Ticket to Heaven is a 1981 Canadian drama film directed by Ralph L. Thomas and starring Nick Mancuso, Saul Rubinek, Meg Foster, Kim Cattrall, and R.H. Thomson. The plot concerns the recruiting of a man into a group portrayed to be a religious cult, and his life in the group until forcibly extracted by his family and friends. The film is based on the nonfiction book Moonwebs by Josh Freed.

Plot

Following a relationship breakup, David Kappel, a twentysomething school teacher, visits what turns out to be a training camp for a religious cult. At the camp, everything is done in groups, including chanting and singing. There is also a low-calorie, low-protein diet; sleep deprivation; and constant positive reinforcement. Janet Maslin of The New York Times called it "an absorbing, frightening, entirely believable movie, which is particularly amazing in view of its subject matter."

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 80%, based on 10 reviews.

Accolades

Ticket to Heaven was nominated for fourteen 1982 Genie Awards, and won four:

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

|-

! Year

! Award

! Category

! Recipients

! Result

|-

| rowspan="15"|1982

| rowspan="15"|Genie Awards

|-

| Best Motion Picture

| Ronald I. Cohen, Vivienne Leebosh

|

|-

| Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

| Nick Mancuso

|

|-

| Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

| Saul Rubinek

|

|-

| Best Achievement in Film Editing

| Ron Wisman

|

|-

| Best Achievement in Direction

| Ralph L. Thomas

|

|-

| Best Achievement in Music Score

| Micky Erbe, Maribeth Solomon

|

|-

| Best Achievement in Overall Sound

| Marc Chiasson, Bruce Carwardine, Glen Gauthier

|

|-

| Best Achievement in Sound Editing

| Marc Chiasson, Glen Gauthier, Don White, David Appleby, Bruce Carwardine

|

|-

| Best Performance by a Foreign Actor

| Guy Boyd

|

|-

| Best Performance by a Foreign Actress

| Meg Foster

|

|-

| Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

| R.H. Thomson

|

|-

| Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

| Kim Cattrall

|

|-

| Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

| Dixie Seatle

|

|-

| Best Screenplay Adapted from Another Medium

| Ralph L. Thomas, Anne Cameron

|

|-

|}

See also

  • 3rd Genie Awards
  • Cults and new religious movements in literature and popular culture

References

  • Reel.com