Documentary 'Going Clear' Claims Scientology Used Aggressive 'Intimidation Tactics' To Force Tom Cruise & Nicole Kidman Split

Alex Gibney's new documentary Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief may be the most titillating film premiering at 2015's Sundance Film Festival.

Released by HBO Documentary Films and set to air on the network later this year, Going Clear explores one of the most forbidden territories known to pop culture: the Church of Scientology.

Apparently the exposé aims a bit further than the church, however, including some startling allegations regarding its most famed member, Tom Cruise. According to The Daily Beast, The film claims that the Church of Scientology used a number of “intimidation tactics” to force Cruise to split from then-wife Nicole Kidman.

Marty Rathbun, second-highest ranking official in the church until he left in 2004, claims that church head David Miscavige was distrustful of Kidman because her father was a renowned psychologist in Australia. Scientology is fervently frowned upon in the psychological field, and Rathbun asserts that Kidman's connection to her father made her a "Potential Trouble Source" (PTS), a term used by the church meaning "a person who is in some way connected to and being adversely affected by a suppressive person."

Going Clear paints an interesting picture of Cruise's second marriage. It asserts that Kidman, a Catholic, persuaded Cruise to distance himself from the Church of Scientology throughout the 90s, despite Miscavige being a good friend and the best man for their wedding. Miscavige, reportedly enraged, then "assigned" Rathbun to "facilitate the break-up with Nicole Kidman."

Miscavige allegedly hired a private investigator and wiretapped Kidman's phone while simultaneously keeping Cruise under careful watch, auditing his every move. Rathbun says the church "re-educated" Cruise's adopted children, Connor and Isabella, to reject their mother and allow Cruise to reclaim custody.

Since their divorce in 2001, Cruise became more active in the Church of Scientology, eventually becoming Scientology's Hollywood spokesman.

During the final credits, Going Clear notes that both Cruise and Kidman refused to be interviewed for the film.

Watch: Former Scientologist Claims Church Came Between Nicole Kidman & Tom Cruise