Has anyone else seen this weird little movie?

[onager]

"Sound of My Voice" (2011)

Strange, very low-budget indie movie about an investigation into a fledgling Los Angeles religious cult.

Warning: if you haven't seen it, try not to read IMdB or any other discussions before watching. There are some good plot twists you'll enjoy more if they come as a complete surprise.

Also, you may not like this one if you prefer neat endings with closure. I usually prefer that myself, and often think ambiguous endings are a sign of lazy writing. But in this case, it works.

Starring Brit Marling (who also co-wrote the script) as Maggie, who preaches that she is a time traveller from the year 2054 sent to rescue humanity. IOW, the usual sort of cult crap.

At first I thought this was going down the well-traveled road of "skeptic becomes believer." Even almost turned it off. But happily the story has more going on.

The depictions of how cult members get suckered in and kept loyal seem very true to life. Complete with aggressive physical ejection for anyone who questions Dear Leader.

Comedy Relief: cult members ask Maggie to sing some music from the future. She breaks into "Dreams" by Cranberries. From the 1990's. Then explains it away, like any good con artist could.

[deucemagnet]

1. I saw that movie a while ago.

I enjoyed it, and I agree that it's better viewed without spoilers.

If you liked "The Sound of My Voice", you should check out a documentary called "Kumare" on Netflix. The filmmaker masquerades as a guru and actually amasses a group of followers. What's interesting about the cult dynamic in this one is how much people wanted to believe that he was some kind of mystical spiritual leader.

[Curmudgeoness]

2. That is what it is always about....

people wanting to believe. I think that we all want to believe that there is more to life, something after death, and someone who has the answers. As atheists, we just want more than to fill in the blanks of life....we want evidence.

[onager]

3. Thanks! I'll look for that.

Here's a completely unscientific report: I watch a LOT of the true crime shows on ID Discovery channel.

Today, one show featured a kinky Mormon family and another featured a murderous, kilt-wearing Wiccan (yeah, THAT was good!). Though in fairness to Wiccans, this guy had sort of made up his own version of it.

It suddenly struck me that, as far back as I can remember, I've never seen one of these shows about an atheist killer. And I'm pretty sure the lack of religion would be mentioned.

In the one exception I do remember, the atheists were victims - one show covered the murder of Madalyn Murray O'Hair, her son and granddaughter.

[TxDemChem]

4. So true.

Hubby is into Lifetime movies and ID. He pointed out today that he can't relate, which is a good thing. I feel as if many atheists are of the mind of PJ: we have already killed and raped as many people as we wanted: zero. I'm a lot nicer as an atheist than I was as a believer . My dad is the same. We don't know what happened, but we are better people since our deconversions.

[onager]

6. Give hubby a shout-out for me!

I was so happy to read your post. Sometimes I think I'm the only male on the planet who enjoys this stuff.

Right now I'm catching up with "Snapped" on the Oxygen channel. He might want to check out that series too, if he doesn't already watch it.

On Lifetime I avoid the gloppy rom-coms, but they do some outstanding true crime movies. Their instant TV movie about Jodie Arias was really well-done, considering it must have been shot in about 3 days on a budget of about $1.50.

Best Internet comment I read about the Arias case: "Normally I'm sad when any human dies. But her boyfriend was a Mormon, an insurance salesman and a motivational speaker. So let's just say I had mixed feelings..."

I'm also glad I can't relate to the people on these shows. Most of them combine a huge sense of greed and entitlement with jaw-dropping stupidity: "Yes, I took out a $2 million dollar life insurance policy on my spouse just a week before s/he fell down the stairs and died. What, you think that's suspicious or something?"

[TxDemChem]

7. I just told him he has a kindred spirit in watching LifeTime.

Now that I think back, I got him hooked on Snapped. His scariest episode is the black female with a biochemistry degree who worked in a lab and murdered her neighbor. He saw the description and looked at me funny...as those are my credentials. Lol that was a weird day.

The Arias movie was pretty good. We weren't following the case, but after seeing the movie, we wished we had. The Mormon angle just made it more odd than the usual crazy ex killing girlfriend.

We watched a movie on Saturday, I think it was called The Pastor's Mistress, that was interesting. While I prefer the docudramas, he's more into the fictional movies.

He just told me it takes a real man to admit he enjoys LifeTime and Oxygen. So kudos to you, you manly man!

[progressoid]

5. Will definitely check it out. n/t

[Ron Obvious]

8. No, but it sounds interesting from what you said about it...

I actually DO like ambiguity.

Added to my queue.

[marginlized]

9. I enjoy it when

the lack of a budget makes the film makers rely on good writing and performances.
When there's no budget for special effects, it's about smart dialog and good ideas.

I did enjoy "Sound of my Voice". The drama of entering and maintaining trust in a cult is creepy at best. I did like the ending. No clues offered.

Other interesting films with small budgets:

"Primer" supposedly cost $5,000 to make. So much about this film suggests what is happening rather than literally showing you. I love it when a film keeps you thinking to keep up. This is worth several viewings.

"The Man From Earth" is just a living room of people talking. Like a one act play. But so well written.

[marginlized]

10. Subject Two

is a great weird indie film. Shot entirely in winter in Aspen, Colorado, the scenery is beautiful. It's mainly a dialog within a riff on a Frankenstein theme, but much more.