The Satanic Temple has been in the news a lot in the past few years. Most recently, they made headlines for suing Netflix’s The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina for copying their Baphomet statue. As it turns out, that statue has been at the center of a number lawsuits—some of which director Penny Lane details in her new documentary, Hail Satan? Though the Sabrina lawsuit seems easy to ridicule, as the film goes on, Lane makes it clear that the other lawsuits surrounding the statue are far more important than they seem.
Assembled from a mix of interviews, news footage and clips from other media, Hail Satan? traces the Temple’s evolution from playful disrupters to organized political movement. Particularly in the beginning, their actions are more notable for their comedy value than their activism. Take the 2013 rally the Temple held in support of then-Florida governor, Rick Scott, for signing a bill allowing for prayer in public schools. As one of the Temple’s founders, Lucien Greaves, later admits, the man who spoke at the rally–decked out in horns, black cloak and a fiery magic trick–wasn’t a true believer, but a paid actor. When a member of the crowd yells, “go to hell,” the actor retorts, “I believe it and I’m very excited about it.” It’s an undeniably goofy moment and it’s genuinely fun to watch Greaves and his cohorts (some of whom are hilariously interviewed with their faces in shadow but with horns masks creating a devilish silhouette) engage in light blasphemy.
So, it’s shocking and a little confusing then, to see the extreme backlash the group faces. While a section about a “black mass” they attempt to perform on the Harvard campus includes a TV interview from a local priest where he likened the event to a “KKK rally” or a “minstrel show,” the responses reach their fever pitch when it comes to that Baphomet statue. Made in response to a 10 Commandments monument that used to stand in front of the Oklahoma State Capitol, it is the Temple’s most sophisticated troll. Made by a sculptor friend of Greaves, its torso is modeled after Iggy Pop (without the goat-headed god’s usual breasts because the Temple feared that would keep the statue from being displayed) and it was funded into existence through an Indiegogo campaign. However, though Greaves and others describe the statue’s creation, Lane keeps us from seeing the full statue until the film’s end, instead focusing on the lawsuits themselves.
Most notable is an lawsuit Arkansas lawsuit that is almost identical the one in Oklahoma. Despite the similarities, Lane keeps the film from getting repetitive by approaching the story from a new angle. Namely, she reveals why the various 10 Commandments in different states all seem to look the same: most of them were originally put up as promotion by Paramount for the 1956 Charlton Heston film, The Ten Commandments. It’s an insane revelation and while it would be easy to laugh off the absurdity of the situation, Lane is smart to make sure the audience never forgets how serious the Temple’s opposition is.
As one of the Temple members explains in an interview, the goal is, “rebellion against arbitrary authority,” and by exposing that in the controversy over the dueling statues, they are actively trying to protect religious freedom in the United States. That may sound hyperbolic, but as professor Jay D. Wexler of Boston University explains, what makes the Temple interesting is that they challenge the degree to which the government has allowed religion–specifically Christianity–into the public sphere.
And while some of the Temple’s members do take part in black masses and blasphemous performance art, their point isn’t really to worship the Christian idea of Satan. Rather, Satan is their figurehead because he’s the ultimate adversary figure to Christianity. Jex Blackmore, a founding member of the Temple who’s since been excommunicated for breaking the organizations rules about non-violence explains it best. Accompanied by images of a cartoon version of Eve being tempted by the devil in snake form, she doesn’t see Eve eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil as a fall from grace, but a choice to liberate oneself from ignorance and blind obedience.
Despite its seemingly controversial subject, Hail Satan? is a film about a group of satanists driven not by dark magic, but by patriotism. And while their disruptive actions initially seem ridiculous, Lane slowly convinces us that while the organization wants to shock their intentions are pure. Sure, it’s kind of silly that they’re suing Sabrina, but by the time their Baphomet statue is finally revealed in the film’s final minutes, we’re so convinced of the things the Temple stands for that it actually seems genuinely beautiful.
 documentary Hail Satan is a film about a group of satanists driven not by dark magic, but by patriotism.){kind=link}