute the fact that Cleanflix is a sharply produced, surprisingly even-handed story of editorial demand mutating into a Wild West mentality. Rated: B Apr 8, 2010 Full Review Peter Sciretta Slashfilm The most interesting topical documentary about movies since This Movie Is Not Yet Rated. Rated: 7.5/10 Mar 13, 2010 Full Review Read all reviews

      Audience Reviews

      View All (38) audience reviews
      Jack W Great documentary, even without the shocking twists. A snapshot of a weird time that doesn't necessarily "have to have happened in Utah" but it makes total sense that it happened in Utah. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/06/24 Full Review Audience Member A fascinating documentary on a subject that I'm quite passionate about. The lines between safe censorship and altering an artist's vision is a thin one, and Cleanflix was a company that floundered on the side of altering an artist's vision, especially when that vision incurs realities of the world we live in. I'm a nondenominational Christian, and we're told in the Bible to be in the world, yet not of the world. Part of being in the world is be able to confront the horrors, alongside the beauty. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/12/23 Full Review Audience Member If you want to see the legal nexus of Hollywood versus Mormon culture, watch "Cleanflix." Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member I knew nothing about this before watching this documentary. As an appreciator of cinema & a former Mormon this was incredibly entertaining to me. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review Audience Member Interesting portrait of the rubes, sleazeballs, and dilettantes who believe that their own personal morality trumps all artistic expression, and therefore instead of simply avoiding films containing material that they find offensive, actually edit the films to be 'family friendly'. If you have any stake in this debate at all, and any sense of artistic integrity (not to mention freedom of expression), you'll either loathe or seriously question the putzes who founded the titular company, and the many imitators who cashed in on the whole mess. Things take an ugly turn in the final act, but it's none too surprising that a group of men (and they're ALL men who run these companies) so obsessed with removing sex from the public discourse should actually turn out to be frothing sexual obsessives. In any event, a well-done film on a controversial subject. Also, I'll NEVER live in Utah! Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Audience Member I don't believe movies should be edited. I don't believe edited movies should be sold to families that want to show, say, The Matrix to their kids. There's a thing called the ratings system - it's in place in order for families to make better choices as to what movies they should watch. Yes, the 1985 ruling on R-rated films by the Latter-Day Saints does bring people at a standstill - they desperately want to watch some of the best films ever made, but they want to keep themselves pure because that's what they know - but that ruling should not have been there. This movie makes the argument that simply cutting out sex will only worsen the deviancy and make it explode. Take the case study of Daniel Thompson, the so-called "face" of Clean Flicks, a humble Utah-based edited video store where families can go watch edited versions of films that shouldn't be edited in the first place (e.g. Back to the Future, the Goonies, Saving Private Ryan) or hear about how that Pretty Woman and Brokeback Mountain don't have redeeming qualities since they explore the idea of "what if the sinners actually are human instead of sick, twisted people?" You see, Daniel thrived off of the edited video business - a little too much to the point where he became a bit of a deviant - but he always saw it as himself vs. the studios. When the original Clean Flicks guys left the business as a means to obey the law, Daniel used every loophole to stay open just to "provide" families with butchered films that lose their entire meaning. But the thing is that the film makes you feel both sides. There are couples that want to see these films, but don't feel it necessary to watch the unfiltered film because it's happier that way. However, there are directors who are peeved at the idea that families want to watch Goodfellas and Traffic. Families watching already mature films about why being a gangster is bad and why doing drugs is bad. You know, that's out of your target audience. If a film's R-rated for a reason, it's R-rated for a reason. It's like editing End of Evangelion or Guernica because "there's too much violence" or "the characters are too unlikeable." THAT'S THE ENTIRE POINT OF THE PIECES OF ART IN QUESTION. I still see that the mindset of "exploring a killer's sick mind is horrible and should be discouraged" is still prevalent in America. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Cleanflix

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      Movie Info

      Synopsis The film industry sues a Utah-based company for sanitizing copyrighted films.
      Director
      Andrew James, Joshua Ligairi
      Producer
      Rachel Mae Ligairi
      Screenwriter
      Andrew James, Joshua Ligairi
      Genre
      Documentary
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Streaming)
      May 22, 2017
      Runtime
      1h 32m
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