Will Hail Satan? prove to be worth the watch? Complete Review

Hail Satan? is a documentary that premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. Through it, director Lane focuses on members of The Satanic Temple, an organized group of Satan worshipers founded in 2013.

In the same year, the organization made headlines with a press conference. At the Florida State Capitol, they praised Governor Rick Scott for signing a bill to permit the freedom of religion.

They reaffirmed that the bill allowed their Satanic children to practice their faith openly, and the freedom to pray in school. While the event itself only featured a handful of self-declared Satanists, it drew press attention for sheer outrageousness.

The documentary is well-captured in a blend of the organization’s anger at the mixing of church and state, ironic humor and outrageous stunts for the benefit of the media.  

1. Quick Review

The documentary tells the story of the expansion of The Satanic Temple from a group of three friends to a worldwide organization. They are a group of nonconformists attempting to overthrow politicians who codifying Christianity as the state’s religion.

The film explores Satanists beliefs and how they express them. It delves into the history of Satanism, with figures like Anton LaVey, and depicts them through imagery and the exploitation in popular culture.

The film is also largely about how they’ve developed and spread a message of religious freedom, compassion and empathy. If you’d rather not be politically inclined, the film can be taken as entertainment, one that delivers an insider look at a grassroots political movement.

2. Info

3. Is it worth watching?

Perhaps a great deal of what makes Hail Satan? funny is the reactions of conformists when Lucien Greaves, the founder, and his group express their own freedom of religion. Their shock, horror and disbelief plays in as a ridiculous element throughout.

In interviews, the Temple members come across as intelligent, ethical people practicing a philosophy through collective activism.

Hail Satan? - Official Trailer

In group footage, they emerge as gathering of like-minded people finding comfort in mutual beliefs, as with any other religion.

Everything is political, and so is this documentary. If you find yourself disagreeing with its rather progressive values, I’d say watch it anyway. I recommend the documentary out of pure intrigue, or for the sake of informative entertainment.

I. Plot

The central focus of the film is the Satanic Temple, a nontheistic group based out of Salem, Massachusetts.

While satanic imagery is used, it’s not supported by any actual belief in Satan. Instead, one of their prominent goals is to remind institutions of secular America, and that a blatant Christian bias is antithetical.

The members of the Satanic Temple are also largely do-gooders; they give clothes and food to the homeless, embark on litter-picking drives, are firmly pro-LGBTQIA+, and protest against anti-abortionists for the right to choice.

Documentarian Lane captures the self-constructed religion that aims to stir controversy well. It is  depicted as almost kind, offering sanctity to those who fall outside the worldview of typical American Christian values.

But what is it? Is it a political protest? Is it a sincere expression of freedom, taking the form of an alternative religion? Or is it mere trolling? The answer may be a bit of all three.

II. Music and Visuals

Hail Satan? has three music directors. Brian McOmber is an American drummer and composer. Angel Deradoorian is an independent indie-pop artist, while Jordon Dykstra is an American composer and violist.

Wayfind Records has released a soundtrack album for the documentary. The album features original music by the artists, with popular tracks being Baphomet Becoming, Black Mass, Witch Hunt, Satanic Panic and Ave Santanas.

Perhaps the most eye-opening visual of the documentary is that of Detroit Temple founder Jex Blackmore.

Blackmore is seen presiding over a ritual featuring naked men hauling chains out of a well, severed pig heads impaled on spikes, a masked man smashing glass tubes and the execution of President Trump.

This frenzied performance is cut abruptly to Blackmore afterward, quietly sweeping up glass. This is one of Hail Satan?’s most hard-hitting moments, reminding viewers the Satanists are just people, and that they’re still living mundane lives after.

4. Grade

5. Final Thoughts

While Lane might not have become a definitive member by the end of the film, she has opened up about finding herself questioning her original preconceptions, not just on satanism but in religion as a whole.

Hail Satan? doesn’t say much about the organization’s possible futures or internal divides. However, it will inform you about the Temple’s origins, tenets and intentions, and leave you feeling tired of laughter and just a little bit inspired.