Andrew Garfield is Spellbinding in FX & Hulu’s Glacially Paced True-Crime Series “Under the Banner of Heaven” [Review]

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE YET TO SEE UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN, THIS IS A NON-SPOILER REVIEW.

Under the Banner of Heaven quickly became one of my most anticipated series of the year, when the first trailer dropped. Still high off of Andrew Garfield’s stunning performance in Tick Tick Boom…! and as a huge fan of the film Milk, which creator Dustin Lance Black won an Oscar for writing… the talent is all there.  And I am also a sucker for a gritty true-crime saga too, although I must admit the genre is becoming extremely oversaturated as of late.  Needless to say, I was counting down the days before this show was to be released.  So, what is the verdict?  Although I think this is an expertly-made piece of prestige television and worth checking out to see if it’s your thing, Under the Banner of Heaven is definitely not what I was expecting it to be.

WHAT IS THIS SERIES ALL ABOUT?

The series follows Detective Pyre, a devout member of the LDS-church who is embroiled in the brutal homicide of a young woman and her infant child.  His investigation plunges him into the lives of the Lafferty Clan, who are also a part of his church.  He begins to realize that this family has radicalized into fundamentalist Mormonism, which has led to these untimely deaths.  As he peels back the layers of this case and into these people’s lives, he slowly starts to question his own faith and how it could have led to such wickedness.

DOES UTBOH HOOK YOU RIGHT FROM THE START?

Under the Banner of Heaven is not the easiest series to get into.  Although it immediately starts with the murder at its center to try and hook you, it then takes an exceedingly methodical approach for the rest of its runtime.  We are subjected to countless scenes of interrogation that give way to endless exposition to get to the root of the plot at hand.  It also doesn’t help, that if you are unfamiliar with the LDS religion, you will most certainly be lost.  Writer Dustin Lance Black does little to guide the viewer into the ins and outs of the faith, besides a few flashbacks sprinkled throughout, that chronicle Jacob Smith’s pioneering days.  These scenes feel so out-of-place and completely take you out of the show, that I wish that they had been scrapped altogether or Black had found a better way to integrate them.

WHAT IS THIS SERIES TRYING TO BE?

 By episode three, I was wondering what exactly I was watching… as the murder and investigation had taken a backseat. Into what seemingly was a meandering saga of one fucked-up extended family.  Luckily, I finally began to become invested in Under the Banner of Heaven once I realized that I wasn’t watching a true-crime mystery in a broad sense of the term (even though that is what it is being billed as and what the hook of the overall series is).  

This is, at its core, a bleak drama about a man’s waning faith in the presence of evil.  And an examination of how religion can be twisted and convoluted to suit one’s own selfish desires.  Unfortunately, this realization had settled in nearly too late. As I had all but lost complete interest in the show with its glacial pace and glum proceedings.  The only word that I could come up with to describe the show up until this point… Was that it was a slog.  I am happy that I didn’t tune out though… because once Under the Banner of Heaven does start revealing its cards, it is a gripping watch. 

HOW IS ANDREW GARFIELD IN THE LEAD ROLE?

Andrew Garfield leads the series with such genuine heart and humility.  His performance is rich with understanding and obvious love for the source material.  Moments in which he is completely silent and the camera hangs on his gaze as he comes to realizations about his life… Are spellbinding.  This role is a perfect companion piece to his work in Martin Scorcese’s Silence, where he also played a man of religion, who is forced to come head-to-head with the dark truths of his faith.  When it comes to Garfield, he has truly become one of my favorite performers working today and I eagerly anticipate any project he is a part of in the future.

AND THE REST OF THE CAST?

The rest of the ensemble cast is superb.  The real highlight is Wyatt Russell, who has the juiciest role to play here.  His character Dan’s descent from being a lauded family man into a villainous and tyrannical zealot is fascinating to watch.  His scenes are really what supplies the show with most of its intensity and impact.  

Daisy Edgar-Jones (who just burst out onto the scene in Hulu’s recent hit Fresh), Adelaide Clemens, and Chloe Pirrie are all fantastic as the wive’s of these lost and tormented men.  The series does a great job of highlighting the atrocious gender norms that have plagued the Mormon church’s roots… and each one of these women plays a different facet of how these norms could and have affected the women of this faith.  That brings me to wonder how Under the Banner of Heaven will be received by members of the LDS congregation.  I see this being highly controversial (as the original novel was). Though I do appreciate the series never taking a condemning approach, but rather an insightfully observant one.  

SHOULD THIS HAVE JUST BEEN A FEATURE FILM, RATHER THAN A SERIES?

As I delved further into the show, I couldn’t help, but wish that Dustin Lance Black had adapted the source material into a feature film, rather than into 7 very long episodes.  If he had taken this approach, we would have just been able to jump right into the thick of things, getting straight to the point… rather than enduring so much excess exposition and plot maneuvering.  I really do think that would have proven to be far more effective in the telling of this story.

IS UTBOH WORTH CHECKING OUT?

So, is this series worth checking out?  That is a hard question to crack because I am so very torn.  I think if you’re looking for something like last year’s Mare of Easttown or True Detective… Then you will be sorely disappointed by what this show has to offer.  Under the Banner of Heaven wants so desperately to be like those gritty and hard-boiled mysteries, you can feel it attempting that approach at every turn.  But, that’s not what this is… and if you are okay with that and you have the patience for this series to reveal what it actually is, then you are in store for something pretty powerful and absorbing.  But, addictive and binge-worthy this most certainly is not.

Under the Banner of Heaven premieres on Hulu Thursday, April 28th, 2022.

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