Tabloid review

Ex-beauty queen kidnaps her missionary boyfriend and making him her sex slave

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The long-forgotten case of the Manacled Mormon gets a fresh airing in Errol Morris’ entertaining portrait of Joyce McKinney, an ex-beauty queen who achieved red-top infamy in 1978 for kidnapping her missionary boyfriend and making him her sex slave. Justifying her actions to the director’s Interrotron device, McKinney proves both articulate and delusional in a film best viewed as a mischievous diversion from Morris’ meatier fare. A bizarre coda turns what begins as a playful exposé of the British media’s sensationalist excesses into a surreal voyage into a warped mind no reporter could invent.

Freelance Writer

Neil Smith is a freelance film critic who has written for several publications, including Total Film. His bylines can be found at the BBC, Film 4 Independent, Uncut Magazine, SFX, Heat Magazine, Popcorn, and more.