Under the Banner of Heaven

A slow-burn, compelling collision of faith and morality, Under the Banner of Heaven doesn’t ask the audience what is right and wrong but presents how morals can ultimately become skewed in the eyes of people who put their religion before their humanity, and the tragic consequences that inevitably ensue.

Garfield is the beating heart of the show, but the entire ensemble breaks out of expected roles to place Under The Banner Of Heaven among the best miniseries of the year.

Under the Banner of Heaven turns Krakauer’s sprawling look at the roots and evolution of Fundamentalist Mormonism into a well-made detective drama. It’s not as transcendent as its source material, but it is a gripping watch, full of fantastic performances and horrifying reveals.

As Jeb discovers his anger, he gives shape to Under the Banner of Heaven’s central concern: the struggle to attain personal agency in the crushing course of history.

Fitting in enough context so that unfamiliar audiences understand how the past and present connect can create disjointed, cumbersome episodes. ... All these flaws may prove trivial if the series’ ideas grab you. But all the apparent and admirable love put into this sprawling adaptation may only boil down to one or two simple truths. Faith, in the wrong hands, can embolden dangerous men. If you don’t know that by now, “Under the Banner of Heaven” will slowly, painstakingly make its case.

A moody and well-paced but schematic seven-part miniseries. ... “Under the Banner of Heaven” is most compelling when it explores the circumstances that paved the way for the Lafferty brood’s self-conversion and smartly concludes there’s no single reason for it. ... As the Laffertys become radicalized, Pyre’s crisis of faith and challenging home life become comparatively less engaging.

There’s at once too much packed into the series’ installments and yet not enough, with Black and company expending unwarranted attention on a cornucopia of detours and diversions that are only sometimes fleshed out, go nowhere illuminating, and muddle this affair’s primary censure of the Mormon church as a violent 19th-century-style cult-y outfit.

Engrossing true crime with shocking elements that had me from the moment I began viewing! Riveting and stunning that it is based on a book that was written on true events, but definitely worth the watch if you are a true crime enthusiast who enjoys religious zealotry stories based on unimaginable events!

After watching the first two episodes I felt deeply connected to the Native American Detective. As a Indigenous person who lives in Utah I feel this is a very accurate on how we are treated. I also felt that the story line seemed to be well thought out and I thought that the religious aspect was very tastefully produced although some with a closed mind may disagree.

Overall it is a decent true crime story with an "exotic" twist about the Mormon history. Better paced and edited than most other shows, and with a efficient use of flashbacks both in the life of our protagonists but also the Mormon creation, it will make you want to go to the next episode. However the use of the shaky, jerky cam to create "tension" is worse than in NYPD Blue. It is absolutely unbearable. Garfield is also not as good or charismatic as an actor as the other protagonists, especially Allen. He's emoting like a GenZ gender studies male student...which doesn't make him very believable in a 1984 setting.

Such a disappointing show, I was expecting it to be more anti mormon than it was, but it paints the LD$ church in a very positive light. It treated religious subjects with way too much respect and dignity. This is the second time Andrew Garfield ruined a show/movie I was looking forward to.....

Total crap. So flawed with some of the easy details that it is impossible to believe the controversial ones.