America’s Most Hated Family in Crisis

America’s Most Hated Family in Crisis is a follow-up to Louis Theroux’s earlier film The Most Hated Family in America, as he returns to Topeka, Kansas, to interview the family behind the infamous Westboro Baptist Church.

Since Theroux’s last visit, several members of the Phelps family have left the church. He meets two such women and learns that their decision has led to them being disowned by their parents. He also examines how current church members reacted to his previous documentary, hoping to gain a deeper understanding of them and their intolerant ideology.

The documentary provides background on the church’s activities and its leader, Fred Phelps, who believed he was chosen by God to ‘preach his message of hate’. The Supreme Court case Snyder v. Phelps, brought by the father of a US soldier killed in Iraq whose funeral was picketed by church members, serves as important context for the film. The members’ reaction to the ruling is captured to chilling effect.