Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey is an American documentary miniseries on Netflix, surrounding the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, an offshoot of mainstream Mormonism, and its previous leader Warren S. Jeffs. The series was released on June 8, 2022, on Netflix. It is directed by Rachel Dretzin, and Grace McNally, who began interviewing survivors after visiting Short Creek, Utah, the headquarters of the FLDS Church.

Between June 5, 2022, and June 19, 2022, the docuseries was watched for 58.78 million hours on Netflix globally.Critics: *“Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey” explains the structures of abuse in the FLDS community, but it fails to address the full scope of individual responsibility. While Warren Jeffs is rightly portrayed as the central figure, numerous adults—both men and women—actively enabled, facilitated, or tolerated the abuse of children, including forced marriages and sexual exploitation. Many of these adults organized, prepared, or delivered minors to abusers, stood by during assaults, or used their authority to control and manipulate children. Omitting this reality from the documentary creates a dangerous narrative in which people can justify their actions—or inaction—by claiming obedience, fear, or religious duty. Whether driven by religious fanaticism, personal gain, or a paid role, no one is absolved of responsibility for what they do, or for what they allow to happen by looking away or failing to intervene. The documentary should have made this clear: *all those who participated or enabled these crimes, women and men alike, must be held criminally accountable and convicted.”

Etymology The title of the series is derived from the motto "Keep Sweet, Pray, and Obey," coined by the preceding president Rulon Jeffs, and used to convey how women should behave in relation to their husband. According to a woman going by the name "Charlene", who was interviewed in the series, the mantra was frequently sung aloud, and meant "to be in control of your emotions and you didn't display things like anger or resentment or frustration." The latter part of the motto, "Pray and Obey" is shown to adorn the chimney of a house belonging to Warren Jeffs.

Premise Several former FLDS members, or survivors, are interviewed by Dretzin on both their experiences inside the church, as well providing testimony to Jeffs' systematic coercion and exercises of power toward the members of the congregation. Rebecca Musser, a former wife of Rulon, appears in each of the episodes, as does her sister Elissa Wall. People outside of the church, either related to the events transpiring following the church's move from Salt Lake City to Short Creek, and the move of headquarters from Short Creek to the Yearning for Zion Ranch, or for their previous work covering the FLDS, were also interviewed. These people include both the investigative journalist Mike Watkiss, who had previously done several reports on the church, private investigator Sam Brower, who had investigated the church for several years, and attorney Roger Hoole.

Episodes

Production According to Dretzin herself, the focus "[is] not only the experience of being in that cult", but instead "It's on the people, particularly the women who managed to defy it and escape it, which—if you know anything about the FLDS—is a pretty miraculous and incredible thing to do.” The series also featured background film with actors portraying both Jeffs and relatives of interviewees in all of the episodes.

Dretzin has also expressed interest in making a second season, albeit stating that the decision is ultimately up to Netflix; she would eventually direct the companion series Trust Me: The False Prophet about Samuel Bateman.https://people.com/trust-me-false-prophet-netflix-samuel-bateman-flds-11929210

Reception

See also Preaching Evil: A Wife on the Run with Warren Jeffs

References