Before ‘Avatar: Fire & Ash,’ Sam Worthington’s Scariest Performance Is This Near-Perfect Weekend Binge

Sam Worthington is the lead actor in one of the highest-grossing films of all time, and yet James Cameron’s Avatar is only a glimpse of what the actor is capable of. Though Fire & Ash is throwing fans back into the world of the Sullys, Worthington’s underappreciated true crime series Under the Banner of Heaven showed the actor as viewers had never seen him before. The 2022 Hulu series starred Andrew Garfield and was an adaptation of Jon Krakauer’s deep dive into the Mormon faith.

The true story follows Jeb Pyre (Garfield), one of the many Mormons who found a home in Utah. Jeb is a detective tasked with solving the harrowing murder of a young mother, Brenda (Daisy Edgar-Jones), and her infant daughter. Under the Banner of Heaven uses flashbacks to explore her life and even the origins of the religion, whose history influenced her fate. The series spans seven episodes and expertly tells an infamous case that was, at its heart, a story about family. That family was the Laffertys, and Worthington gave a stirring performance as the eldest brother, Ron.

The Lafferty Brothers Were Terrifying in ‘Under the Banner of Heaven’

Contextualizing the Mormon faith was significant to understanding Brenda’s death, which is why Under the Banner of Heaven explores flashbacks about the formation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This belief trickles down to the Laffertys, a conservative Mormon family in the ‘80s. Brothers Ron (Sam Worthington), Dan (Wyatt Russell), and Sam (Rory Culkin) are so stringent in their beliefs that they are soon radicalized by a fundamentalist group called the School of the Prophets. This group supports polygamy, even though it was disavowed in the 1890s by the church. The Laffertys also subscribe to the idea that women were second-class to their husbands, as they become more conservative.

When the younger Lafferty brother, Allen (Billy Howle), marries Brenda, the family gets concerned. Though in the faith herself, Brenda is much more progressive, having gone to college and wanting a career of her own. The Laffertys come to believe that because of Brenda's independence, God wanted her to die. Allen is the outlier and has no idea what his brothers were planning. Dan is the first to become involved with the fundamentalists, attempting to make his stepdaughters his plural wives.

Ron's beliefs become more extreme, but when Brenda discourages this, his wife Dianna (Denise Gough) leaves him. While each of the fundamentalist brothers is terrifying in their own way, Ron is the most insidious. He becomes convinced that he is a prophet who receives visions straight from God. He and his brother Dan embrace the doctrine of blood atonement, a belief that states egregious crimes against the faith can only be solved by shedding blood. Ron and Dan become so radicalized that they think Brenda is to blame for their issues and resolve to murder her.

Worthington is far from the family man he is in the Avatar franchise. In Under the Banner of Heaven, he has a cold and cruel streak. Ron beats his wife, driving her to run away with their children. Brenda, who has done nothing wrong, is the scapegoat for all of his issues. She is the reason nothing in his life goes to plan, and he finds it easier to hurt her and an innocent child than look inward.

Ron becomes so invested in his own mythology of being the “One” that he also attempts to murder his brother, Dan. Worthington was cast well and convincingly conveyed the character's steely cruelty. Andrew Garfield and Russell were commended for their performances, but Worthington had the most underrated performance of all.