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- Netflix
- Aug 9, 2019
- Netflix
- Aug 9, 2019
Summary The documentary series looks into The Fellowship, a Christian fundamentalist organization and its influence on politicians in and outside of Washington, D.C.
- Netflix
- Aug 9, 2019
- Netflix
- Aug 9, 2019
Summary The documentary series looks into The Fellowship, a Christian fundamentalist organization and its influence on politicians in and outside of Washington, D.C.
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Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 5 Critic Reviews
63
40% Positive
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
60% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 5 Critic Reviews
63
40% Positive
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
60% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
“The Family” is a profoundly troubling examination of the theocracy that wields power behind-the-scenes in Washington D.C.
From adulterous senators to anti-LGBTQ European demagogues to African gangster-statesmen, The Family shows over and over how The Fellowship was co-opted by politicians to curry favor with the evangelical power structure. ... What The Family doesn’t do is explain why The Fellowship exists in the first place. Why were so many upstanding men (and, um, some women in there, somewhere) not only drawn to Fellowship work but committed to it for years?
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 8 User Ratings
5.6
50% Positive
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
13% Mixed
1 Rating
1 Rating
38% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 8 User Ratings
5.6
50% Positive
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
13% Mixed
1 Rating
1 Rating
38% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.
Clearly, The Family is trying to run a lot of threads through the needle here, and director Jesse Moss, who directed the excellent documentary The Overnighters, lets some of them hang a little too loosely. ... It wasn’t that there’s no “there” there — there’s more than enough “there” — but Moss leaves out some crucial pieces of the puzzle that would make it complete.
Moss embraces the stylistic trappings of conspiratorial exposés to tell his story—dramatic reenactments, a plinky and faintly menacing piano score, selective splicing of clips featuring Maria Butina and Muammar Gaddafi. And yet, as the series continues, it’s unclear whether the Fellowship is as powerful as it would like to be, or whether its aura of mystery is its most distinct asset.
Moss leaves a lot of this open to interpretation, but the result is a project that can feel like an information dump more often than a film. It’s often like one of those conspiracy theory videos that throws out a ton of information but never shapes it into something with meaning.
