The documentary tracks the rise and fall of Mr. Jeffs, who in 2002 assumed leadership of the church after the death of his father, Rulon Jeffs. With the on-camera assistance of Mr. Krakauer and Sam Brower, another dogged investigator, Ms. Berg fills in a harrowing portrait of Warren Jeffs as a deluded prophet and serial abuser, especially of girls and women who seem locked in another century. Their old-timey look will be familiar to fans of the HBO drama “Big Love,” about a polygamous family trying to find a middle way between faith and the modern world. In “Prophet’s Prey” there’s little evidence of love in what emerges as a tale of madness and abuse, wealth and criminality, mixed in with anti-government rhetoric — all in in the name of God.

Drawing on archival material, landscape beauty shots and testimonials, including from former F.L.D.S. members, Ms. Berg has created an unnerving, sometimes infuriating documentary. She makes smart choices throughout as she weaves together this chronicle of faith and abuse, but her decision to include an audio recording that was used at Mr. Jeffs’s trial of him allegedly molesting a 12-year-old girl was wrong. This decision contrasts sharply with the scene in the documentary “Grizzly Man,” when an on-camera Werner Herzog listens to — but doesn’t share — an audio recording of the mauling death of two people. Mr. Herzog ratcheted up the drama by withholding the recording, but his decision was also a de facto ethical statement about documentary and the uses of the suffering of others.

For the most part, though, Ms. Berg gets it right, burying Mr. Jeffs with persuasive witness testimony and documentation. Along the way, she gestures at larger, underexplored issues, including the rise of homegrown religious fundamentalism in the light of rights movements for women and children. Fundamentalist Mormons are having some kind of moment, including in cable shows like “Sister Wives” and documentaries like this one, which is based on Mr. Brower’s 2011 best seller of the same title. More movies are still to come, including an adaptation of “Under the Banner of Heaven” that is being developed by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, two of the executive producers of “Prophet’s Prey,” and written by a third executive producer, Dustin Lance Black, who wrote for “Big Love.” The story continues.