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The Way Down is an HBO Max mini-documentary series that chronicles the blindsiding story of the highly-controversial cult leader Gwen Shamblin Lara and her religious group, The Remnant Fellowship.
The docu-series made its debut with the first three episodes on September 30, 2021. After quite a long wait, it has finally returned with the much-anticipated episode 4 and episode 5 on Thursday, April 28, exclusively on HBO Max.
Produced and directed by Marina Zenovich, the limited-time series has been getting a lot of positive responses from both critics and viewers since its arrival. Episode 5 of the docu-series, The Way Down, which is also the final episode of the docuseries sheds light upon the most crucial aspect of this docu-series - how blind faith can take away one's freedom to live their life the way one wants.
Without further delay, let's take a closer look at how the docu-series explores the matter of freedom in its final episode.
A review of HBO Max's docu-series The Way Down's Episode 5
Ex-members of Remnant Fellowship Church explore the matter of freedom inside Gwen Shamblin's cult
Episode 4 of HBO's mini documentary series puts its main focus on the death of cult leader Gwen Shamblin Lara along with six other high-ranking members of the cult, including Gwen's husband and son-in-law actor Joe Lara and Brandon Hannah, respectively.
However, the director of The Way Down, Marina Zenovich, chose to present the most vital issue of faith and freedom in episode 5, which is the very last episode of the limited period documentary series.
Episode 5 picks up from where episode 4 ended by introducing some of the ex-members of the cult. They were seen getting ready to share their experience inside Gwen Shamblin Lara's The Remnant Fellowship Church.
Blind faith, blind obedience, unhealthy diets, fat-shaming, economic-exploitation, and homophobia are some of the most crucial issues that have come out from the interviews given by the ex-members of the cult led by Gwen Shamblin Lara.
A number of former members of The Remnant Fellowship came forward to share their heart-wrenching experiences during their time at the church. They expressed how they faced all kinds of violations of their freedom under Gwen's leadership.
One member exclaimed how she was given only a few bites to eat in an entire day so that she could lose wight. She further exclaimed that Gwen made them do it in the name of God's will. She expressed how she was in both physical and psychological agony because of this.
Another former member revealed on The Way Down that the cult was extremely homophobic, and how they believed in curing it as if it was a disease. He went on to share his story of how he was welcomed and loved by all the members of the church in the beginning. However, the day he told Gwen in front of other members of the church that he was gay, everything changed.
He remembered how Gwen's jaw dropped after hearing it and how she simply stepped out of the room without saying anything to him. The former member further stated that after that particular incident he stopped going back and no one from the cult tried to contact him and check if he was alright or not.
Another former member, a woman and a mother, expressed how the cult and Gwen exploited her labor. She was given the task of giving haircuts and hairstyles to members of the church, entailing Gwen.
She used to get very little money than what she deserved and sometimes nothing in the name of "staying humble," leading to extreme economic-exploitation. Later on, she decided to leave the church with her daughter.
Hence, episode 5 of The Way Down will give the audience a real and quite jaw-dropping insight into the world of controversial cult leader Gwen's The Remnant Fellowship Church and how they treat their members.
Catch The Way Down Episode 5, which made its arrival on April 28, 2022, on HBO Max.
