The Prophet and the Space Aliens (Fantasia Fest)
**Seen for the 2020 Fantasia International Film Festival.
One thing any cult requires is a charismatic leader, and it’s hard to argue that Claude Vorilhon, better known as Rael, is anything if not charismatic. (His book titles are less than inspired, though.) The creator of the world’s largest religious movement centered around the existence of UFOs, Rael even draws this film’s director, Yoav Shamir, in with an award, and access to document his faith, and talk to his followers. It’s honestly difficult not to get drawn in ourselves.
Any religion, ultimately, has the makings of a cult- it’s how the people in charge of leading their flock decide to lead them in their faith in the Word that determines its larger value. One gets the feeling that Rael is genuine in his message of wanting to lead his followers towards a happier, more spiritual level of being, even if we having a feeling that his personal experiences with extra-terrestrials are complete fabrications. If he’s lied about his experiences, he’s a con man, but at the same time, he does not appear to have extravagant desires in terms of property, so does that put him on the level of, say, Scientology? There was that hoax with the cloned baby in the late 1990s, though. But, one of his most trusted lieutenants has helped many women who have faced genital mutilation feel like they’ve gotten their sexuality back. Having bands for different levels of sexual activity is a bit creepy, though, as is their idea of how the women whom would meet Eloheim when he comes back to Earth having to be beautiful gives a lot of credence to the idea of this being a sex cult. You see what I mean about this guy? Sure, you can probably dismiss him offhand pretty easily, but we also are left with a lot of wondering of how bad he really is. Shamir not leading us in one direction or another is one of his film’s great strengths.
As a documentary, there’s nothing of particular not to recommend about it in terms of its filmmaking. What does recommend it, though, is the way Shamir draws us in to the Raelians, and let us draw our own conclusions. The film is quite enjoyable, as far as docs go, because of the conviction of belief its subjects speak with, and, let’s be honest, there is some wild imagery in this film that anyone even remotely interested in studying other religions, even recreationally through documentaries, would be a bit crazy not to see. (I will say, though- when the most explicit parts of the Raelian’s sexual ideas were being explored, my wife came in at exactly the wrong moment.) Besides, naming your movie “The Prophet and the Space Aliens” is just begging for people to tune in to see what the Hell it’s about. It’s worth taking the chance for.
