Such a frustrating disappointment

Sorry, this movie sucks

Load of rubbish!!

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

This is not a documentary, it deliberately shows one side only. All the interviewees are people that have been many many years ago members and all of them have a negative attitude towards Scientology. Isn't it peculiar that ALL of the interviewees are of that sort?It is called hate, discrimination, but even that hate isn't genuine -it's all for the buck only.

I haven't seen a documentary that crosses so many levels as this one - brainwashing, capitalism, religion, IRS wranglings, celebrity, psychopathy, abuse, deception and conspiracy - its all here in abundance. You can barely process the magnitude and implications of a moment when its taking into another equally as disturbing but about another angle entirely. I'm so glad that HBO and all involved had the balls and legal representation to produce this - and that Miscavige et al couldn't do a thing about it. The disturbing underlying implication is just how exploitable the human mind is. Once someone enters into a narrow tunnel of awareness, the installed belief systems can be engineered precisely to protect themselves - shutting out all interference and counter- evidence. That people like John Travolta ignore entirely the negative/thought-supressive aspects of Scientology in favor of their petty positives shows just how obtuse they are. The intrinsic need for power and status (Hubbard, Cruise, Miscavige) that some people have borders on psychotic in how it manifests.

This has to be the most incredible documentary I have ever seen. And I have seen a lot.It brilliantly lifts the lid on this dangerous cult. I learnt so much. Wow, I am speechless.The 2 hours flies by. I knew Scientology was weird. But, I had no idea of just how evil it is. It is not a religion. No way. Not in any way. And they are tax exempt? That just makes my blood boil.It is also sad to see so many people sucked in and then forced to stay in against their will. Makes you wonder how this is still happening in 2016.IF you ever only see one documentary. Let this be it.Astounding.

When the common people hear the word "Scientology," probably the first thing that comes to their mind is their stories. The fact that people in this "religion" believe in a galactic conquerer named Xenu just baffles people to make them believe how weird Scientology sounds. But in the documentary Going Clear, the movie emphasises more than the just the stories of Xenu, rather they focus on the uncanny traits that make Scientology...Different. Going Clear first begins with talking about the history and background of L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology. But the movie also explains how the main basis of Scientology revolves around Hubbard and his book Dianetics. The movie talks about one of the things that make people attracted Scientology, which are the personality tests. The first test is free, but as progress deeper and deeper into Scientology, they begin to come at a cost to be "audited." "tests". Auditors use a machine, called an e-meter, to track your thetan levels to see whether you're depressed or not. The movie explains that you cannot be cured immediately, but rather you have to go through many sessions of auditing to be cured from your depression, as expressed from the meters. The longer you stay with Scientology, paying them for your sessions, you progress in ranks through the Scientology community. The higher you are, you begin to learn some of the secrets Scientology has to offer. Secrets like the story of Lord Xenu and his galactic confederacy. At that point, people begin to become more and more skeptical about Scientology. The documentary explains how the church of Scientology blackmails/intimidates people to stay a part of the religion because of the secrets they told the church from the auditing sessions. It also talks about the disconnection policy, and how the church denies it exists, but the movie interviews some ex-scientologists, talking to them about this policy. It was a very emotional scene as one of their interviewers said that she hasn't seen her daughter in a very long time because of this policy.Going Clear, as of now, is probably one of my favorite documentaries. The reason is this is because they mainly "showed" the information rather than just telling it to us. By "showing" us what point they were trying to prove, helped me understand the concept a lot better. Many other documentaries just regurgitate countless amounts of facts and statistics, which really doesn't do much. Going Clear show their information which really helps the audience "feel" and understand deeply about what's going on. I also feel like the style they showed their information was very effective as well. Going Clear used a lot of information and evidence from live interviewers, and in certain emotional scenes the use of the ex-scientologists really helped explain their concept they're trying to put out. It really makes the audience think and ponder during and after the movie about the information about Scientology they tell you. I would definitely recommend this movie to literally anyone. Even if you're interested in Scientology, the movie pulls your attention in with dramatic/emotional scenes and mind blowing facts. Mr. Alex Gibney, your documentary is outstanding, I strongly believes it deserves a 10/10.