Hulu’s “Under the Banner of Heaven” - Skip or Stream?
Under the Banner of Heaven is FX/Hulu’s latest entry in their slate of true crime series. Its premiere comes after the conclusion of the Amanda Seyfried-led look at Theranos’ Elizabeth Holmes, The Dropout, and in the middle of the Elle Fanning-led teen love story gone wrong, The Girl from Plainville. The Dropout and The Girl from Plainville both took a more nuanced look at these complicated events and that set them apart from other more exploitative series.
It seems Under the Banner of Heaven is set to follow in their footsteps, based off of Jon Krakauer’s nonfiction book of the same name. In the book, he combines the history of Mormonism with the murder of Brenda Lafferty (portrayed by Daisy Edgar-Jones) and her fifteen-month-old daughter Erica. These murders happened in a small Utah town with a large Mormon population. Brenda married into the Lafferty family, prominent members in the Church of Latter Day Saints.
Hungry Jackal Productions, Aggregate Films, Imagine Television, FXP
Andrew Garfield plays Jeb Pyre, the local detective who is assigned to the case of Brenda and her child’s murder. Like the majority of people in town, Jeb is Mormon. From the first two episodes that premiered this week, it appears that, in addition to solving the murder, Jeb’s own relationship with religion will be explored. In a heavy-handed moment of dialogue, Jeb wonders whether the murderers were some out-of-towners. That maybe the “evil” has been in their community all along.
It’s refreshing that the show giving depth and backstory to Brenda. Many true crime series have very little interest in portraying the totality of the victim. Even in the first two episodes, the audience is given a closer look at Brenda and her life. She’s more than just the victim.
Overall, Under the Banner of Heaven is a pretty generic procedural. Garfield and Edgar-Jones are more than capable of leading this series, but it’s clear that the show isn’t demanding too much. The first two episodes are bogged down with flashbacks of Mormon history. It was a nice explanation for people who only know the basics, but these flashbacks seem to be placeholders, elongating a story that might not need six episodes hour-long episodes.
What remains compelling and will make people return week after week is Jeb’s struggle with his own faith. Under the Banner of Heaven’s filmmaking style is nothing new, but the respect given to Brenda’s and Jeb’s journeys has so far been thoughtful.
Skip or Stream?
Stream if you’re into true crime.
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