Realm of Satan

A singular portrait depicting Satanists in both the everyday and the extraordinary, Realm of Satan is a ritualistic documentary that casts a spell on viewers, luring them into a mystical world of magic, mystery, and misanthropy. After exploring the edges of nonfiction-adjacent storytelling with his acclaimed short film Buffalo Juggalo, director Scott Cummings (editor of indie gems such as Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Monsters and Men, Menashe, and Wendy) decides to challenge the boundaries of observation and the notion of community; he, therefore, works in collaboration with members of the Church of Satan, to stage discrete moments capturing the labors and pleasures of modern Satanists. His technique foregrounds the esoteric as much as the ordinary, presenting an illuminating, wryly comic, and at times deadly serious portrait of a religion that is often veiled in secrecy or distorted by misunderstanding.