This controversial documentary about the stand-off between an unorthodox
Christian group - the Branch Davidians, under the leadership of the
young, charismatic David Koresh - and the FBI and ATF in Waco, Texas,
from February to April 1993 presents a different spin on the events from
that of the United States government, which held that the Branch
Davidians set the fire that destroyed their compound, and killed the
vast majority of them, on April 19, 1993. Using footage from the 51 day
siege, from the congressional hearings afterwards, from people involved
in all aspects of the siege, and from experts technical, psychological,
and religious, the movie suggests that the Branch Davidians were not a
cult, but a valid religious group practicing under First Amendment
freedoms who fell victim to first the ineptitude of an ATF raid designed
to garner the agency positive attention and later the cruel, methodical
work of the FBI, who over-saw the murder of the Davidians and then
quickly covered it up.
