SONS OF PERDITION – The Review

Co-directed by Tyler Measom and Jennilyn Merten, SONS OF PERDITION is a documentary that delves into a taboo subject many Americans probably don’t even realize still exists. While HBO’s hit series BIG LOVE paints an intriguing, if not disturbing, image of the fringe religious culture, this film draws upon the true accounts of teens exiled from their families and community.

Polygamy is a term most readily associated with a past era, but there are still group of people tucked away, out of sight from the larger population, that subscribe to the most fundamental teachings of Mormonism, or he Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, even if the film rarely touches on that direct association. The faith has been making a widespread PR-campaign, but to be fair they’re just trying (in my opinion) to separate themselves from the extreme fundamentalists, like those the teens portrayed in this film have been removed.

According to the Mormonism Research Ministry, the term Sons of Perdition refers to “those who had a sure and perfect knowledge of the truth, then voluntarily turned from it and committed the sin unto death.” This is the core concept of the film, which follows the teens whom are shunned for questioning their faith. However, listening to them tell their own stories makes one wonder why there aren’t more exiles. One explanation may be the low quality of life these exiled teens are subjected to as they congregate and live in a place they call “The Crick,” a rural ramshackle outpost they call home.

SONS OF PERDITION isn’t the first film to tackle such subject matters. In 2002, DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND shed light on Amish teens during their release out into the modern world as a rite-of-passage, permitted to live freely and experience the world however they see fit, only then to decide once and for all if they will return and devote their lives to the Amish way of life. The primary difference is that these Amish teens have that choice.

I found SONS OF PERDITION to be a tad on the slow side, and could have been a bit more refined in its structure. The film felt a bit to me like MTV’s Real World at times, especially when considering the attitudes and manners in which the teens spoke about their families and their experiences, but isn’t that sort of the point? These are teenagers, plain and simple.

Many of these teens still hold their beliefs close to the hearts, but have risked eternal Hell to escape the psychological, sometimes even physical abuse, of their former lives. Many of these teens are ignorant of even the most basic societal education and culture, such as the capitol of the United States and the perpetrators of humanity’s most heinous crimes. SONS OF PERDITION is not a perfect film, but it’s the only one of its kind to take on this important story.