Religulous

Religulous (2008) is Bill Maher's documentary comedy, available to watch online on iFILM. The comic and talk-show host travels the globe with a single question for the faithful: do you actually believe this? Behind the camera is Larry Charles, the man who made Borat.

Maher heads to Jerusalem, the Vatican, Salt Lake City, a truckers' chapel in Texas, and a creationist theme park where Adam pets a dinosaur. He presses Christians on proof of Christ, Jews on Sabbath rules, ex-Mormons and Muslims on dogma and violence. The tone is needling, but Maher doesn't hide offscreen; he talks about growing up with a Catholic mother and a Jewish father, and how he landed on doubt.

This plays as an argument, not a lecture. Charles cuts his subjects' answers hard against archival clips and muttered asides, so the laughs come from the collision. Some viewers will find it smug and one-sided, which is fair enough; Maher never pretends to be neutral. It's a sharp, provoking watch for anyone willing to laugh at a subject most films treat with kid gloves. Stream Religulous (2008) online on iFILM.