Gloriavale: NZIFF 2022 Review

In some ways, Gloriavale the documentary feels like it's been released at the wrong time.

That is to say, its story is incomplete with its resolution easily hinting much more is still tantalisingly to come.

But while Fergus Grady and Noel Smyth's documentary goes inside the closed doors of the New Zealand's Gloriavale Christian Community, it's still infinitely shocking how far those in charge are allowed to go in terms of coercion, oppression and abuse.

Opening with a shot of mist hanging over a cow as it grazes, there's a distinct feeling of murkiness which covers a lot of the documentray that proves difficult to shake. The documentary is a compelling, but relatively down the line takedown of Gloriavale and its way of life.

As it follows John Ready, an escapee of Gloriavale, the film shows the heartbreak that comes from involvement within the community. John himself is painted as a fairly empathetic character, one whose wife and children have been forced to stay after he leaves, sparking a court case of human rights abuse rife within the community.

It's a classic legal tale of David vs Goliath, as the story begins to spin itself but Gloriavale's team is less interested in pursuing that for sensationalism and more interested in making something that feels sickeningly taut and disgraceful in the 21st century.

Questions of modern day slavery rear their heads and it's to Grady and Smyth's credit that the victims are allowed to tell their story, and archive footage from within the compound helps seal the deal. Restraint is the key here, and while there are moments that could have been overplayed (a meeting with a source at night, secret recordings unleashed), holding back pays dividends for the documentary.

It won't surprise anyone that nobody from Gloriavale sees fit to comment, but again, they're damning themselves with their own silence.

There are a couple of moments which falter - a time jump robs the movie of some of its agency, and a lack of distinct timelines on key occasions of the narrative occasionally muddies proceedings.

"Will you go to war with me, brother?" is one line intoned here. It won't surprise you that you're likely to feel as galvanised with this clarion call to arms piece. It gives you all the background you'd need to stoke a rage, but wisely never prods hard enough to fully provoke.