Name: Derren Brown: Messiah
Genre: Documentary
Released: 2005-01-07
Duration: 1 h 5 min
Rating: 8.1
Cast: Derren Brown, Lorraine DiFelice, Ann Druffel

Brown is impressive but the film is not what it proposes to be

In an attempt to explore how easy it is to accept particular faiths without questioning, Brown travels to the US to pose as a series of characters proclaiming to have gifts ranging from the psychic to someone who can convert to Christianity just by touch. His goal is to find out how easily experts in these fields can take to his "gifts" (which are totally illusion it must be noted) and agree to publicly endorse him. From the start he acknowledges that, if anyone asks him directly "is this a trick" then he will fess up.

I've not seen much Derren Brown mainly because, with watching so many movies all the time it doesn't leave a lot of time for watching television and I do tend to be picky, preferring dramas to "light entertainment" style programmes. This sounds very snotty I know but it just means I don't watch a lot of Brown. Messiah sounded interesting though and I checked it out. The previous time I had seen Brown, it was a broadcast version of his live show and I had found it very impressive in what he does. This is the problem with Messiah though, because the "tricks" are not "performed" so much as they were in that show. Instead he plays it straight and he is not only very convincing in his characters but also impressive in his skills and in this way the film is still engaging in a "how does he do that" way. The central argument about us accepting spiritual ideas without questioning is a fair one but not one that he really makes that well by never confronting anyone with the news that he is totally a fraud or by having any discussion around the subject.

Of course he never had this in his act I saw but by putting this film up as an exploration and discussion, it is a problem then to leave the only "discussion" to a guy driving a horse and cart over the end credits. Otherwise though, the film is still engaging to see Brown at work and fans of his will love it  for me though, it did not have as much substance as it suggested it would and it does feel like an excuse for him to do his thing rather than the film that it proposes to be.

The documentary is a form of non-fiction storytelling that aims to present factual information, insights, and perspectives on real-world subjects, events, issues, or people. Documentaries can cover a wide range of topics, including history, science, culture, social issues, nature, biographies, and more.

Dziga Vertov in Man with a Movie Camera (1929)

Derren Brown takes on a number of fake identities as he travels across the USA trying to convince people of his abilities in the area of psychic powers and the supernatural world.

The Biggest Movies and TV Coming in September

"The Gentlemen" and "Slow Horses" return this fall, while the "Reacher" spin-off series "Neagley" makes its debut. See our guide of the biggest Fall TV and streaming releases.

2026 Fall TV and Streaming Watch Guide

&quot;The Gentlemen&quot; and &quot;Slow Horses&quot; return this fall, while the &quot;Reacher&quot; spin-off series &quot;Neagley&quot; makes its debut. See our guide of the biggest Fall TV and streaming releases.

Get a closer look at these actors from their many TV and streaming series roles.

Streaming Stars, Then and Now

Derren Brown: Something Wicked This Way Comes

Derren Brown: Something Wicked This Way Comes (2006)

Derren Brown in Derren Brown: The Events (2009)

Derren Brown in Derren Brown: The Experiments (2011)

Derren Brown in Derren Brown: Séance (2004)

Derren Brown in Derren Brown: The Heist (2006)

Derren Brown in Derren Brown: The System (2008)

Derren Brown in Derren Brown: Enigma (2011)

Derren Brown in Derren Brown: Trick or Treat (2007)

Derren Brown in Derren Brown: Miracle (2016)

Derren Brown: Messiah

Photos1

Top Cast7

User reviews3

More like this

Related interests

Storyline

Top picks

Details

Tech specs

Contribute to this page

More to explore

Recently viewed