The found footage genre comes with a number of expectations thanks to most of them falling into certain tropes, the chief of these being a group of people grabbing a camera they don't really know how to use in order to capture some kind of paranormal event on film. However, there is one other style that often gets notice even though it's not used very often, the documentary style. The Sacrament, written and directed by Ti West, fits nicely into that subgenre, and presents a very realistic and grounded horror story that will get under your skin more than any film about ghosts and monsters can.
The Sacrament tells the story of a trio of journalists, fashion photographer Patrick (Kentucker Audley), Vice reporter Sam (A.J. Bowen), and cameraman Jake (Joe Swanberg), who start looking into a mysterious commune deep in the jungles of South America called Eden Parish. The group comes to their attention after Patrick receives a letter from his sister, Caroline (Amy Seimetz), who has been off the radar for a time whilst dealing with her drug addiction. Wanting to learn more about this remote community, and to check in on Caroline, the three of them decide to travel there and document the journey.
Arriving at the remote location, accessible only by helicopter, they find armed guards protecting the newly constructed commune. Allowed inside, the trio begin to learn more about Eden Parish, talking to others who have given up their worldly possessions to move across the world to live there in peace and harmony, away from the temptations and evils of the outside world. It's all hailed as the work of a man known only as Father (Gene Jones), a charismatic figure who brought them all together, and leads them in their religious ways. As the reporters learn more about Father and this community it becomes clear that there's something more sinister at work, and when some of the residents of Eden Parish come to them for help it sparks a series of events that leads to terrifying results.
If, like myself, you know a little about true crime and cults the inspiration for The Sacrament will jump out of the screen at you barely ten minutes into the movie. As soon as our protagonists began to describe Eden Parish I was getting distinct Jonestown vibes, and seeing it, deep in the rainforest with its wooden buildings and large open fields, only cemented that feeling. And as soon as you're aware that this is where the director has drawn inspiration you're waiting for things to go bad. The film doesn't have jump scares, it doesn't have frightening things on screen for the vast majority of its run time, because it doesn't need to. Instead, it slowly builds dread as you learn more and more about this brainwashed community, revealing small hints at the darkness hiding beneath the surface.
The movie is genuinely one of the most tense I've watched in a long while, and the feeling never really leaves. It's built up well, and like the characters in the film there's nothing you can openly point to as a clear sign of something bad, but you know it is. The way that the supporting cast talk about their community, and Father, is unsettling, even though you can't argue against them. And this is where Gene Jones comes into play wonderfully. The first time we meet Father is during a community gathering where he comes out to answer questions for the reporters. Jones has incredible charisma in this scene, and his answers are all well thought out, and sound well meaning. It's hard to argue against him, he sounds reasonable and caring, and it really hammers home how easily the people who create these kinds of cults in the real world are able to do so.
With the inspiration for the film pretty clear, the destination is extremely obvious, and I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to say things go horribly wrong in Eden Parish. The scenes of Father instructing his followers to willingly take their lives are some of the most harrowing I've ever seen on film. There's nothing obviously violent here, people are just taking a drink, but the level of tension involved, the way the extras play it, and the ever mounting dread make it a shocking things to watch. The fact that you see parents and caregivers feeding poison to children and babies makes your stomach drop. Perhaps it's because I knew about Jonestown, that I knew this was basically what happened in real life, but the reality of this moment made it all the more horrific; this isn't just something that could happen in real life, it already had.
The latter portion of the film manages to be more horrific than you first expect, and the quietly chilling scenes of people drinking poison are only the opening act in a conclusion that had me holding my breath more than once. It left me feeling shaken, and may be one of the more affecting horror film endings that I can think of. The fact that the film has been shot and presented in a documentary style absolutely helps with this, and whilst the film would still work fantastically as a regularly shot movie the first person camera style drops you square into events and makes them hit all the harder as you feel less like an outside observer and more of an active participant.
Whilst the core cast of characters do well, and the three journalists are great in their roles, it's the members of Eden Parish that really shine. Amy Seimetz is fantastic as Caroline, a young woman who presents perfectly reasonably to begin with, someone who's battled addiction to put their life together again; but as the film progresses we see a more manic, fervent side to her, a craziness that reveals a chilling side to her that was hidden the whole time. The turn is fantastic, and hers is perhaps the most fear inducing performance in the film. Gene Jones, on the other hand, frightens in other ways. He never loses his cool, he never stops sounding caring, and it's this that makes him frightening. You can believe that he could convince people to follow him into the jungle, to give up everything, and even take their own lives. He presents the best depiction of a cult leader I've ever seen, and every scene he was in he stole from everyone else.
Whilst the film itself is exceptional, the rest of the new Blu-ray presentation packs in a decent amount of behind the scenes features. The disc comes with four new interviews with the main cast of the film. These range in time from ten minutes to around thirty minutes, and offer some extra insight into the film. The interviews cover how the actors came to be in the film, what it was like to make, and the impact that it had on their careers. Jones in particular stands out, especially when he speaks with such love for how the movie affected his career. There is also an interview with producer Peter Phok, who covers his career and work with Ti West outside of The Sacrament as well. There's an hour long making of that has some behind the scenes footage and interviews. And there's a video essay by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, who looks at the found footage genre and how The Sacrament plays into it. The only thing that really feels like it's missing from the disc are interviews with Ti West himself (which is not always possible with working directors and their busy schedule), and a commentary track. Whilst the commentary in particular would have been nice to have, and is usually include in Second Sight releases, it's absence is far from a deal breaker.
Having never heard of The Sacrament before watching it I was shocked by how hard hitting a film this was. Forgoing many of the tropes of the found footage genre, of ignoring dark, spooky locations, and basing itself squarely in reality, the film already feels like it's setting itself apart. However, when you include the very realistic, very disturbing content and the frankly phenomenal performances, I'm shocked and appalled that it's not a film I'd heard of before. The Sacrament very much deserves to be on lists of top horror films, and if like me it's one that you've never stumbled across before this new Limited Edition release is the perfect way to discover it.
The Sacrament is released on Blu-ray and Limited Edition Blu-ray on 24th June 2024 from Second Sight.
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