Apostasy

This movie is a slow burner, more thoughtful and moody than dramatic and explosive. I wouldn’t advise watching it on two hours’ sleep or while on an adrenaline high (unless you want to calm down). I have always liked Siobhan Finneran, and she doesn’t disappoint here. SHe gives a muted performance, no doubt as written and directed. After all, she plays a woman who is oppressed by the cult she belongs to. Even when she questions her role it seems like she is almost doubting her faith more than she is the beliefs their version of iron age religion dictates. The actresses playing her two daughters also do a great job. One of them embraces the Jehovah’s Witness brand of dogma while the other questions it, all without letting the difference come between them unless forced. When you get past them to the rest of the cast, the acting doesn’t stand out, but since they are marching to Jehovah’s tune, perhaps they are meant not to stand out. The guy who is interested in marrying the younger sisters seems to phone his lines in, but again, perhaps as directed to do so. The film missed a chance for a tense, dramatic scene when tragedy strikes, opting instead to have someone afterwards say that she couldn’t believe her sister did that, rather than showing it. It is a sacrifice the script makes more than once to maintain the torpid, somber tone.