Originally shown as a two-part TV movie, this is a gripping recreation of the horrible tragedy of the November 1978 mass suicide of 913 people at the South American religious "colony" of Jonestown. Powers Boothe's portrayal of the cult-leader Reverend Jim Jones earned him an "Emmy" and the film traces the life of Jones from his early activist period to his rise as a modern day messiah. The climatic suicide scenes are convincingly recreated in a near-documentary style, and the whole production benefits from a huge supporting cast of excellent players.