The potatoes are thriving while everything else dies — including their doomsday cult's dignity.
A documentary crew travel to a remote village in England to capture the lives of notorious cult 'Friends at the End'. F.A.T.E were once a growing religion but, after a miscalculated doomsday prediction in the 1950s, membership has dwindled. In recent years F.A.T.E have been linked to disappearances of former members, the leader Daniel Love has gone into self-imposed exile, and this year their crops are failing. Except the potatoes. In need of money, the gang recruit new member Rachel, at a local rehab facility. Rachel breathes new life into the group and, when she turns the head of lifelong member Comet, old relationships begin to fracture. As the comet that F.A.T.E believe will bring with it the end of the world approaches, the group's beliefs are tested. New secrets emerge which threaten everything the cult has been working towards.
Writing
Doomsday cult paperwork and potato-based miracles, somehow coherent.
Acting
Sankey's Rachel: chaotic disruptor with unsettling warmth.
Direction
Mockumentary that commits to its own internal logic.
Director
Luke Ibbetson
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The film weaponizes mockumentary tropes against themselves — the crew's presence destabilizes F.A.T.E. exactly as a real documentary would, making 'found footage' the catalyst rather than just format.
F.A.T.E.'s 1950s doomsday flop directly echoes the real-life Seekers cult studied by Leon Festinger, who coined 'cognitive dissonance' — the film is essentially a comedy about that exact psychological phenomenon.
US
