GOING CLEAR: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE PRISON OF BELIEF

Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney’s (Taxi to the Dark Side) unflattering portrait, based on the book by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Lawrence Wright, traces Scientology’s history — from its founding in 1954 by science-fiction author L. Ron Hubbard as a money-making scheme to the self-help empire it is today. Gibney interviews former members from top-level positions in the church. They tell a disturbing tale of an organization endorsed by a roster of A-list celebrities that punishes its members with demeaning tasks for slight infractions and targets those who escape, cutting them off from all contact with loved ones in the church. It’s an anger-inducing, hard-hitting exposé. Not rated. 119 minutes. Violet Crown. (Michael Abatemarco)