Apostasy Audio Commentary

Apostasy (2017), written and directed by former Jehovah’s Witness Daniel Kokotajlo, is a searing British drama that provides an intimate, authentic, and devastating look into the lives of a family of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Oldham, Greater Manchester. The film explores the profound conflict between familial love and rigid religious dogma, focusing on how the strict doctrines of the Jehovah’s Witness faith—particularly the practice of disfellowshipping and shunning—can shatter the closest of bonds.
The story centers on a devout Jehovah’s Witness mother, Ivanna (Siobhan Finneran), and her two young adult daughters, Luisa (Sacha Parkinson) and Alex (Molly Wright). They are united in "The Truth" (the Jehovah's Witness community), but the family’s life is governed by strict, inflexible rules. The youngest daughter, Alex, is anemic and carries deep guilt from having received a blood transfusion as a baby, a forbidden act in their faith. Despite her health issues, she is a devout follower who learns Urdu to better preach the faith.
The central conflict arises when the elder sister, Luisa, begins to question the authority of the church elders and rebels against the strictures of the community. She commits a "life-altering transgression" by entering a relationship with a non-Witness and becoming pregnant. Because she refuses to conform, the all-male elders order her to be "disfellowshipped". This expulsion compels the community, including her own mother and sister, to "shun" her completely.
Ivanna is torn between her love for her daughter and her absolute loyalty to her faith, ultimately choosing to follow the church's decree and forcing the pregnant Luisa to leave home. This decision breaks the family unit, causing immense anguish. The tension intensifies when the younger daughter, Alex, is faced with her own health crisis, forcing her to choose between life-saving medical treatment (a blood transfusion) and her faith.
Apostasy is not an aggressive attack on the religion, but rather a quiet, emotional examination of the devastating, real-world consequences of its practices. The film highlights the "psychological quicksand" of faith, showing how devotion can be manipulated by a, at times, cruel institutional structure. Through its restrained, almost documentary-style approach, Apostasy illustrates how the fear of "disfellowshipping" and the pressure to maintain "purity" can turn mothers against daughters and sisters against sisters. The film concludes with a somber look at the "horrors" of a life torn apart by dogma, leaving the audience with a powerful, haunting, and deeply moving portrayal of the human cost of unquestioning obedience.

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