Under the Banner of Heaven

From the start, Under the Banner of Heaven demonstrates a quiet confidence. Brenda’s death supplies the narrative suspense, but it’s the show’s sense of empathy that proves truly difficult to shake.

True-crime thrillers rarely hit as hard as this streaming series that stars a superb Andrew Garfield as a Mormon detective investigating a double murder that indicts a fundamentalist sect within the church. Believe this: It will take a piece out of you.

One of the best things about Under the Banner of Heaven is that it isn’t Big Love or Book of Mormon. Instead, while it’s unflinching in its honesty about the dangers of fanaticism and the horrors of religious violence, it also remembers to give those evils a balancing and opposing good.

Garfield is the beating heart of the show, but the entire ensemble breaks out of expected roles to place Under The Banner Of Heaven among the best miniseries of the year.

Under the Banner of Heaven is sometimes so intent on conveying a grand message that it forgets to tell its main story. Yet, while the show hinges on a classic whodunnit, its deeper scrutiny of faith and doubt gives Garfield the space to show off his skills. ... But Garfield isn’t the only star here. There’s hardly a weak link in the sprawling cast.

Though not everything works equally well (Howle’s Allen Lafferty is saddled with too many exposition-heavy scenes), “Under the Banner of Heaven” is both frightening and fascinating.

In spite of its overfamiliar rhythms and fancy murder-show aesthetics, there are elements of Under the Banner that achieve something distinct and idiosyncratic.

Under the Banner of Heaven turns Krakauer’s sprawling look at the roots and evolution of Fundamentalist Mormonism into a well-made detective drama. It’s not as transcendent as its source material, but it is a gripping watch, full of fantastic performances and horrifying reveals.

"Under the Banner of Heaven" isn't quite a great show, but it's a solidly good one.

More than anything, UTBOH is a thoughtful and evocative display of reckoning with one’s faith. It doesn’t match up to Krakauer’s sprawling volume, but it’s still an earnest effort from the whole cast and crew, and deserving of its own spotlight.

In the case of “Under the Banner of Heaven,” losing the entire 19th century storyline in favor of concentrating on the modern-day scandal might well have catapulted this series from good to near-great. Still, this is an involving and fascinating and sometimes shocking effort, with strong writing and outstanding performances from the entire cast, with Andrew Garfield leading the way and Daisy Edgar-Jones giving the story its true heart.

As Jeb discovers his anger, he gives shape to Under the Banner of Heaven’s central concern: the struggle to attain personal agency in the crushing course of history.

While not the most addictive true-crime drama in recent years, Under the Banner of Heaven is elevated by its heartfelt performances.

“Under the Banner of Heaven” is a mighty busy show, sometimes to the detriment of its many ideas, its many stories, and all those Laffertys. But it is held together by its fascinating, unique way of presenting faith.

When the focus is on Pyre, interrogations and the investigation, “Under the Banner of Heaven” can be a harrowing deep dive. But flashbacks that depict how tenets of the faith were rooted in the church’s history, while relevant to the characters’ motivations, leads to some plodding pacing.

Fitting in enough context so that unfamiliar audiences understand how the past and present connect can create disjointed, cumbersome episodes. ... All these flaws may prove trivial if the series’ ideas grab you. But all the apparent and admirable love put into this sprawling adaptation may only boil down to one or two simple truths. Faith, in the wrong hands, can embolden dangerous men. If you don’t know that by now, “Under the Banner of Heaven” will slowly, painstakingly make its case.

The show gets stronger when one disconnects from the mystery aspect of the set-up to see the bigger picture. Even if parts of that picture are fuzzy while others are over-developed, it’s an admirably ambitious effort from everyone involved.

Black let the story sprawl too much. Ultimately, this has the sheen of prestige TV without ever quite delivering.

Such institutions [like the LDS church] promise clarity, but people are messy. As a series, Under the Banner of Heaven struggles to maintain focus, but it never loses faith in that fact.

Under the Banner of Heaven doesn’t hit the suspenseful beats we’ve come to expect from crime drama, but it has nuance the genre often lacks. What’s more interesting than how Jeb’s faith helps him crack the case is how often it gets in his way.

A moody and well-paced but schematic seven-part miniseries. ... “Under the Banner of Heaven” is most compelling when it explores the circumstances that paved the way for the Lafferty brood’s self-conversion and smartly concludes there’s no single reason for it. ... As the Laffertys become radicalized, Pyre’s crisis of faith and challenging home life become comparatively less engaging.

Overall, the show struggles under the weight of its history lessons, how to balance them with action and how to convey them to what may be an unfamiliar audience.

The show gets more scattered as it goes, having trouble juggling (and distinguishing) its array of characters. ... The series is, at least, anchored by solid performances.