Review of Hail Satan? (2019) by Tvjerry — 08 Jun 2020

The Satanic Temple has generated lots of controversy in the last few years, most notably by campaigning against Ten Commandments monuments on state capital grounds. This movie outlines the rise of the group and their fights for religious pluralism and other noble causes.

They make sure the stress that they don't actually worship the Devil, but focus on social and political justice. Instead of slipping any anarchistic potential in the filmmaking process, director Penny Lane chose to take a sober, traditional approach.

There are lots of interviews with cult members, all done on the same background (which adds little visual variety). Plenty of news footage fleshes out their story, but it's all presented in a rather serious and slowly-paced package.

The message comes across early, then the remainder plays out more like a sober 60 Minutes story than an entertaining documentary. NOTE: Sit thru the credits for a great punch line.