Escaping Utopia

“More than most documentaries on the subject, Escaping Utopia concentrates on the psychological aspects of the members’ experiences and sufferings. It is an unusually detailed study of multiple aspects of cult formation and survival, examined with endless compassion for the victims and pitiless scrutiny of the perpetrators of the crimes carried out in Christ’s name.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

“This is real Handmaid’s Tale stuff and this three-parter a compelling, well-constructed account of life inside the New Zealand cult (600 people still live there) thanks to testimony from escapees who vividly described their psychological jail. Some had been born and had grown up there, so whatever you think about such followers being gullible and sheep-like doesn’t apply. They had known nothing else.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“Netflix transformed the documentary genre so profoundly that it feels unusual to come across something made in the old style. Escaping Utopia doesn’t have glossy cinematography or a dramatic soundtrack or people talking directly into the camera. It is not edited in the style of a thriller, with each episode (there are three) ending on a cliffhanger. Instead, it tells the story of life inside a New Zealand religious cult in a quiet, considered way.”
Anita Singh, The Telegraph

“I was gripped by the three-part documentary Escaping Utopia. The full, atrocious reality of Gloriavale is revealed slowly, with a cliffhanger at the end of each episode. As in true-crime serials such as Making A Murderer, the shocks are carefully timed, so that whenever we think life in the cult couldn’t get any worse, it does.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail