Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

Solidrariol Am I Missing Something?

Bessie Smyth Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Sienna-Rose Mclaughlin The movie really just wants to entertain people.

julietkwan What else can I say? It's an amazing documentary. Powerful stories and great music, the directors are FABULOUS so it got snubbed by the Oscars.

lovegodhope Great look inside stories that should be heard. However,it is very incorrect in basic facts which for a documentary are real make it or break it. It is a beautiful look into the lives of those who are struggling inside and out some of the most ultra hasidic communities. However the information provided about the hasidic world,sectors,groups and all aspects of their lives, Religion views of each of these groups and so on are simply not correct. Aside from this influencing the stories of those who should be heard,it also gives a very unrealistic vibe for anyone with knowledge about the Jewish world. Wrapping up dozens of different hasidic communities into the the term "hasidic world" "views" or even "religious laws" is poor reasearch and/or understanding at best if not tendentious. And that's what makes a dacumentry good or bad. Seeing as this is a documentary,well,it's pretty bad. Perhaps calling it "Leaving the Satmar world" (a cult like hasidic sect) Which according to the stories they all indeed were part of,would make this a 10 star review.

elkerweiss This documentary was life changing for me. It made me realize how lucky I am to be free of a world that made me so sad.And how easy I had it compared to others who left religion.Seeing the violence inflicted on Etty made me sick to my stomach.Seeing the community be willing to give her kids to a man who beat them because better they be battered religiously than be secular made me sick.Seeing the blacked out faces of little girls made me nauseous.Hearing how she was stalked and assaulted and how the community spied on her and ruined her life made me hatefully angry.Honestly, I can't believe we allow this in the US. We shouldn't.All religious communities need sunlight like this, this movie is a wake up call and worth seeing by everyone, but especially members of the community who need to clean up what is happening.

dovidsgreenberger One of us follows Ety, Ari and Luzer. They were born and raised in the Hasidic community (a Orthodox Jewish group). Each one decides to leave everything once sacred to them for a secular way of life. Some must cut ties with family and friends for that is what leaving entails. Throughout the film We hear their sad personal story's. Ety talks of abuse she suffered at the hands of her husband. Ari of molestation in camp. They tell us how this community is cut off from the rest of the world. A little bubble that for the most part doesn't speak English or engage in secular study's. Ari says "I couldn't google how to google because i didn't know how to google. The subtext of the film paints the Hasidic community as a mindless cult that for some reason related to the holocaust wont let you leave its clutches. They make it seem as if men and woman are unhappily locked in this culture with no way out. They fail to give perspective from inside the community. They don't talk to any of the thousands living the hasidic lifestyle. Rather They only focus on three stories that manage to cast doubt and shadows over the entire community.I will try and give perspective from inside the community. They are made up of Hasidic Jews who continue to keep the religion of their fathers dating back too Moses (1391 BCE), king David, King Solomon and all the rest of Jewish ancestry. until around 250 years ago every Jew was about as religious as them. keeping to the same laws and tradition. The reform and conservative movement "reformed" Judaism and slowly did away with 99% of its laws and customs. They denied traditional Jewish beliefs and reinterpreted what being Jewish meant. This new Jewish view spread through Europe, where most Jews lived at the time. It infecting many homes and religious community's with a cynical view for religious practice and culture . There were two approaches taken by religious community's to protect themselves from the secular wave. The Hasidic community's did their best to block out secularism in all forms, since it was the breeding ground for religious and bible criticism. They stayed away from university's and continued to speak their own dialect- Yiddish. Due to this they were mostly successful at keeping out any reform to judiasim. The other approach was to embrace secular knowledge, science, and advancement but from a religious perspective each shedding light on the other. (Rabbi Samson R. Hirsh championed this second approach.) Then came the holocaust which killed 6 million Jews sending many refugees to the American shores. The secular, reform Jews spread throughout America without much need for community since religion played a small if any role in their life. The Hasidim looking to rebuild and continue their old way of life established community's with synagogues and private schools to teach their children what they held most dear; religion. They continued the outlook of let us keep away from secular knowledge and enclose our selves in community's that are guarded from the American way of life. Today there are more than 100,000 living similar to this way. They have large and extremely supportive family's. My judgement is, their happiness ratio is much higher than the rest of Americas. They have organizations in the community for just about anything you can imagine. Charity, visiting the ill, meals for new mothers and even fixing your flat tire. There is no end to the amount of kindness and support they give each other. They live good and fulfilling lives albeit not in clubs and bars. It goes without saying there are bad people in every place of the world. Being religious doesn't prevent someone from making the choice to do evil. There will always be those that steal, molest and abuse. Maybe sometimes flying under the radar into positions like teacher or principle. This documentary is about those that unfortunately fell into the hands of such people. Although they want to leave the community they weren't raised with the secular background to do so. Even though the community may understand the person has been hurt they will never condone or help one leave religion since after all God is God and no matter the circumstances they will follow his ways and teachings. When in the case of Ety, (who for the knowing viewer has just about left her religion) the community's role becomes to save the children from her bad ways and protect them from her influence. Her own mother was on the community's side. while she surely cried to sleep over her daughters plight, she had to save her grandchildren. If one takes issue with their religious way of life its because you think their religion is not true. They not only believe its true and the best for them and their children but have as a nation experienced revelation in Sinai desert in front of 3,000,000 people and have a long history of forefathers that gave their life for their faith. There is much more to be said but this must suffice. (as a side note there are numerous other Jewish community's that keep the same laws and mostly the same customs as the Hasidim. They however took a softer approach then blocking out the American/secular world. They speak English and work regular jobs but inside they are the same god fearing and religious. A example of one such community is a large part of Midwood Flatbush Brooklyn N.Y.)