Allegations of sexual assault are levelled against Warren Jeffs repeatedly throughout the film, from many members of the community, including those within his own family. However, the corruption of the FLDS Church lies not only in its exploitation of people for labour, and over time the emerging theme of Prophet’s Prey becomes clear – that of the sexual abuse of children, and the relation of this with the Church’s practice of polygamy. A portion of Prophet’s Prey focuses on the business practices of the FLDS Church, wherein forced labour disguised as volunteering for the church is common, and child labour is becoming an emerging concern. It is truly interesting watching the ascent of Warren Jeffs to the leader of the FLDS Church, and how he quickly establishes himself as a prophet after his father, the previous leader, passes away in what could be described as suspicious circumstances. Additionally, music by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis is so beautiful and atmospheric, providing an unsettling background to the reprehensible acts described on screen. We also see very interesting archival footage of the Church, and some beautiful shots taken of FLDS members in the present day, going about their business. Keeping in mind the actions of Jeffs, which are elucidated in disgusting detail later in the film, this voiceover becomes extremely disturbing over time adding another layer to the overall disgust that you might feel by the film’s end. Jeffs’ voice sounds so creepy, spoken in an intimate, soft whisper which sounds heavily medicated. Not only do we have capable voices leading the story, but we also have Warren Jeffs’ voice providing a sort of educational narration where key FLDS terms are clarified. Exploring the corruption of an extremely powerful leader, the film is constructed with talking head interviews from Krakauer and Brower, and also close relatives of Warren Jeffs who have been banished from the FLDS Church and are in a position to report on its shady business practices and its leader’s systematic sexual abuse of children. That being said, Prophet’s Prey acts as a pretty brutal analysis of a community/religion, led not only by extremely skilled director Amy Berg, but also Jon Krakauer, author of Into the Wild and Into Thin Air (both excellent books), and Sam Brower, a private investigator who has written an exposé on the FLDS Church both men who appear simultaneously intrigued and repelled by the FLDS Church.

But when it comes to one Warren Jeffs, it’s probably best to keep him in a physical box of his very own for a long time. As should be the rule with fundamentalism and religion, it’s pretty important to keep those with fundamentalist beliefs in a theoretical box of their very own before thinking about generalising towards other strands within the religion. It’s also important to write this paragraph first in my review, because it would be very easy for anyone – given the brutal and shocking nature of this film – to generalise the actions of the Fundamentalist LDS Church across to the other theologies of this particular religion. It is important to note that Prophet’s Prey begins with an expressive animation that tells the story of the origins of the Latter Day Saints (LDS) religious movement – making very clear the divide between the LDS Church, the Mormon theology, and the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints (FLDS) Church, and the religion’s history with and differing views on polygamy. Like any good religious tale, it boils down to sex, greed, and the preservation of wealth. The FLDS was already a paternalistic religion with a history of polygamous and underaged marriage, yet Warren managed to expand these practices in unprecedented ways, bridging the gap between sister wives and ecclesiastically-justified rape. When Warren Jeffs rose to lead the FLDS he brought his dictatorial and sadistic desires to bear on a society that was all too vulnerable to exploitation.

Prophet’s Prey is a disturbing and shocking examination of Warren Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints. Prophet’s Prey focuses its lens on a different religion, and different leader, perpetrating similar crimes. Prophet’s Prey (2015) is directed by Amy Berg, whose specialty as a documentarian appears to be in exposing crimes against children within the context of their society or religion at large beginning with as her Academy Award nominated documentary Deliver Us From Evil (2006), which explored numerous reports of child sexual abuse by defrocked Catholic priest Oliver O’Grady. Documentaries which focus on uncovering the evils of religion are a particular favourite of mine to watch, and this documentary is no exception, despite its harrowing and sickening subject matter.

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