Believer (2018) Reviews

• A MUST SEE FILM

  Sarahlikesfilms2018-02-06

  What a beautiful piece! I caught this at Sundance and it absolutely was my favorite film of the weekend. It was incredibly courageous and such a necessary catalyst for change. Hopefully the Mormon leaders will see this film and feel a need to listen to the voices of the gay youth sitting in their very pews. I believe that this film will save lives. Our gay youth need to see this film and feel the much needed love and acceptance they deserve. My eyes were glued to the screen the entire time and my heart was broken but also given hope for a future of equality and acceptance. I have no idea how someone could watch this film and walk away with a negative view of it unless they were just searching for a reason to spew hate. I enjoyed listening to Reynolds interview on NPR recently and got further insight in to the reasoning behind the creation of this documentary and could feel his sense of passion and determination. We need more straight allies to shed light on our gay youth and the unfortunate situations they are often born in to due to religion and family situations. I'm looking forward to the film coming out on HBO to share it with my family and friends. Hopefully it will open up some of their conservative eyes and help them to see the sad truth of religious guilt upon our children. What a beautiful film!

• Fantastic

  DarrenWilcox2018-02-06

  Both heartwarming and thought provoking. I enjoyed the film and left with a new desire to become more active in my community. I highly recommend this film, especially to those who are seeking a deeper understanding of LGBTQ youth in homes of faith and the difficult circumstances they face. This is a fantastic film for families to watch together and become more educated on teen suicide and how they can become better allies. Kudos to all involved.

• If only everyone had this much heart.

  michaelrthomson2018-06-26

  Watched this last night, and it has left me reflecting on how different the world would be if it were full of people like Dan, Asa and their friends, and the families whose stories they are also telling here. It was far more than I expected, it showed a level of heart and care that I wasn't expecting and certainly created 'the feels' more times than I guessed it was going to. Its a powerful tale indeed, and the work that Dan and his friends put in here should be applauded widely. It shows what is wrong with a society that is run by old white men whose views remain firmly placed in the 18th century, but it ultimately shows more profoundly what you can do to overcome ignorance and stupidity. The Mormons are probably must like others who are firmly intrenched in their religious views, but if history shows us anything is it that even the seemingly immovable objects do with time move, and hopefully this will be the case here. It must surely take only more teen suicides, and more family separations for those who hold control to finally realise that something needs to change, and that their God perhaps puts the value of family, and the value of every person above the once or twice referenced views on sexuality. This is a must see for any LGBTQ people, but bring your tissues. I am hopeful that it will also be seen by the families, and communities of those affected all over the world by hate, but intolerance and by simple ignorance. Powerful stuff.

• I felt cheated by this.

  emmadragon-250422018-02-27

  I caught this at Sundance and was initially moved by the sentiments of the film, Dan's openness, and the idea that he could be such a voice for change in an isolated community. However, I then heard the filmmakers speak and even got a chance to talk to one of them myself and learned that this wasn't the movie they set out to make and felt like I was witnessing a fraud. They intended to make a movie about Dan's depression and fame but ended up guiding the picture to become what I assume they believed would be a film that would sell and gain awards. I gave this 3 stars because I honestly believe in the message of the movie, but to later learn that it was funded by LiveNation I can only assume it was intended to help promote their band and make a mormon follower seem more likable to the mainstream. After watching the film, I learned that Dan was now appearing in anti-smoking ads too. I think he is just attempting to retain popularity through social righteousness and anyone and everyone is piggy packing along for the ride. He seems like a good person and I wish him the best, but this film makes me feel cheated. Love one another, and realize what you're watching when you see this picture.

• Great, but ....

  GrammarMatters2018-07-01

  I was really impressed by much of this documentary, and liked the bits of music clips, and felt moved by the pain of those who have been attacked by the Mormon religious faith - but I felt more and more during the movie, and especially at the end when they were showing clips from the actual concert that was done, that this movie is still just trying to push the Mormon 'belief' and all the stupidity and idiocy this religion entails. I felt like screaming at the screen as the film went on, especially at the end: "How the HECK can you continue to believe in a religion that has caused the death by suicide of hundreds of its followers?" How can anybody believe that a little man up in the sky actually cares about them when the leaders of the Mormon faith continue to push hate and bigotry and push so many Mormon teenagers to kill themselves. The movie points out that the number ONE cause of death of Mormon teenagers is suicide! How could there be a god who would accept this? This movie made me want to grab the next gay Mormon I might see and shake them and yell: "Snap out of it!" and try to explain to them that they've been brainwashed .... But what can you expect from a group of people who spend so much of their time going around knocking on the doors of people and bugging them and trying to push their strange view of the world on other people. It's time to boycott Mormon businesses. I will no longer buy any products from the photography parts company that moved to Utah from California. Some of you might know the company I mean. They are not really right. But one of the leaders of the company is one of those alt-right @$$*^%'s