Dubbed as “real-life Handmaid’s Tale”, Netflix’s new documentary Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey is perhaps the most disturbing release on the streamer which provides a deeper insight into the mysterious and perverse world of the FLDS Church.
An off-shoot to the dubious Mormon church, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) are rejected even by Mormons.
Established in the early 20th century following the Mormon abolishment of polygamy, the FLDS came under the control of Rulon Jeffs in 1986 who fathered multiple children with various wives.
However, the reign of terror began when his son Warren took over the church and assumed the name of ‘Prophet’ after his father’s death.
Despite the violent and horrific tales of misogyny, child marriage and pregnancy, abuse and corruption, he was a revered leader in the community who hid behind the facade of a religious freedom fighter while exploiting the women under his control.
Q firm and glaring example of exploiting women’s bodies, rights and agencies, the conservatism propagated by this horrendous man is recounted in Rachel Dretzin’s insightful documentary where the survivors come forward to talk about the tales of exploitation and abuse.
Similar to Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale which saw women being treated as fertility machines under religious oppression, Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey is a disturbing and harrowing account of religious abuse.
Watch Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey on Netflix.
