In the remote desert of Utah hides Colorado City, the oldest polygamist compound in the United States. Here men have plural wives and raise their children by the strict code of the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saint religion (FLDS).

In 2003, the FLDS’ prophet Warren Jeffs began a systematic effort to cleanse his flock for the end of the world. He banned public schooling, gentile books, recreations, and excommunicated prominent men, marrying their women and children to other men. Hundreds of teenage boys were exiled to the streets of neighboring communities. Many more followed, giving up their families and salvation in the hope of escape.

Sons of Perdition follows three boys after they leave the isolation of Colorado City and join an underground network of exiled FLDS teens. Condemned by their community, many of the boys turn to drugs and alcohol. With limited educations and rarely a stable address, the obstacles are enormous. All the boys have big dreams - starting with the hope of attending high school - but what they want most is contact with their families. For one teen in the film, this means numerous attempts to help his fourteen-year-old sister escape before an arranged marriage.

With unprecedented access, Sons of Perdition takes us on a three-year-journey into the lives of these remarkable teens, and provides a timely, critical look at faith, family and religious exile in mainstream America.

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Festivals and Awards

Winner
Festival Director’s Award, Telluride Film Festival 2010

Official Selection
Tribeca Film Festival, 2010
AFI Silverdocs Documentary Festival, 2010
Sheffield Doc/FEST, 2010
Hot Docs, 2010
Austin Film Festival, 2010
IDFA, 2010

Reviews

“Sons of Perdition delivers voices that are strong and a story that is gripping. This is a serious film for serious filmgoers. This is Indie Film as fantastic film: informative and compelling and poignant. It took Tyler Measom and Jennilyn Merten four long years to make Sons of Perdition. It will stand for many more years as an example of a penetrating, insightful, and riveting documentary.”
- The Huffington Post

“Its emotional impact and cultural significance are enormous. This wasn’t just the best documentary I saw at Tribeca but the best one I’ve seen so far this year.”
- Salon.com

“Excellent, must see documentary”
- New York Post

“At heart, “Sons of Perdition” is a difficult but absorbing study of emotional abandonment.”
- Washington Post