Going Clear: Scientology & the Prison of Belief

2015

1h 59m

Documentary

List

95%

Tomatometer

94 Reviews

90%

Audience Score

5,000+ Ratings

Filmmaker Alex Gibney interviews former members of the Church of Scientology and reveals abuses and strange practices within the controversial organization.

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Critics Consensus

Thoroughly disquieting but impossible to ignore, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief is a searing investigative work from a master documentarian.

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Nigel Andrews

Financial Times

Gibney makes another attempt to hole and sink [Scientology]. Hooray for him.

Rated: 4/5

May 2, 2017

Full Review

Jason Bailey

Flavorwire

Gibney boils it down with skill, his cutting, construction, graphics, and score smoothly and seductively encapsulating Scientology's appeal.

May 30, 2016

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Steve Davis

Austin Chronicle

[Going Clear] doesn't merely peek under the church's zealously maintained guise. It disrobes this controversial religion to reveal an emperor without clothes, an organization that runs on fear and weakness.

Rated: 3/5

Sep 24, 2015

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Gibney's documentary outlines that bad things are happening around Scientology. But since the dawn of humankind, people have done horrible things in the name of all religions.

Rated: 3.5/4

Jun 21, 2022

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Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

It's at turns shocking, mystifying, and curious - but predominantly horrifying.

Rated: 8/10

Dec 4, 2020

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John Bleasdale

CineVue

Going Clear offers gossipy elements... but its power is in the accumulated evidence of so many voices.

Rated: 4/5

Apr 5, 2019

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Kim M

Excellent and a must see as I believe Scientology have rebranded as humancondition.com / world transformation movement. Always be wary of this dangerous cult.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/24/23

Full Review

Georgan G

This documentary is so well done that I feel I now know everything I'll ever need to know about "scientology." It's a con, run by practiced criminals. If you think you have no interest in the topic, you will be amazed.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/10/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I didn't really learn anything new from this because I consume far too much anti-Scientology content, but this was still well done and interesting. It's weird to watch Marty Rathbun knowing he's gone back in.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/17/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The word scientology really pique curiosity from just seeing those associated with the resurfaced term serving as the basis for their beliefs as responses to timely conversations, and yet you only find bits and pieces of such supposed cult. Now, like any documentaries exposing truths that are so eye-opening with legitimate, insightfully-driven facts from exceptional research, this exposé unveils what it truly is: a hierarchical, offensive mockery to religion as an occult form of power in controlling others with absurd immorality for pathetic monetary gain while falsely caring its own pretentious elaboration of self-therapy, which labels a perfect religion in siding with the bad effects of dystopia. (This was additionally furthered by a "Ghost Adventures" investigation into the occult's birthplace that added a darker layer to the truth surrounding the roots). Filmmaker Alex Gibney provided voices to Lawrence Wright's first form of uncovering the truth to hear the formerly passionate tones that grown into realizations and regrets, like a sympathetic presentation calling for a revolution to end the absolute brainwashing nonsense that are eased by advantaged insecurities. While this well-researched exposure does serve as an examining explanation behind the term without holding back in striking delivery whereas perception defines as response, it's probably more accessible by those who are frequent likers to the Hollywood cinematic system since it's the occult biggest tool to use, and the successful eye-opener could reverse some opinion towards some certain stars. Overall, an excellent documentary that exposes in delivery over unsettling truths finally uncovered in a recognizable form under familiar accessing communication, without a need to provide countering content for a full argument that would only fabricate "truths" as the spineless cowards did just that. (B+)

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/17/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I need to start this review with a big note of thanks. I am so grateful that Alex Gibney and his team made Going Clear. It is a film that shined a light on the frightening truth of the cult of Scientology for the masses, and hopefully has dissuaded some people from joining up. It’s also great to see that they were able to find a number of famous people and other former high-ranking members of the cult to tell their stories. It helps avoid this becoming a documentary built entirely on hearsay, when you can see the truth spoken from those with first-hand experience. I only wish I saw this documentary when it was brand new. One of the things with a story as momentous and impactful as this one is that it gets talked about a lot in other forums, and I started to pick up many of the pieces of this story through cultural osmosis. It seems without actually watching Going Clear, I had already learned many of the worst facts it reveals. This made the experience feel a bit less impressive and impactful than I was hoping. I don’t mean to criticize, because it is still effective and important work that was done with this documentary. I was just hoping that it would dig a bit deeper, but you can only do so much in 2 hours. Sadly, there might be a sequel someday with even more dark stories, because Scientology is not a thing of the past. I do recommend people check out Going Clear, particularly if you haven’t heard much about this “church” and their insane beliefs and practises. It’s a well-executed documentary that does a decent job of showing how good people can get trapped in a bad situation.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/20/21

Full Review

Audience Member

An eye-opening and enlightening documentary about the origin and practices of Scientology as told by former members. Director Alex Gibney reveals startling details as he presents first hand accounts and experiences from former members as well as old interviews and other pre-recorded footage. Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief is a well crafted documentary that will make you think and likely stick with you.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

Full Review

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Alex Gibney

Director

Alex Gibney

Narrator

Marina Zenovich

Voice

Sherry Stringfield

Voice

Paul Haggis

Actor

Jason Beghe

Actor

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Synopsis

Filmmaker Alex Gibney interviews former members of the Church of Scientology and reveals abuses and strange practices within the controversial organization.

Director: Alex Gibney
Producer: Sheila Nevins, Arthur Portnoy
Screenwriter: Alex Gibney
Production Co: HBO Documentary Films, Jigsaw Prods.
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 2, 2015
Runtime: 1h 59m

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