This ongoing production is a multi-year, intimate, and character-driven exploration of a group of women who allege that they were systematically abused at the hands of Bill Gothard, one of America’s most influential evangelical Christian leaders. The allegations include grooming, religious and psychological control, harassment, molestation, forced confinement, beatings, and rape. Gothard denies all allegations.
Trauma fragments our ability to think and therefore to hold memory. And while every individual journey of recovery from abuse is unique, there are shared, essential steps that play out over time. This film explores these stages in depth.
The stories of powerful men preying upon women are everywhere. Other than the survivors themselves, very few ask the question — what happens after the abuse? This film is more than just an exposé of horrible things done—it is an unflinching, intimate story that puts the realities of abuse into a larger context, focusing on the architecture of recovery and asking — is healing possible?
We believe this film will help others caught in abuse, and will create deeper connection, understanding, and empathy around an issue that continues to affect all of American society.
While these events occurred within conservative evangelical culture, this story reveals the changing landscape of faith in America, with connections to deeper, societal issues: religious control; toxic patriarchy; how institutions protect their own power and reputation instead of the most vulnerable; the difficulty survivors face in navigating a complex, fluid legal system; and the hard, painful journey of recovery toward healing.
IN THE END, THIS STORY IS ABOUT THE WOMEN WHO, AGAINST CRUSHING ODDS, CHALLENGED RELIGIOUS POWER AND ARE NOW ON A LONG, HARD-FOUGHT JOURNEY OF RECOVERY AND HEALING.
FEATURING:
Shot over the past four years, this film will feature intimate, character-driven stories from the plaintiffs in the legal case against Gothard and IBLP, accounts from former staff members, archival footage, and pastors and spiritual leaders, as well as subject matter experts including RACHAEL DENHOLLANDER, DR DAN ALLENDER, DR KRISTIN DU MEZ, and BOZ TCHVIDJIAN among others.