Click here to read the full article.
Jehane Noujaim started her filmmaking journey with HBO’s The Vow in 2009. The award-winning director attended an introductory class for Nxivm’s personal growth Executive Success Program (“Esp”), where she would go on to meet the self-help marketing corporation’s leader and founder Keith Raniere and his co-founder Nancy Salzman. The pair, now convicted felons, were eventually examined in The Vow and now, interviewed for The Vow, Part Two, which premiered Oct. 17, more than a decade after that initial class.
But, back in 2009, Noujaim says she didn’t get the kind of balanced access she was looking for, so she put the project aside. She went on to make other documentaries like Startup.com (2001), focusing on the dark side of the internet boom; Control Room (2004), about the Al-Jazeera network amid the U.S.-Iraq war; and The Square (2013), looking at the unrest in...
Jehane Noujaim started her filmmaking journey with HBO’s The Vow in 2009. The award-winning director attended an introductory class for Nxivm’s personal growth Executive Success Program (“Esp”), where she would go on to meet the self-help marketing corporation’s leader and founder Keith Raniere and his co-founder Nancy Salzman. The pair, now convicted felons, were eventually examined in The Vow and now, interviewed for The Vow, Part Two, which premiered Oct. 17, more than a decade after that initial class.
But, back in 2009, Noujaim says she didn’t get the kind of balanced access she was looking for, so she put the project aside. She went on to make other documentaries like Startup.com (2001), focusing on the dark side of the internet boom; Control Room (2004), about the Al-Jazeera network amid the U.S.-Iraq war; and The Square (2013), looking at the unrest in...
- 10/19/2022
- by Jackie Strause
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Click here to read the full article.
The Vow is returning with a six-episode second season, promising a rare view into Nxivm founder Keith Raniere’s innermost circle, including co-founder Nancy Salzman.
“My whole company was destroyed and my whole life fell apart,” says Salzman, Nxivm’s president and co-founder with Raniere, in the trailer (below), which also features Raniere speaking from prison. “Going into this, I thought Keith was innocent. I was wrong,” Salzman tells the filmmakers.
The Vow, Part Two begins at the start of Raniere’s trial, with the finale capturing the verdict. The follow-up, directed by Jehane Noujaim, debuts Oct. 17, with weekly episodes on HBO and HBO Max.
Much has happened in the two years since The Vow first exposed Nxivm to a mainstream audience.
Nxivm, a company that masqueraded as a self-help group but was actually running a secret sex cult, and its leader Raniere...
The Vow is returning with a six-episode second season, promising a rare view into Nxivm founder Keith Raniere’s innermost circle, including co-founder Nancy Salzman.
“My whole company was destroyed and my whole life fell apart,” says Salzman, Nxivm’s president and co-founder with Raniere, in the trailer (below), which also features Raniere speaking from prison. “Going into this, I thought Keith was innocent. I was wrong,” Salzman tells the filmmakers.
The Vow, Part Two begins at the start of Raniere’s trial, with the finale capturing the verdict. The follow-up, directed by Jehane Noujaim, debuts Oct. 17, with weekly episodes on HBO and HBO Max.
Much has happened in the two years since The Vow first exposed Nxivm to a mainstream audience.
Nxivm, a company that masqueraded as a self-help group but was actually running a secret sex cult, and its leader Raniere...
- 9/22/2022
- by Jackie Strause
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Bonnie Piesse has taken a long journey back to the Star Wars universe. The actor first appeared in "Attack of the Clones" in 2002 as teenage Beru, who will eventually become Luke Skywalker's Aunt Beru in "A New Hope." Now, the actress is reprising her role in Disney+'s "Obi-Wan Kenobi." But there's a good chance you saw her more recently in something else: Piesse was one of the major voices that spoke out against the Nxivm cult in HBO's "The Vow."
When she first got cast in "Attack of the Clones," Piesse wasn't exactly a Star Wars fanatic. She knew the movie was filming in Australia and wondered if she could get a role in it. "I kind of wished for it," she says. Then they called her agent for an audition. "I guess they'd seen my photo on a casting website or something and they thought I looked like the older Beru,...
When she first got cast in "Attack of the Clones," Piesse wasn't exactly a Star Wars fanatic. She knew the movie was filming in Australia and wondered if she could get a role in it. "I kind of wished for it," she says. Then they called her agent for an audition. "I guess they'd seen my photo on a casting website or something and they thought I looked like the older Beru,...
- 6/14/2022
- by Victoria Edel
- Popsugar.com
True-crime TV has found its new obsession: The twisted saga of the Nvixm cult, with famous followers like Smallville alum Allison Mack and salacious accusations of sex slavery, has inspired not one but two long-form TV documentaries, along with a number of one-off investigative specials. HBO’s The Vow, which premiered in August, was billed as the definitive look at the cult’s inner workings, told by the members themselves. But is it even good? And does another TV documentary actually do a better job at bringing Nxivm’s shocking deeds to light? Let’s take a closer look, shall we?...
- 11/11/2020
- by Dave Nemetz
- TVLine.com
On Monday afternoon, the day before Keith Raniere was set to be sentenced, Make Justice Blind, an assortment of ardent Nxivm devotees, gathered to hold a press conference in front of the Brooklyn federal courthouse in downtown Brooklyn. The group, including Battlestar Galactica‘s Nicki Clyne, set out to present what they referred to as “smoking gun” evidence that would supposedly justify a call for a delay in sentencing for Keith Raniere, the leader of the alleged sex cult Nxivm who has been incarcerated at the Metropolitan Correctional Center since his 2018 arrest.
- 10/27/2020
- by EJ Dickson
- Rollingstone.com
“The Vow” finale hinted at several big interviews gearing up for the second installment on HBO. Any additional details on what we can expect for season two will have to wait until 2021 (when next set of episodes is scheduled to drop). Until then, here’s an update on all the major players in the docuseries that exposes the practices of the self improvement organization and cult known as Nxivm. What’s next for Nxivm founder Keith Raniere, Nancy Salzman and whistleblowers Mark Vicente, Bonnie Piesse and Sarah Edmondson?
Do not read if you haven’t watched the season one finale of “The Vow” — spoilers ahead.
What do we know about the future? In September, filmmakers Karim Amer and Jehane Noujaim revealed their plans to interview all parties involved in Nxivm to Variety “We reached out to everybody involved — many people, on all sides of the story — and we are continuing to film.
Do not read if you haven’t watched the season one finale of “The Vow” — spoilers ahead.
What do we know about the future? In September, filmmakers Karim Amer and Jehane Noujaim revealed their plans to interview all parties involved in Nxivm to Variety “We reached out to everybody involved — many people, on all sides of the story — and we are continuing to film.
- 10/19/2020
- by Meredith Woerner and Ellise Shafer
- Variety Film + TV
Sex cult documentary series The Vow is coming back for a second season on HBO.
The premium cable network has renewed the series, from directors and exec producers Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer, to continue to the story of the Nxivm cult. Season 2 will air in 2021.
It will be set against the backdrop of the federal trial of the United States against Keith Raniere and will offer a further view into Raniere’s innermost circle. It delves into the stories of Nxivm’s top leadership in the US and Mexico, and into powerful, intimate stories of Dos members. Season 2 follows the legal and emotional journeys of the group’s founders, supporters and defectors as new evidence and stunning revelations come to light while federal prosecutors and defense attorneys battle for opposing views of justice in a case caught in the national spotlight.
The series, which premiered in August, followed the members of “self-improvement” group Nxivm,...
The premium cable network has renewed the series, from directors and exec producers Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer, to continue to the story of the Nxivm cult. Season 2 will air in 2021.
It will be set against the backdrop of the federal trial of the United States against Keith Raniere and will offer a further view into Raniere’s innermost circle. It delves into the stories of Nxivm’s top leadership in the US and Mexico, and into powerful, intimate stories of Dos members. Season 2 follows the legal and emotional journeys of the group’s founders, supporters and defectors as new evidence and stunning revelations come to light while federal prosecutors and defense attorneys battle for opposing views of justice in a case caught in the national spotlight.
The series, which premiered in August, followed the members of “self-improvement” group Nxivm,...
- 10/16/2020
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Episode five of HBO's The Vow takes a deep dive into Keith Raniere's shady dealings, focusing on his Dos group and the convoluted efforts to clear his name. The episode opens with a clip of former Nxivm legal liaison Kristin Keeffe as she ardently defends Nxivm's troubles with the law. Soon, The Vow shifts to Keeffe voicing her suspicions against Raniere, and it becomes strikingly clear that she has a lot of information on Nxivm. But Keeffe wasn't just a high-ranking member who defected. From 2007 to 2014, she was Raniere's partner, and they even had a son together named Gaelyn. Worrying for her and her son's well-being, Keeffe eventually left Raniere and Nxivm in 2014.
So what is Keeffe's story with Raniere? Keeffe was an Executive Success Program proctor in Nxivm and worked closely with lawyers to combat lawsuits against the company. She also targeted people spreading negative press about Raniere and Nancy Salzman,...
So what is Keeffe's story with Raniere? Keeffe was an Executive Success Program proctor in Nxivm and worked closely with lawyers to combat lawsuits against the company. She also targeted people spreading negative press about Raniere and Nancy Salzman,...
- 9/28/2020
- by Stacey Nguyen
- Popsugar.com
The Vow, currently airing on HBO, offers a compelling inside glimpse at the world of Nxivm — on the surface a self-improvement program that recruited a good number of film and TV actors; but in actuality a front for an insidious sex-cult revolving around one man, Keith Raniere. A former Amway salesman, Raniere, 60, employed Smallville star Allison Mack to recruit him female sex partners — who famously branded his initials into their pubic regions with a cauterizing wand.
After fleeing to Mexico in March 2018, Raniere was arrested by authorities and extradited to the U.S. On June 19, 2019, after five hours ...
After fleeing to Mexico in March 2018, Raniere was arrested by authorities and extradited to the U.S. On June 19, 2019, after five hours ...
- 9/25/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Tracing exactly when HBO's The Vow was filmed can be a little confusing. The narrative isn't exactly linear, bobbing between clips of participants taking Esp courses and Mark Vicente and Bonnie Piesse voicing their suspicions about Nxivm. The latter segments can tell us a great deal about the project's timeline, however. The truth is, production for The Vow officially began in 2017 as a means of self-protection for Vicente and other Nxivm defectors, who did not initially set out to create a docuseries.
HBO bills The Vow as a "documentary series following a number of people deeply involved in the self-improvement group Nxivm over the course of several years." The show is directed by the Oscar-nominated couple Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer. Noujaim has a link with Nxivm - she met Nxivm official Sara Bronfman in 2008 while attending a conference on Richard Branson's Necker Island. With encouragement from Bronfman and Vicente,...
HBO bills The Vow as a "documentary series following a number of people deeply involved in the self-improvement group Nxivm over the course of several years." The show is directed by the Oscar-nominated couple Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer. Noujaim has a link with Nxivm - she met Nxivm official Sara Bronfman in 2008 while attending a conference on Richard Branson's Necker Island. With encouragement from Bronfman and Vicente,...
- 9/14/2020
- by Stacey Nguyen
- Popsugar.com
Karim Amer and Jehane Noujaim, directors of “The Vow,” HBO’s limited series about Nxivm, never want to hear the organization referred to as only “a sex cult” again.
Although Nxivm made major news headlines three years ago, first with a New York Times story about Dos, a group-within-the-group that was collecting embarrassing material on its members (called “collateral”), as well as branding them and in some cases allegedly manipulating them into sexual situations, the group itself was founded in 1998 as a self-proclaimed “multi-level marketing company.” Co-founder Keith Raniere led thousands of workshops and classes on self-improvement and self-actualization, and the company opened centers around the world. To label it just a sex cult now, Amer tells Variety, is “deeply problematic.”
That is why he and his wife and documentary filmmaking partner Noujaim are “trying to tell a story with dignity.” He explains, “People put a lot of faith in the documentary.
Although Nxivm made major news headlines three years ago, first with a New York Times story about Dos, a group-within-the-group that was collecting embarrassing material on its members (called “collateral”), as well as branding them and in some cases allegedly manipulating them into sexual situations, the group itself was founded in 1998 as a self-proclaimed “multi-level marketing company.” Co-founder Keith Raniere led thousands of workshops and classes on self-improvement and self-actualization, and the company opened centers around the world. To label it just a sex cult now, Amer tells Variety, is “deeply problematic.”
That is why he and his wife and documentary filmmaking partner Noujaim are “trying to tell a story with dignity.” He explains, “People put a lot of faith in the documentary.
- 9/11/2020
- by Danielle Turchiano
- Variety Film + TV
HBO's documentary The Vow follows the downfall of Nxivm, Keith Raniere's faux self-help cult, but it also raises questions about whether Nxivm is still operational now. Although the organization has sustained severe damage, thanks to the revelations about its abuses and its disturbing teachings, it's not entirely down for the count.
The actual status of Nxivm is more complicated now, given that most of its leadership is currently facing legal consequences for the group's abuses. Their official website no longer exists, and an archived version from before it was taken down reads, in part, "It is with deep sadness that we inform you we are suspending all Nxivm/Esp enrollment, curriculum and events until further notice . . . While we are disappointed by the interruption of our operations, we believe it is warranted by the extraordinary circumstances facing the company at this time. We continue to believe in the value and...
The actual status of Nxivm is more complicated now, given that most of its leadership is currently facing legal consequences for the group's abuses. Their official website no longer exists, and an archived version from before it was taken down reads, in part, "It is with deep sadness that we inform you we are suspending all Nxivm/Esp enrollment, curriculum and events until further notice . . . While we are disappointed by the interruption of our operations, we believe it is warranted by the extraordinary circumstances facing the company at this time. We continue to believe in the value and...
- 8/30/2020
- by Amanda Prahl
- Popsugar.com
HBO's The Vow introduces viewers to a slew of people who were involved in Keith Raniere's Nxivm cult, including filmmaker Mark Vicente. As he tells his story in the documentary, he was introduced to Nxivm through its leadership seminars before getting pulled deeper into the organization and rising up through the hierarchy to a position of power, before learning of the cult's real activities and turning informant. Vicente - along with his wife, another former Nxivm member - is one of the main "characters" in The Vow, and it's easy to see why, given the depth of information he had on the organization. Here's what you need to know about him and what his life looks like now.
- 8/25/2020
- by Amanda Prahl
- Popsugar.com
If you’re an “inside Hollywood” person, one who scours the blind item gossip community, then you probably heard about Nxivm before most people did. It wasn’t until the Harvey Weinstein scandal and the #MeToo movement that most people learned the name of Keith Rainere, the guru/sex trafficker and his band of followers, many of whom were prominent actresses during the early aughts. But Nxivm remains a shadowy organization and it’s unclear how HBO’s nine-part documentary series “The Vow” will elucidate things for everyone.
It’s easy to understand why Nxivm has sailed under the radar in the world of cult fascination. It’s not as well-connected as Scientology nor is it as outlandish in its philosophies (or as deadly) compared to Heaven’s Gate. Nxivm is like if Goop and Scientology had a baby. As “The Vow” lays out, it started out as more of a lifestyle and wellness organization,...
It’s easy to understand why Nxivm has sailed under the radar in the world of cult fascination. It’s not as well-connected as Scientology nor is it as outlandish in its philosophies (or as deadly) compared to Heaven’s Gate. Nxivm is like if Goop and Scientology had a baby. As “The Vow” lays out, it started out as more of a lifestyle and wellness organization,...
- 8/21/2020
- by Kristen Lopez
- Indiewire
During the muggy last weeks of June 2019, Keith Raniere, the leader of the self-help organization Nxivm, sat in a downtown Brooklyn courthouse, owlish face peeking out from beneath a halo of pewter hair, looking like an overgrown prep-school boy in a jewel-toned crewneck, as prosecutors recounted a litany of his alleged crimes and peccadilloes, each more depraved and debauched than the last.
Raniere, they alleged, coerced a bevy of bright, ambitious women, including a former WB star and the daughter of an actress from Dynasty, into sending him photos of...
Raniere, they alleged, coerced a bevy of bright, ambitious women, including a former WB star and the daughter of an actress from Dynasty, into sending him photos of...
- 8/21/2020
- by EJ Dickson
- Rollingstone.com
Teah Brown was born into an evangelical Christian sect called the Radio Church of God. Founded in the 1930s by an advertising sales representative turned minister, the insular group promoted an ultra-fundamentalist reading of the Old Testament, eschewing divorce, premarital sex and even wearing makeup. “It was a super closed religion,” Brown, now 42, remembers. “We had pictures of the leader in our home. We worshipped him like he was a god.”
Although Brown started having questions about the group, she attended services until her 20s, when she was expelled from the organization.
Although Brown started having questions about the group, she attended services until her 20s, when she was expelled from the organization.
- 5/23/2019
- by EJ Dickson
- Rollingstone.com
A former member of Nxivm testified on Monday that members of the alleged cult tried to buy power and influence by currying favor with politicians and making illegal campaign contributions to the Clintons.
Mark Vicente, a documentary filmmaker and former high-ranking member of the group, testified at the trial of Nxivm head Keith Raniere that Clare Bronfman, the billionaire Seagram’s heiress and alleged benefactor of the organization, approached him and a few other members of the group to help her make a contribution to a Clinton campaign. Bronfman, the...
Mark Vicente, a documentary filmmaker and former high-ranking member of the group, testified at the trial of Nxivm head Keith Raniere that Clare Bronfman, the billionaire Seagram’s heiress and alleged benefactor of the organization, approached him and a few other members of the group to help her make a contribution to a Clinton campaign. Bronfman, the...
- 5/14/2019
- by EJ Dickson
- Rollingstone.com
The leader of Nxivm ran an all-male fraternity that later allowed women into the curriculum and used “horribly demeaning” tactics to humiliate them, according to testimony from a former member of the inner circle of the group.
During the trial of Keith Raniere, who is facing seven criminal counts including racketeering, wire fraud conspiracy, and sex trafficking, Mark Vicente, a member of the Nxivm inner circle and the de facto videographer of the group for more than a decade, testified about his experience as one of the founding members of...
During the trial of Keith Raniere, who is facing seven criminal counts including racketeering, wire fraud conspiracy, and sex trafficking, Mark Vicente, a member of the Nxivm inner circle and the de facto videographer of the group for more than a decade, testified about his experience as one of the founding members of...
- 5/13/2019
- by EJ Dickson
- Rollingstone.com
On Wednesday, the first witness in the Keith Raniere trial, a 32-year-old woman identified only as Sylvie, wrapped up her grueling two-day testimony regarding her nearly 13 years in the organization. The daughter of well-off English parents, Sylvie recounted how she had been drawn into Nxivm’s orbit when she was just 18 years old, when her then-boss Clare Bronfman suggested she take a class to help her reach her career goal of becoming a successful show-jumper.
Despite her initial reluctance to join the organization and her initial aversion to Raniere himself...
Despite her initial reluctance to join the organization and her initial aversion to Raniere himself...
- 5/9/2019
- by EJ Dickson
- Rollingstone.com
For Catherine Oxenberg, the “red flags” she could never quite see suddenly came into sharp, horrifying focus one afternoon last April when a friend reached out with news about her eldest daughter, India.
For the past several years, the former Dynasty actress had grown concerned about how increasingly “reserved, distant and burdened” her daughter had become after joining Nxivm, a controversial self-empowerment group in 2011.
But it wasn’t until her conversation with a friend, Bonnie Piesse, who had left Nxivm months earlier, that all the pieces to the terrifying puzzle fell into place.
“You need to save your daughter,” Piesse,...
For the past several years, the former Dynasty actress had grown concerned about how increasingly “reserved, distant and burdened” her daughter had become after joining Nxivm, a controversial self-empowerment group in 2011.
But it wasn’t until her conversation with a friend, Bonnie Piesse, who had left Nxivm months earlier, that all the pieces to the terrifying puzzle fell into place.
“You need to save your daughter,” Piesse,...
- 10/25/2017
- by Johnny Dodd
- PEOPLE.com
Toronto -- Captured Light and Samuel Goldwyn Films have picked up the William Arntz and E. Raymond Brown political documentary "GhettoPhysics: Will the Real Pimps and Hos Please Stand Up?" for an October release.
The twin distributors have scheduled theatrical dates in 12 cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta and Washington, D.C., for the provocative film.
"GhettoPhysics" features interviews with Dr. Cornel West, Ice-t, Krs-One, Too Short, John Perkins and Norman Lear on the interplay between pimps and prostitutes, and how that power dynamic explains wider political and corporate relationships in the U.S. and abroad.
Samuel Goldwyn and partner Roadside Attractions earlier struck gold with the hybrid documentary "What the Bleep Do We Know!?," directed by Arntz, Betsy Chasse and Mark Vicente, which did over $11 million in boxoffice.
Arntz's latest documentary has its genesis in fellow filmmaker E. Raymond Brown's novel "Will the Real Pimps and...
The twin distributors have scheduled theatrical dates in 12 cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta and Washington, D.C., for the provocative film.
"GhettoPhysics" features interviews with Dr. Cornel West, Ice-t, Krs-One, Too Short, John Perkins and Norman Lear on the interplay between pimps and prostitutes, and how that power dynamic explains wider political and corporate relationships in the U.S. and abroad.
Samuel Goldwyn and partner Roadside Attractions earlier struck gold with the hybrid documentary "What the Bleep Do We Know!?," directed by Arntz, Betsy Chasse and Mark Vicente, which did over $11 million in boxoffice.
Arntz's latest documentary has its genesis in fellow filmmaker E. Raymond Brown's novel "Will the Real Pimps and...
- 8/16/2010
- by By Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
An oddball blend of surprisingly lively scientific dissertations, playful 3D animation and visual effects and Marlee Matlin in a parallel fictional component, "What the #$*! Do We Know?" (the "#$*!" is officially pronounced "bleep"), serves up something of a metaphysical sampler platter.
Think of it as "The Matrix" for the quantum physics set.
Financed by William Arntz, a successful creator and seller of computer software companies who also happens to be a devout Buddhist, and co-written by Arntz, director Mark Vicente and producer Betsy Chasse, the documentary provides entry level, risk-free enlightenment with a great deal of charm and invention.
Based on early limited showings in Washington, Oregon and Arizona, the film has significant word-of-mouth potential to draw a loyal cult following on a national -- and possibly international -- scale.
On paper, the promise of 14 leading scientists and mystics defining reality wouldn't exactly seem like a swell night at the movies, but the filmmakers manage to get their message across painlessly and even intriguingly thanks to a presentation that's big on those eye-catching effects and an accompanying irreverent tone that prevents it from taking itself too seriously.
Meanwhile, Matlin's on hand to put some of that deep thinking to more practical use as a photographer whose mundane, day-to-day existence is turned upside-down as she embarks on a journey into greater self-awareness in a way that's a lot more entertaining than it just sounded.
Think of it as "The Matrix" for the quantum physics set.
Financed by William Arntz, a successful creator and seller of computer software companies who also happens to be a devout Buddhist, and co-written by Arntz, director Mark Vicente and producer Betsy Chasse, the documentary provides entry level, risk-free enlightenment with a great deal of charm and invention.
Based on early limited showings in Washington, Oregon and Arizona, the film has significant word-of-mouth potential to draw a loyal cult following on a national -- and possibly international -- scale.
On paper, the promise of 14 leading scientists and mystics defining reality wouldn't exactly seem like a swell night at the movies, but the filmmakers manage to get their message across painlessly and even intriguingly thanks to a presentation that's big on those eye-catching effects and an accompanying irreverent tone that prevents it from taking itself too seriously.
Meanwhile, Matlin's on hand to put some of that deep thinking to more practical use as a photographer whose mundane, day-to-day existence is turned upside-down as she embarks on a journey into greater self-awareness in a way that's a lot more entertaining than it just sounded.
An oddball blend of surprisingly lively scientific dissertations, playful 3D animation and visual effects and Marlee Matlin in a parallel fictional component, "What the #$*! Do We Know?" (the "#$*!" is officially pronounced "bleep"), serves up something of a metaphysical sampler platter.
Think of it as "The Matrix" for the quantum physics set.
Financed by William Arntz, a successful creator and seller of computer software companies who also happens to be a devout Buddhist, and co-written by Arntz, director Mark Vicente and producer Betsy Chasse, the documentary provides entry level, risk-free enlightenment with a great deal of charm and invention.
Based on early limited showings in Washington, Oregon and Arizona, the film has significant word-of-mouth potential to draw a loyal cult following on a national -- and possibly international -- scale.
On paper, the promise of 14 leading scientists and mystics defining reality wouldn't exactly seem like a swell night at the movies, but the filmmakers manage to get their message across painlessly and even intriguingly thanks to a presentation that's big on those eye-catching effects and an accompanying irreverent tone that prevents it from taking itself too seriously.
Meanwhile, Matlin's on hand to put some of that deep thinking to more practical use as a photographer whose mundane, day-to-day existence is turned upside-down as she embarks on a journey into greater self-awareness in a way that's a lot more entertaining than it just sounded.
Think of it as "The Matrix" for the quantum physics set.
Financed by William Arntz, a successful creator and seller of computer software companies who also happens to be a devout Buddhist, and co-written by Arntz, director Mark Vicente and producer Betsy Chasse, the documentary provides entry level, risk-free enlightenment with a great deal of charm and invention.
Based on early limited showings in Washington, Oregon and Arizona, the film has significant word-of-mouth potential to draw a loyal cult following on a national -- and possibly international -- scale.
On paper, the promise of 14 leading scientists and mystics defining reality wouldn't exactly seem like a swell night at the movies, but the filmmakers manage to get their message across painlessly and even intriguingly thanks to a presentation that's big on those eye-catching effects and an accompanying irreverent tone that prevents it from taking itself too seriously.
Meanwhile, Matlin's on hand to put some of that deep thinking to more practical use as a photographer whose mundane, day-to-day existence is turned upside-down as she embarks on a journey into greater self-awareness in a way that's a lot more entertaining than it just sounded.
An oddball blend of surprisingly lively scientific dissertations, playful 3D animation and visual effects and Marlee Matlin in a parallel fictional component, "What the #$*! Do We Know?" (the "#$*!" is officially pronounced "bleep"), serves up something of a metaphysical sampler platter.
Think of it as "The Matrix" for the quantum physics set.
Financed by William Arntz, a successful creator and seller of computer software companies who also happens to be a devout Buddhist, and co-written by Arntz, director Mark Vicente and producer Betsy Chasse, the documentary provides entry level, risk-free enlightenment with a great deal of charm and invention.
Based on early limited showings in Washington, Oregon and Arizona, the film has significant word-of-mouth potential to draw a loyal cult following on a national -- and possibly international -- scale.
On paper, the promise of 14 leading scientists and mystics defining reality wouldn't exactly seem like a swell night at the movies, but the filmmakers manage to get their message across painlessly and even intriguingly thanks to a presentation that's big on those eye-catching effects and an accompanying irreverent tone that prevents it from taking itself too seriously.
Meanwhile, Matlin's on hand to put some of that deep thinking to more practical use as a photographer whose mundane, day-to-day existence is turned upside-down as she embarks on a journey into greater self-awareness in a way that's a lot more entertaining than it just sounded.
Think of it as "The Matrix" for the quantum physics set.
Financed by William Arntz, a successful creator and seller of computer software companies who also happens to be a devout Buddhist, and co-written by Arntz, director Mark Vicente and producer Betsy Chasse, the documentary provides entry level, risk-free enlightenment with a great deal of charm and invention.
Based on early limited showings in Washington, Oregon and Arizona, the film has significant word-of-mouth potential to draw a loyal cult following on a national -- and possibly international -- scale.
On paper, the promise of 14 leading scientists and mystics defining reality wouldn't exactly seem like a swell night at the movies, but the filmmakers manage to get their message across painlessly and even intriguingly thanks to a presentation that's big on those eye-catching effects and an accompanying irreverent tone that prevents it from taking itself too seriously.
Meanwhile, Matlin's on hand to put some of that deep thinking to more practical use as a photographer whose mundane, day-to-day existence is turned upside-down as she embarks on a journey into greater self-awareness in a way that's a lot more entertaining than it just sounded.
- 6/23/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.