This weekend, HBO’s anticipated documentary on Scientology, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, airs. The controversial religious group couldn’t stop the film from airing, but it is still critical of it.
Scientology sent a statement to NPR this week, calling it “bigoted propaganda” by director Alex Gibney and author Lawrence Wright, whose book is the basis for the film.
“Just as Lawrence Wright’s book was filled with more than 200 factual errors, in two hours this film racks up more falsehoods, errors, embellished tales and blatant omissions than were committed by Rolling Stone and Brian Williams combined,” the statement reads. “By our calculation, the film on average includes at least one major error every two minutes.”
As Yahoo TV critic Ken Tucker noted in his review, the film explains how L. Ron Hubbard created the religion and the mythology behind it. But it also includes interviews with former members, who discuss forced labor and parents being separated from their children. Gibney mentions the most famous members of the religion - Tom Cruise and John Travolta - but his interviews with average members are more eye-opening.
The Wall Street Journal’s review also points out that the film gives a damning portrayal of David Miscavige, the current head of Scientology. Miscavige is shown as being paranoid, even calling for re-education and was convinced that his deputies wanted to betray him.
Scientology previously attacked the film and called out its “false information” on FreedomMag.org and insisting that the former members who are interviewed do not know how the church works today.
Going Clear airs on Sunday on HBO at 8 p.m.