Episode Guide
Submersion Chosen New World Order Dictators, Murderers & Thieves Wolf King For the entirety of my life, I’ve been an atheist. Interestingly, my daughter believes in Heaven whilst my son is open-minded to the prospect of what lies beyond this plane of existence. In the UK, news released last year that for the first time in the country’s history, Christianity and belief in God is diminishing whilst atheism and Agnostic views are on the rise, paving way for a much more ethnically diverse and open society. Unfortunately Brexit has pushed that progression straight back to cult-like status, with the country split between “remainers” and “leavers”, ironically holding just as much sway and cult-like behaviour as religion does. Over in the United States however, the country continues to revel in its religious beliefs, with Republicans and Democrats playing on this idea of faith to sway the masses to voting for them. As The Family showcases across its five episodes, there are bigger forces at play here as a secretive organisation pulls the world’s strings from the shadows. Through archival footage, interviews and various pictured documents, The Family explores the conspiratorial idea that an enigmatic Christian group known as The Family wield enormous influence on the global stage through roots being laid in American politics. From the brotherhood’s house in Ivanwald to National Prayer Breakfast and influential foreign leaders, The Family breaks down each stage of the operation to turn the world into an anti-democratic movement. Each episode breaks down a different side of the Family too, with the final episode bringing us up to date with modern-day politics, thanks to President Trump and the Family’s influence with his politics in America. While interesting, the documentary adopts a deliberately methodical pacing, with re-enactments, long interviews and monologues dragging out each episode to a little over 50 minutes. To be fair, the subject matter is engaging enough to keep you watching but too much of the series feels unnecessarily long-winded, especially given the importance of what’s being shown. Still, there’s a plethora of different material used to back up the claims being made here which certainly adds credibility to the series. Toward the end of these five episodes, you’ll find yourself questioning a lot more about religion’s place in this new world order, a world where people’s ideology around faith is constantly wavering and evolving. Religion is one of those strange, taboo topics that many people struggle to discuss openly without it descending into a bitter rivalry between two sides and because of that, organisations like the Family thrive on that controversy. While The Family is admittedly a little too slow to make it accessible to everyone, it’s certainly worth checking out nonetheless, even if it’s not the best documentary released this year.
