# Under the Banner of Heaven (2022)

> A devout Mormon detective investigates a brutal 1980s murder that exposes a prominent Utah family's slide into religious fundamentalism.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/106065

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 7
- Episode runtime: 68 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: crime, drama, mystery
- Created by: Dustin Lance Black
- Network: Hulu
- Cast: Andrew Garfield, Sam Worthington, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Denise Gough, Wyatt Russell, Billy Howle, Chloe Pirrie, Seth Numrich
- TMDB rating: 7.5/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1998372/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: brutal
- Tone: somber, tense, morally unsettling, bleak, contemplative

## What critics say

Critics and viewers broadly praise the performances, especially Andrew Garfield, and the series' unsettling examination of faith, violence, and religious authority, though it is a positive audience reception overall.

## Synopsis

Under the Banner of Heaven is a limited series created by Dustin Lance Black for FX on Hulu, adapted from Jon Krakauer's nonfiction account of a real crime. Andrew Garfield plays Detective Jeb Pyre, a devout Mormon investigator in Salt Lake City whose faith is tested when he is assigned a brutal 1980s murder of a young mother and her infant daughter. The case leads him toward the Lafferty brothers, Ron (Sam Worthington) and Dan (Wyatt Russell), members of a prominent Utah family whose drift into radical fundamentalism has led them to distrust the government and to justify violence in the name of scripture. Pyre's engine is simple but relentless: he must reconcile the institution he serves with the doctrine he believes in, while the community around him closes ranks. Each episode alternates between the investigation and the Laffertys' history, building a layered portrait of a family and a faith. The tone is somber, tense and morally unsettling, with a grounded, documentary-leaning visual approach. Fans of Mindhunter, The Staircase and Escape at Dannemora will find resonance in its patient, procedural dread and its interest in how belief can curdle into crime.

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