Pray Away (2021) User Reviews

Sad to say but this is far from what we need

[emanueledepatta · 6/10 · 10 August 2021]

Very very slow. Boring at times. Ridiculous that it stills gives a platform to people that preach conversion therapy.

Also, where is the blame for Christianity? This wasn't created by homophobia per se but by people thinking that god doesn't believe they are holy enough. Why are some of these people STILL going to church after what they went through all of that?

I don't know, not powerful as I have expected or wanted.

Well crafted but held back

[Arts-student · 7/10 · 5 August 2021]

Overall well made, edited and the stories are compelling. I do not share other people's views that it should have been "trauma porn" as these things can often be. My real critique is that the filmmaker seemed unwilling to offend in the presentation. It didn't feel raw but sterile and too polished. An example of this is the unwillingness of this film to use the word "cult" when referring to these ministries.

Didn't really enjoy this

[kristarosephillips · 6/10 · 14 August 2021]

Love the subject matter, think it is incredibly important. This documentary felt so slow. I unfortunately was bored (probably because the conversion nuts are hard a chore to listen to) and almost cut it off multiple times. Worth the watch if you need a background doc, but I recommend reading up on conversion and its horrors to get a better picture.

Doesn't take as much of a stand as I would like

[Neon_Gold · 6/10 · 14 November 2021]

I feel like this documentary is a little bit scared at times.

I feel like it's scared to fully demonise these monsters that push conversion therapy. It doesn't chastise them as much as I would have thought, which is ok I guess. It makes it more impartial but I feel also gives a message that "oh well look on both sides" when that isn't ok! There is only one side in this! These people are awful. They have caused irreparable damage to queer people!

It is easy to laugh especially in a part where a group of men gather because they are Ex-gay. These men are completely gay. It is like the most campest thing you'll ever see. But before you laugh at this like I saw people did, remember that these people have been brainwashed. They are trapped and scared to be who they are!

Please watch and listen to these peoples stories. They deserve to be heard.

Like it in some way.

[vzhuk · 7/10 · 3 August 2021]

Here we can see same topic but from two different perspectives: the first one - those who run away for better, the 2nd - those who still pray for something they shouldn't.

Less biased than I expected it to be

[siderite · 7/10 · 11 August 2021]

To paraphrase the old joke: some people had a problem with being gay so they thought: I know! I will become part of a Christian help group. Now they have two problems.

The LGBTQ concept leads to a conundrum that no one has been able to resolve. Since being gay is supposedly a biological imperative from the moment one is born, then any discussion about how legal, moral, permissible it is touches childhood. And that includes stuff from life style changes to elective surgery. It's about the right to choose for children, who are historically prevented from having it. There is a deep divide between what it means to be a protective parent and what it means to be disempowered by society's norms. And that society is fractured, too, it's not like there is a consensus on what is right and wrong.

So in this situation it's not uncommon to have people be gay and feel they don't want to be, however sad that is. I expected this show to be strongly against that idea, but it wasn't. Instead it showed how people either started help groups in good faith or just did it for the money and prestige and how it affected them and others. It may feel uncomfortable to discuss organizations dedicated to changing what you feel is your sexual orientation, but the choice to change one's gender is as valid as the choice to change one's sexual orientation. You can't allow one and deny the other.

I am glad the film did not go full anti-anti and showed multiple viewpoints. It is still a gay... awareness raising film, let's call it that, but it shows actual people having actual problems and trying to find solutions.

You choose to serve one ideology or another. And if you do it publicly and communally, it is very difficult to change your mind. These poor people were trying to reconcile their wants with their needs and their declared ideology and their changing beliefs, every move of them scrutinized and dissected and captive in a web of personal, communal ties and lies. And it broke them. And this continues to go on, no end in sight. There is no "final solution" for this. One has to accept themselves and fight to be accepted by others.

Bottom line: it's a film about people trying to not be themselves, with large groups of people pulling on them in both directions. Not a comfortable position to be in. It is pro-gay (wouldn't have been allowed on Netflix otherwise), but it's pretty balanced.

heartbreaking but far from revelatory

[matthewssilverhammer · 7/10 · 26 January 2022]

I truly don't understand the hard stance that otherwise reasonable people take against the LGBTQ community. If God is loving and merciful, our (mis?)understanding of his "will" for someone's sexual/gender identity shouldn't stop our calling to radically love and accept everyone. This doc should be convicting and inspiring for anyone who works in ministry to turn the church into a place of safety, growth, and love, not judgment and fear.

Evil lies beneath the cloth

[GomezAddams666 · 10/10 · 4 August 2021]

This has got to be one of the most powerful explorations of the evils of Conversion Therapy, not since Jesus Camp have we seen the true depravity that lurks in Christian Churches were monsters, false prophets and molesters dwell hidden in plain sight as men of the cloth.

This documentary is a true testament of the hate and hypocrisy coming from those who preach at the behest of a "loving God."

In a time when hate becomes the norm, we need stories like the ones told here to make us think about the human beings that suffer at the hands of their loved ones, in the name of a church full of evil.

Conversion Therapy

[DVK1234 · 6/10 · 13 June 2022]

All sin leads to death (Romans 6:16); the differing opinions stem from what defines sin? If the Bible is your litmus test, then h--sexuality is a sin. But so are many other things, the Bible says all of us have sinned (Romans 3:23). God loves us, but He doesn't love the sin.

I don't agree with conversion therapy and I feel sad for those that were coerced into it. I see that almost every person in the doc was an ex-ex-g-. I have heard of, however, and I do know others who have chosen to remain ex-g-, and are living a fulfilled life, contrary to the examples of individuals interviewed in Pray Away. Netflix will never delve into that subject matter, so many will never know the other side of this story.

Not enough.

[gadflyshadow-258-881016 · 4/10 · 6 August 2021]

The documentary was less about conversion therapy and more of a "where are they now" for truly awful people. I felt that only one or two of them even began to grasp the reality of the damage they've done and it's going to take much more than a "My bad. By the way, meet my new life partner. We're so happy!" to make me forgive them. I'm not saying that they're beyond forgiveness but it's going to take much more time and action from each of them to even start to repair the horrible things they've done and this movie doesn't even begin to accomplish that. These former cult leaders only wanted attention and fame in the first place and that's why they sold-out their entire community; now we put the spotlight back on them so they can give a half-assed apology? My own parents still quote their lies about "lifestyle" and "choice" to this day.

Also, showing the current Exodus replacement was confusing. Yes, we know there are awful people out there but why are we giving them even more attention?! If they focused instead on the people that have escaped these cults and how they've thrived in spite of the trauma they experienced then there might have been more of a point to this film. But instead the filmmakers seemed to want to offer "equal time" to the proven false and hateful practice of conversion therapy.

Relevant everywhere

[sreeragmeppadath · 10/10 · 5 August 2021]

I was crying the whole time. Im not an American and live in a country where conversion therapy is norm. This documentary can save lives.

Bitter taste

[sergepesic · 7/10 · 8 May 2022]

The purpose of the true documentary film is to tell a story, or a part of a story without undue alterations. "Pray Away" does that in its own way choosing to give a platform to former leaders of the Exodus, monstrous conversion therapy racket. These people who, so it seems, repented their views did an immeasurable damage to hundreds of thousands of GLBTQIA people all over the country. They profited handsomely, if one is to judge their homes and resources by what we saw on the screen. And now they are on the other side, with as one of them put, with "their own people". This movie stays faithful to its goal, but this hard to stomach atonement leaves a very bitter taste. Exodus might be gone in flames, but the homophobia continues to thrive. From a pathetic self-proclaimed trans man praying in strip malls to the arrogant populists in Florida. We are used to it and bullies never win in the end. Bullying is action of a coward, and cowards always run for the hills in the end. And hide.

Okay....Kind of Missed the Mark

[marymcfarland-01866 · 5/10 · 17 August 2021]

I was expecting many stories from those who had to experience "conversion therapy" and what they went through. This played more like buyer's remorse from "ex-ex gays", with some random storyline thrown in about a maybe former Trans person who hosts parades for ex trans people...or something (I do not understand why that was thrown in here. It played out like filler.)

Conversion therapy stories are important to tell, but the way this was presented did not capture the damage that's done when this whole "pray it away" philosophy is crammed down people's throats and forced upon the young. I'd say watch it just so you know this was and still is a thing. But it's not giving the whole story.

Interesting movie but shares only one side of the story

[faerch · 7/10 · 1 September 2021]

Have you seen the movie about the ex-drug addicts that creates an organization to help others? As society slowly begins to accepts people using drugs as being the norm several of these ex-drug addicts realizes that it's no longer worth fighting their urges. Some prominent if these people leaves the organization and begin fighting against it, as they have spent years fighting against their urges and felt it was a living hell. This is the movie in a nutshell if you replace drug addicts with same-sex addiction. I feel for the people in the movie as I see their heartache and pain. Nevertheless the main problem is not the church but todays belief that you are what you feel you are and no one should dare tell you if it's wrong. It's a movie that shares an interesting story, unfortunately one-sided as people who does not believe in the supernatural never will be able to understand the other side of the story. Good job though.

Amazing

[jp-15748 · 10/10 · 4 August 2021]

The overweight guy in the beginning is so not straight. It's just sad that he's been so brainwashed. He talks about his drug addiction which makes it so predictable.

Really shows the connection between the ex gays, religious hate groups, politicians looking to exploit it for votes, and the therapists in it for the 💰. Evil people. You feel real sympathy for these poor victims taken in by it though. All because they've been convinced that Jesus doesn't love them for who they are. Even feel for the leaders who had their own demons.

👍👍

The elephant in the room is religion, not conversion therapy

[edwin-wks · 4/10 · 6 August 2021]

At the end, Michael Bussee says that "as long as there is homophobia, there will be some form of an organization like Exodus". He stops short of pointing the finger at religion which has been established by science as the primary source of homophobia.

What these ex-gay people are exhibiting by identifying with their oppressors is nothing short of Stockholm Syndrome. It is like the American POWs who sided with their North Korean captors. People will rationalize anything that they want to believe in if they are desperate or vulnerable enough. As a gay atheist who did once attend church to find God, I question why the documentary did not focus on religion itself instead of conversion therapy which it spawned.

Why do some LGBTQ people still need to believe in Jesus and remain in the same religion that demonizes them, when they can get the sense of belonging they desire from within the LGBTQ community? Yvette Cantu said that she misses being part of the religious community, yet she had quite readily cast off her membership to the LGBTQ community in the 1990s.

I could not help noticing that the vast majority of people in this documentary are white, in spite of the diversity in the LGBTQ community. This is symptomatic of my experience as an Asian man in a LGBTQ community that does not treat its ethnic minorities equally. There is a growing body of evidence about discrimination and racism within the LGBTQ community that result in poorer mental health outcomes for those who are affected by such prejudice. Perhaps that could be Ryan Murphy's next project, seeing how prodigious he is at documenting and validating the LGBTQ experience.

AN EYE OPENING DOCUMENTARY!

[snperera · 8/10 · 5 August 2021]

I HATE THE HATE AND ABUSE THAT THE CHURCH HAS DONE TO THE LGBTQIA COMMUNITY! IT IS DISGUSTING! THIS DOCUMENTARY SHOWS THE TRAUMA AND PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS THAT CONVERSION THERAPY CAN HAVE ON THE LGBTQUIA COMMUNITY! IF YOU SUPPORT THE LGBTQUIA COMMUNITY AND YOU ARE AN ALLY TO WATCH THIS DOCUMENTARY OR IF YOU ARE APART OF THE LGBTQUIA COMMUNITY AND THIS DOCUMENTARY WON'T TRUGGER YOU OR ANYTHING THAN I ALSO SUGGEST TO WATCH THIS AND IT MIGHT BRING SOME HEALING.

Disturbing and cultish

[jamzdarren · 2/10 · 16 August 2021]

Very disturbing and didn't go nearly far enough to point out the harm these religious superstitions cause. The dogma and cultish behavior of this middle eastern mythology is horrid.

Hopeful

[prierpourelle · 10/10 · 4 August 2021]

This maybe wasn't the trauma porn others were anticipating, but it was an honest look at the "ex-gay" movement from people who led the charge and had the courage to admit they were wrong.

I grew up in the church. If I'd seen this in my teens it would have saved me a lot of time, shame, and therapy. Hopefully it will help others. I think it will.

I wish it dove more into the actual teachings from both sides. There's a good overview, but I would have liked more detailed arguments.

Not the Story I Expected Or Wanted

[rihard2000-396-581265 · 4/10 · 7 August 2021]

So many children and families have had their lives torn apart by conversion therapy, but instead of telling their story, this documentary focuses on the terrible people who caused that harm.

Sad to watch

[Cat4117 · 9/10 · 22 August 2021]

As a straight female this was heartbreaking to watch. I can't understand why parents would feel the need to put their kids into a conversion camp to "pray" the gay away. It's never worked like that and it never will. When the documentary began it showed a very obviously gay man with a sign Trans to Christ and asking people if they need prayer. Saying he left it follow Jesus. What's sad is how religion has warped the minds of many into thinking that if you don't live in a particular way then they're not going to "the kingdom of heaven." Watching the few that were interviewed admit that they were wrong in what they did to push this agenda just further proves the point that people don't chose this. They are born this way. I do wish that they had gone more in-depth into the psychological problems that these conversion camps had on the many individuals that were subjected to it. Even if you somehow try to convince yourself you're not gay and try and live a straight lifestyles those desires don't go away. Pretty sure when the gay man in the very beginning of the documentary is at home alone he's still dressing up in wigs and dresses.

Wish I had not watched

[paulandrewcosmasjolly · 1/10 · 12 August 2021]

This just mad me so angry. This topic was inappropriately handled, not what I wanted to see. Where was the condemnation. Too many opportunities where missed, the wrong people were headlined, never have I had less forgiveness in my heart.

It's a MUST!!!

[li0904426 · 10/10 · 12 September 2021]

This documentary is an alert on how dangerous, irresponsible, evil religious group under the name of Conversion Therapy is.

The documentary should be part of every school/university curriculum to educate students to trust and believe their own instinct about their sexuality and self esteem. There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING wrong in being gay, bi-sexual, black, white, yellow, brown, Catholic, Buddhist, Muslin, blind, disabled, mute, fat, fit, smart, dumb, left-handed, right handed, poor, rich.............we are all HUMAN that deserves respect!!!!

When apologies aren't enough

[jan_vervloet-564-821712 · 3/10 · 9 August 2021]

This documentary, while it's good, it's so angering and gut turning that it is truly hard to watch.

It's an exercise in turning around root issues and not a single time addressing them.

Documentary: a movie or a television or radio program that provides a factual record or report

[fefeeley412 · 8/10 · 5 August 2021]

The juxtaposition of what was and what is still is the biggest theme of this documentary.

Exodus International is no more - but now we get to hear the various leader's stories on how this 'pray the gay away' movement worked (or didn't as expressed) for them and the hell and torture they went through as they tortured thousands upon thousands of other gay men and women with the lie of conversion therapy.

We are introduced to a young man starting a new movement with all the same old talking points continuing the 'work' of exodus now that the founders are operators are gone and a young woman who survived Exodus and left once she heard the trauma Exodus caused which mirrored her own.

Beautifully shot, this documentary shows what unchecked power and false doctrine can do to the psyche of individuals. This is an important educational piece.