Gloriavale: New Zealand's Secret Cult

People who join cults don't join a cult. They try to do something to help people and live a good life. The leaders turn that desire into a method of gaining wealth and power. The people at Gloriavale are good people who need help. The leaders need to be jailed. The film is a beautiful and tragically heartbreaking picture inside a group of people victimised by greedy men brutalising the bible for personal gain. The filmmakers created a sensitive and complex picture of how high control groups like this develop and protect the leaders. I hope they are helped and this cult is broken up. Any negative reviews here are obviously from people trying to protect the leaders who are violating the basic human rights of hundreds of people. Just tragic.

There has also been a long history of abuse in many forms at Gloriavale - all with tax benefits. It has been allowed to keep its 'volunteers' as unpaid slaves and on the back of this, has become a multi-million dollar business.

This documentary lifts the lid on Gloriavale and its un-Christian approach to Christian fellowship. Many New Zealanders are vaguely aware of Gloriavale and it's practices but the authorities seem either unable or unwilling to do what's required. Hopefully this documentary will raise awareness by telling the victims' stories.

It's a slow-burner rather than showing dawn raids and cameras being shoved into faces. However, it's an intriguing watch with incisive interviews with Gloriavale survivors... and even a current resident.