Disney+ miniseries "Under the Banner of Heaven" follows two detectives investigating the murder of a mother and her young daughter in a small town in Utah in 1984, with actor Andrew Garfield starring as one of the investigators.
The seven-episode series, released in Spain under the title "Por mandato del cielo," centers on a Mormon police officer and his partner as they work the case. The main suspect is the victim's husband, another Mormon and a member of the Lafferty family, a deeply religious family in the town whose several brothers are portrayed as fundamentalist and troubled.
Journalist David Freire, writing for The Fashion Vibes, described the series as one of the best dramatic thrillers of the past decade and said it would appeal to fans of slow-paced, dark, mystery-driven crime dramas. He had previously recommended two similarly themed true-crime miniseries available on Netflix, "The Staircase" and "Under the Banner of Heaven's" fellow real-crime drama "Believe Me."
Based on Jon Krakauer's book
The miniseries is based on real crimes recounted in the 2003 book of the same name by American writer Jon Krakauer. It was adapted for television by screenwriter Dustin Lance Black and directed by David Mackenzie.
Alongside Garfield, known for "The Social Network," "The Amazing Spider-Man," "The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Rise of Electro" and "Spider-Man: No Way Home," the cast includes Daisy Edgar-Jones, known for "Twisters," "Sense and Sensibility" and "Normal People."
The lineup also features Sam Worthington ("Terminator Salvation," the "Avatar" saga, "Manhunt: Unabomber," "Everest"), Wyatt Russell ("Cowboys & Aliens," "Thunderbolts*," "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," "Monarch: Legacy of Monsters") and Rory Culkin ("Twelve," "Scream 4," "City on a Hill," "Black Mirror").
Strong ratings across review sites
"Under the Banner of Heaven" premiered in April 2022 and has been well received by audiences, according to its scores on four major television review platforms.
The series holds an 83% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an average score of 7.4 out of 10 on Metacritic. On FilmAffinity it has a rating of 6.5 out of 10 from 2,500 user votes, while on IMDB it scores 7.5 out of 10 from a total of 44,000 votes.
Part of Disney+'s thriller catalog
Each of the miniseries' seven episodes runs approximately one hour. It is part of the wider Disney+ catalog, which also includes other dramatic thrillers such as "Paradise," "Homeland," "Prison Break," "Verdades ocultas," "La estación de las chicas perdidas," "Dopesick: Historia de una adicción," "Yo, adicto" and "Little Fires Everywhere."
