Sins of Our Mother (2022) User Reviews

Unbelievable Because It Really Happened

[deedee_2000-985-341635 · 8/10 · 14 September 2022]

Watching this brought an overwhelming sadness and if i'm honest, more than a little bit of anger. Everyone failed these kids. Everyone. And the only person who genuinely tried, was murdered for his efforts. And why was this? Charles Vallow told the police Lori had threatened to murder him. He told the police he was afraid of what she would do to his kids. Yet when the police had her at the police station, they simply let her bat her blue eyes and toss her blonde hair and walk away. Four lives would be lost because of their incompetence. And her parents, they stuck their heads in the sand and refused to admit anything could be wrong. Such a disgrace.

Those poor poor victims.

If there's any justice and i'm not convinced there is, Lori Vallow will rot in jail till she's an old old woman, unable to bewitch anyone ever again. Far away from any human contact.

When a grandiose narc meets a covert narc...

[edwin-wks · 8/10 · 18 September 2022]

Where to begin with this train wreck? Chad Daybell, a grandiose narcissist mediocre in every way, finds an enabler in Lori Vallow, a covert narcissist who is as unhinged as he is, to help him carry out his fantasies of being god and executioner. These people are narcissistic because they have never cared about anyone else but themselves. They would not otherwise have played those around them like a chessboard and decreed who was worthy of living; note how someone was a light or dark spirit depending on their utility to them.

Ironically, when they accuse other people of being zombies, they are the ones with empty and soulless eyes, hiding behind masterfully crafted disguises as faithful man and dedicated mother to conceal their voracious appetites for admiration and validation that can never be sated, and a deadening void that can never be filled. These people are prime examples of why we should always pay attention to what people do, instead of being beguiled by what they say. In this instance, doing so could have saved a few lives.

This was rough

[TruthbeTold2626 · 7/10 · 15 September 2022]

I put this on to kill time before bed, but then got sucked into the entire series. There are a lot of names getting thrown around, and because i was hardly paying attention i was confused for a bit. After a while i was so gripped by the story i hardly blinked. This kind of stuff really gets to me because of how insane it is and how insane humans can actually be. I feel like netflix tossed in some things for dramatics and that irritated me, but overall this was worth the watch. Getting the whole story was better than having a fraction of the story. I do believe that this is a one and done type documentary for me. I cant sit through this story again.

Worth watching

[Emyalou · 7/10 · 16 September 2022]

It is a well done doco. Not brilliant but well done. It gives a good breakdown of the situation for people who are unaware of the case. Like others have said, it could have been done in one or two parts. Hearing Lori Vallows parents absolute delusion helped me understand where her narcissistic traits came from/developed. She was well on her way before she met dumbbell. He was not her turning point to the alley of "evil". She was already skipping down it. Two like minded individuals who are so obsessed with their own importance that it leads to the abhorrent murder of four people that includes her children. They are surrounded by creeps such as the woman who he published books for. New age evangelistic grifters. What happened is not surprising really considering the people they are and who they surrounded themselves with. "Religious" narcissistics trying to make money off of others naivety, vulnerability and suffering. The end times happens at least a couple of times a year right?

Not enough details

[sinahaase-960-743497 · 6/10 · 15 September 2022]

In my opinion this documentary came way too early. I'm writing this review as somebody who has been trying to follow the case since 2020. I remember when the kids were still missing and that lady was found just chillen in Hawaii... and then later it was just such a heartbreaking discovery after those poor kids were found in Idaho. The details however have not been made public and most people who are following this case have already known what was put into that documentary. It seemed more focused on the brother's feelings towards his mom (which is fine) but it's shocking that the mom of Lori Vallow had the nerve to be in the documentary. Was she paid after that? Not sure how that works exactly but if so, that's ridiculous cuz she already made a fool of herself doing early interviews defending Lori. That family is twisted. We wanna know what happened exactly to those kids, to Charles, and to chads wife.

Also... Melanie Gibb is a 2-faced liar and I really think she knows waaaaay more about the plans chad and Lori had concerning the children. She tried to look like a naive friend during that recorded phone call but that woman knew what Lori and chad believed spiritually, agreed with them, fed into their conspiracies, and was a member of their little cult! The podcast was made from her too! They trusted her for a reason as a person who "had JJ." Something isn't adding up there so although the documentary shared a lot about the case, it wasn't enough. I guess we'll learn the sad horrific details next year during the trial. It's very, very sad.

Once again.....

[mf2812 · 7/10 · 15 September 2022]

Another documentary about cults and "religious" groups showing that a mothers love can be shattered by these weirdo's. How can people be so gullible?! I'm an atheist but I truly respect other people who believe in a god as long as they don't try to preach to me, but these groups take it too far. So sad that there are people out there who feel so much of a void in their own life that they get hooked in by these nutters. A decent documentary but once again Netflix feel the need to chop up what could have been an hour and a half documentary, not two 50 minute episodes and the last 39 minutes. I guess they just want to have the words "true crime series".

Concise, detailed and without all the cutscenes and animation that makes these documentaries unbearable

[Kimsy1724 · 9/10 · 16 September 2022]

I do enjoy a crime documentary but so often they are stretched out over far too many episodes and filled with cheap CGI cut scenes and animation. I enjoyed this one because the story was more condensed over three episodes but there never felt like there was a period of too many people trying to talk and fill the silence.

It's a sad story and really highlights to me everything that's wrong with religion. The belief that killing your children is "Gods will" to me seems to go against everything God is supposed to stand for. It is madness to see how people can be so easily led and consumed with these extremist theories so it is a very sad story.

Probably my only complaint is that as of the time of my review, the mother and her husband haven't been charged and no details have been released in regards to how the children were killed or the ex-wife and it would've been more interesting to know what the outcome of their trial was on the details but this is not scheduled until 2023.

All in all it's interesting, pretty concise and kept me engaged across the 3 episodes.

Not A Whole Lot of New Information...

[rightkeith · 6/10 · 16 September 2022]

....for those who followed this story when it happened. Some interesting texts and phone call recordings that I hadn't heard, but for the most part just a regurgitation of what was in the news if you followed the case.

Per usual with Netflix, the production value is there. Presentation, timeline, interviews etc were all presented clearly.

Good quality documentary but wish it would've delved deeper into Lori and Chad's background and what drove the doomsday beliefs that made them go off the deep end. Easy to blame it on religion, but there's nut jobs in all religions as well as out. I've had 40+ years in the LDS church and I could tell in the first 15 seconds listening to Lori that she was going completely contradictory to most of the faith's main tenets. (Thou shalt not kill??)

All I saw was a self-indulgent narcissist who knew more about manipulating people to get what she wanted than anything resembling Christianity. Chad also comes off as someone who fell in love with the sound of his own voice and the power and trust he could garner by fanning fanaticism. I'm truly curious if he started to believe his own rhetoric or if he was simply a conman trying to get as much money/sex/admiration as he could before his time ran out.

Frightening dellusional religious people become killers

[mjanssens26 · 8/10 · 17 September 2022]

It amazes me that there are people in the world who think they can be the voice of God. Lori and her friends supposedly believed that God was talking to them and telling them to kill demonic spirits that were trapped in the human bodies of their family members.

It's frightening to realize how insane these types of people can be. The show even interviews a woman who claims she hears from God personally. As if this small town hillbilly is so important that God would speak to her before anyone else. Just shocking how delusional some people can be but I suppose it happens all the time, sadly. Great documentary. I never followed much about this case and the series caught me up to speed. What a nutcase Lori and her followers are. None of them had any logic or critical thinking. Yikes.

A very chilling tale of religious extremism gone horrid! [+63%]

[arungeorge13 · 6/10 · 17 September 2022]

Skye Borgman's latest Netflix true-crime documentary closely follows the crimes of Lori Vallow, a religious extremist (and podcaster). While the right folks are interviewed, perspectives are often skewed. Lori's mother and sister top the delusional list, thinking they still had a happy family (when Lori married five times, and one of her ex-husbands even raped her children) except for when two of the children eventually went missing. While we feel empathetic towards Lori's son Colby, I wish he'd done more early on instead of blindly trusting her on the well-being of his siblings. The concerned PDs should also have acted sooner, believed the right folks, and treated this saga of crimes with greater importance. Maybe, they could have stopped the evil Lori and her co-cultist Chad (both LDS Church followers) from doing what they did to the kids at least.

If I were to look at the single biggest takeaway from this documentary, it's that religious extremism is rampant in the States. Self-proclaimed messengers, prophets, and saints of God are everywhere, and they're extremely good at manipulating people. This is just one case of cultists carving their own path to "attain salvation" or whatever, when there are hundreds out there - the thought itself is terrifying. Lori, in her recorded phone calls with Colby after she's accused of heinous crimes, talks of greater understanding and how her actions are justified in her world. She's delusional as hell, but she's definitely aware of her deeds. Listening to people like her, I just want religions (let alone their extremism) to NOT EXIST!

While the maker has control over the material and handles it in a sensible, sensitive manner, it would've made more sense to wait for the trial to conclude before this piece was released. At this point, the documentary simply brings audiences up to speed regarding the events. Also, it needs better edit work in the first episode when too many names and faces are thrown around.

Insane story well documented

[Imashelbob · 9/10 · 14 September 2022]

This was a good, yet shocking watch. It's almost unfathomable that people can be this insane and that everyone just let them get away with it until it was too late. They needed to be placed in an institute long ago. The way everyone just ignored the husbands cry for help is heartbreaking. He could have been saved and so could the kids. Hope both these monsters get the death penalty, that's what they deserve.

The series itself is very well made, it's captivating as the full magnitude of the insanity and inhumanity unfolds. Haven't heard about this case before and I feel like I learned the full story in just under 3 hours.

Some of these people are out of their minds

[jadasgrl · 7/10 · 14 September 2022]

Not only should they have figured out this woman was dangerous and crazy but, they need to keep watch on a few others they show in the program... mental health help people.. nothing wrong in getting it! Yes, you can say oh it's their religion but, you can clearly see they are not working with a full deck! Plus, I think they left a lot out to spare the mother Janis' feelings... I can't wait for the actual trial. I believe a lot more will be revealed! I will say some are going to ask why they didn't find their bodies the first time they searched? It's because there was snow on the ground and they didn't have all the text messages back yet.

What A Shame

[helenahandbasket-93734 · 1/10 · 15 September 2022]

All three episodes are just a train wreck you can't like away from- Colby is just frustrating to listen to, since he was aware of his mothers sanity slipping away by Charles, yet chose to ignore the giant red flags waving in his face because he claims it's just marital issues and Charles was obviously cheating because his mom told her whole family to avoid Charles.

Loris' mother is a complete and utter moron, in serious denial, while her grandchildren are buried in her latest husband's backyard! She's so delusional that she's still somewhat defending her daughter to this day.

There's so many police departments that dropped the ball and more importantly, failed Charles, failed Tylee, failed JJ. Had any one of them done their job and listened to the desperation from Charles, 3 people would still be alive today. But she was so pretty!! But she was so normal!! But she had a right to act like a lunatic!

There's a sincere lack of any sort of pushback to this nonsense- from the lunatic who sincerely claims to be a 'good prophet' and calls Chad an 'evil prophet', and not a soul to offer any sort of evidence to the contrary. It happens on multiple occasions and she even claims people will say she's crazy.

There's just this odd stringing together lately of documentaries with no one offering factual information or details and just sensationalizing dramatic events according to people with a vested interest in the outcome. It's gross and an obvious conflict of interest.

I'd love too see a documentary that holds people accountable and demands all these people explain their utter failures and complete ignorance regarding the wellbeing of innocents who were begging for assistance every single day.

This is just another poor example of salacious exploitation of innocent people who were failed by so many.

Gripping

[GoalDigs · 22 September 2022]

This was one of the best docucrime's I have ever viewed. Every moment was gripping. Other ones have been unnecessarily dragged out, but I felt this particular one was phenomenal.

I was aware of who Lori Vallow was but did not know most of the details; absolutely insane.

Lastly, how utterly delusional and wacko are these people? Not Lori and Chad, they are just evil, but some of the others depicted are insane, wow. They actually believe this nonsense, how sad.

I also in part blame the grandparents- Lori's mum and dad, brainwashing and raising their kids as they did, I mean, they got it from somewhere. Disgraceful.

Terrible Crimes By a Mother and her Guru Husband

[sherripadgitt-55536 · 7/10 · 18 September 2022]

This was an interesting documentary putting all of the information together regarding the horrific death trail left by Lori and Chad Daybell. It begins by telling Lori's story before she even meets Chad talking about her previous husbands and her unhealthy relationships beforehand. Keep in mind her children were witness to all of this and were victims of one of her husbands as the doc will explain. Through it all she finally meets book author/guru of sorts, Chad Daybell.

I followed this story in the news but bits and pieces of the story were ongoing for many months before finally finding Lori and Chad. Not a lot was said about Chad but this show explains more about his beliefs and Lori is sucked in easily. Soon after people begin to die off. It starts off with her current husband Charles Vallow and goes on from there. I have seen where people think the son Colby should have played a bigger role in helping to protect his siblings but you have to remember he grew up in her topsy-turvy world too, so when he was old enough he probably just wanted to get away from it all. Not only that, he was still really young himself and the last thing he expected was something awful to happen. I give kudos to him as he did keep in continual contact with her or tried to.

Anyway this is a good watch. Things are explained in chronological order although I wished they had delved deeper into Chad's belief system and more about Lori's podcast she had going. They could have easily added another episode covering just these things, but aside from that I rated this pretty high.

A Dark Cult

[Pairic · 7/10 · 15 September 2022]

Sins of Our Mother: Interesting documentary series, deals with all of the murders. Much of the footage is from police bodycams, news reports and courtroom recordings, supplemented with interviews of family members and friends. How extreme the Cult's beliefs were is made all too clear, especially the effect they had on Lori Vallow. In the UK or RoI such a documentary series would make any prosecution virtually impossible because the show essentially convicts Vallow and Daybell. The story could have been told in 100 minutes instead of 141 minutes running time. Directed by Skye Borgman. On Netflix. 7/10.

Cajoling Lori!

[RedKidBytes · 7/10 · 18 September 2022]

Behind the beautiful facade, a shrewd and apathetic life of a woman who is initially almost admired and supported by the police whilst the demands of her husband JJ were unanswered. A decadent faith sensationalized by the few fringe clowns deciding who is evil and who is not based on their feelings made them believe that they were the assassins of God. And it would not matter to have some insurance income from the passing of the departed since they were better off dead than alive since all men are immortal anyway.

It's a sad story, however, there were plenty of missed opportunities by the police after JJ's call. The trial is scheduled and hopefully brings forth justice and closure to all involved.

Should be called "Pure Evil"

[beerguy1 · 8/10 · 18 September 2022]

Such a sad and heartbreaking story. This lady is a loon and how she destroys her family is insane. I've been waiting for this Netflix documentary since the news reported the missing kids. I wish they would've played more of the evil woman's phone calls to her son from jail. Really showed how she has no care in the world for her family. Feel so sad for the grandparents and the other siblings. This trial starts in 2023. This was very well written and glad they didn't drag it out to eight or ten episodes. Look forward to the follow up documentary after the trial. Verdict should take about thirty seconds.

Some additional learnings from this docu series

[dvd2streams · 7/10 · 27 September 2022]

I have followed this story on You Tube beginning with it unfolding with the missing kids. The information though seems sporadic and scattered that I really couldn't make sense of the events and the various relations from the ever expanding characters. All I know is that the kids were ultimately found after some time and the perpetrators appear to be the triumvirate of Alex, his sister Lori and her husband Chad.

This documentary succeeded in making heads and tails of the events at least for me especially with some of the not so known details. Also, it would be my first time to hear from Kelsee (Colby's wife), Vaisia (Tylee's friend) and some other relatives and friends.

If there's anything I could comment on it would probably be that there's too much of Colby here. I'm not sure if he's the one readily accessible from the cast of characters, but there are others who I was waiting to hear more from, like her friend Melanie Gibb and niece Melani Boudreaux. I guess if his screen time had been abbreviated somewhat more details could have been pushed in.

All in all I could say I have enjoyed this documentary series, albeit without the satisfaction of knowing that Lori and Chad had been served what they truly and justly deserve.

Heartbreaking

[ravi-or-raj · 10/10 · 15 November 2022]

If you have anyone around you that claims to be special in the sense that they can talk to god or spirits , please stay away from them.

These are super delusional and manipulative people.

They are extremely dangerous and can harm you emotionally and physically.

This documentary is just one sad and scary example. There are several cases (watch House of secrets on Netflix) where such people have taken lives. What amazes me even more is that there are people who fall for these people's stories and get manipulated.

This particular case also shows the inefficiency of the local police, the murder of her husband should have easily been identified as a homicide and not self defence.

Had me rolling my eyes.

[TreeFiddy53 · 7/10 · 18 September 2022]

If you enjoy true crime, this is a crazy story from recent times that gets crazier as you progress into the show. You've gotta check it out if you have no clue about this case and it'll have you rolling your eyes. I didn't and it had me like...👀🙄 For those familiar with the case, I don't know if it provides any new information but it'll surely give you the story in a cinematic way. The show's been filmed well, music adds to the intensity.

Stuff like this makes you think how delusional and gullible people can be, even in this day and age, but gives you a sense of what is happening out there.

The show's got 3 episodes, decent storytelling (could have been more intense) doesn't make it feel long, but Netflix really needs to reconsider documentaries vs documentaries as limited series.

Should be titled Sins of a religious fanatic

[CQNKT · 8/10 · 17 September 2022]

It's always because of one crazy aspired self proclaimed cult leader that time and time again the poor victims and their families get sucked into these sad real life horrors. How powerful are our beliefs yet we are not ever taught how to safeguard these, to know when we are manipulated and remove ourselves.

This short series is a thorough depiction of how vulnerable humans can be and the awful consequences that are brought about by trusting blindly one source of "truth" without self-reflections and discovering one's own blindspots.

It's the second series that I watched relating to cults that were spin offs from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I begin to wonder what the reasons are behind why some of these LDS followers deviate from their original faith and grow into monsters? Perhaps to active are their imagination and this quote from the series Severance kind of says it all: "The good news is hell is just the product of a morbid human imagination. The bad news is whatever humans can imagine, they can usually create."

What's up with Adam?

[beanmuffin · 4/10 · 27 December 2022]

Did I miss one line somewhere that explains the bizarre connection between Adam Cox and his sister? He is implied to have committed at least one murder at her behest, married someone within her group, and turned up dead, but nothing is offered to explain this deep connection. I don't think that it was ever officially mentioned that he was part of her sect, or how.

That's a big gap of interest that makes me question what else is missing.

Apparently, I have to keep talking so that this review can be posted, so...I'll leave you with-, it's just a bunch of narcissists, some related, some who found each other by chance, who fed off each other like teenage girls who think they're special because they proclaim that they're witches.

Of course they're Mormons...

[deloudelouvain · 8/10 · 2 December 2023]

True crime documentaries are the new next thing as we seem to be bombarded by them. I'm not going to complain though as I find it very entertaining to watch. Certainly when you see what kind of completely crazy people are surrounding us like Lori Vallow in this case. What is completely crazy is that she is not alone in her fantasy world. This crime drama involves more than one person, all as disillusioned as each other. Of course they're all religious. You have to be a bit of a lunatic to believe in any religion. I'm probably not going to make friends here but in my opinion, for a better peaceful world, they should ban all religions. The documentary is well made, with a lot of interviews from people involved in the story, a lot of them be nice crazies to say it nicely. There are not enough mental institutions to fit all those mentally sick, although lifetime prison is the only good solution for the murderers here. A real drama but certainly entertaining if you like true crime documentaries.

A voice for TyTy and JJ

[Beamy40 · 9/10 · 15 September 2022]

This was a short docuseries giving a little more insight to Lori's family. I didn't really understand that she had an older son, so learning more about him and their relationship was interesting. I feel so bad for him.. He is doing a great job remembering and honoring his step father and siblings. The timeline information was well laid out... Amazing how there were so many people who would have taken the kids so Lori could have gone off on her cult stuff without killing anyone.

The series doesn't delve into the cult as much as I had hoped, it baffles my mind so very much... Well work the watch. Such a sad sad story.