Under the Banner of Heaven (miniseries)

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Under the Banner of Heaven is an American true crime psychological drama miniseries created by Dustin Lance Black. It adapts Jon Krakauer’s 2003 book about the 1984 murder case in Utah, where Ron and Dan Lafferty killed Brenda Lafferty and her infant daughter, with connections to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The story follows detective Jeb Pyre, a Latter-day Saint, as he investigates the brutal killings and grapples with questions about faith, violence, and belonging within the Mormon community. The series stars Andrew Garfield and Gil Birmingham as the lead detectives, with a supporting cast that includes Daisy Edgar-Jones, Sam Worthington, Wyatt Russell, Denise Gough, Rory Culkin, and others.

Produced for FX on Hulu, Under the Banner of Heaven premiered on April 28, 2022 and runs seven episodes, each between 63 and 88 minutes. It began as a planned film but was developed as a limited series in 2021, with filming taking place in Calgary from August to December 2021. The show received generally positive reviews, with particular praise for Garfield’s and Russell’s performances, but it also sparked controversy over its portrayal of the LDS faith and perceived deviations from real events. To ensure historical and cultural context, consultants were brought in, and some relatives and law enforcement involved in the case criticized the depiction as fictionalized. The series later streamed on Disney+ (Star) internationally and Star+ in Latin America, with a linear FX broadcast in March 2023 and UK distribution on ITVX in February 2024. On Rotten Tomatoes it holds an 87% approval rating from 52 reviews, while Metacritic scores it at 71/100.