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Apostasy (2017 film)
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Wikipedia article
'Apostasy' is a 2017 British drama film about Jehovah's Witnesses directed by Daniel Kokotajlo. It was screened in the Discovery section at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. Kokotajlo was nominated at the 2019 BAFTAs for the Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer.
Two sisters are brought up in a tightly-knit group of Jehovah's Witnesses in Oldham. The film explores guilt, love, faith as well as the interpersonal issues resulting from indoctrination and the authoritarian setting of the group.
Plot
Devout Jehovahs Witness Ivanna Whitling lives with her two grown-up daughters, Alex and Luisa, in Oldham. Alex and Luisa are also members of the faith. Alex, who works as a gardener, has just turned eighteen and her older sister attends college. Alex suffers from anemia, a complicated issue for someone whose faith forbids her accepting a life-saving blood transfusion should that be necessary. Luisa and Alex regularly go door-knocking amongst the local Urdu-speaking population to spread their faith.
Luisa reveals to her mother and sister that she has fallen pregnant to a man at college, something considered taboo in the Jehovahs Witness community and which forces her to be shunned by the community, including her mother and sister, until she shows the elders that she repents and recommits herself to The Truth. Luisa moves out of home and Ivanna is told that any contact with Luisa must only be that which is absolutely necessary.
At a service, a newly arrived elder named Steven introduces himself to Ivanna and Alex and quickly makes it clear that he is interested in pursuing a relationship with Alex with the prospect of marriage, to which Alex is agreeable. Tragedy soon strikes however, when Alex collapses and dies. It is evident that she, or her mother, made a decision not to receive a blood transfusion to save her life. Luisa, now heavily pregnant, attends Alexs funeral but is ignored by the others present. She talks to her mother in the cloak room after the funeral; they hug and Luisa cries loudly in grief.
Luisa is now living alone. Ivanna continues to support her by visiting her with food and helping her clean her flat. She encourages Luisa to continue speaking to the elders in order to be accepted back into the Witness community, but after several meetings Luisa leaves in a fit of anger, telling her mother she finds the elders too demanding and controlling.
Soon after this, Ivanna visits Luisa at her flat to find that she has given birth to a healthy girl named Leanne. Ivanna delights in holding her granddaughter, telling Luisa that she loves both her and her granddaughter very much. Ivanna and Luisa argue about the teachings of their religion, Ivanna making it clear that she wants Leanne to learn about God. When Luisa goes into the kitchen to get her mother a glass of water, Ivanna grabs Leanne out of her bassinet and takes her out to the car. As she is placing her on the back seat, Luisa runs out to the car and grabs Leanne. Ivanna mutters that she will save her granddaughter.
The film concludes with a shot of Ivanna in a public space beside a stand of pamphlets promoting the faith of Jehovahs Witnesses.
Cast
* Siobhan Finneran as Ivanna
* Robert Emms as Steven
* Sacha Parkinson as Luisa
* Jessica Baglow as Michelle
* Molly Wright as Alex
References
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