20 Disturbing Documentaries That Expose Freaky Cults
20. Holy Hell (2016)
What happens when the cult leader is also your yoga teacher? ‘Holy Hell’ documents two decades inside the Buddhafield—a group obsessed with transcendence and perfection, led by a man obsessed with himself. The result is both deeply personal and horrifyingly universal.
19. Life After Manson (2014)
A haunting confession from inside one of the most notorious cults in American history. Patricia Krenwinkel, a key Manson Family figure, reflects with chilling clarity on her past and the manipulative power of Charles Manson. She doesn’t beg for forgiveness, instead, she dissects the ideology that led to the bloodbath. The brevity of the project only amplifies its emotional weight.
18. Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God (2023)
Amy Carlson, a livestreaming self-proclaimed messiah, ruled her internet church with new-age jargon and manic prophecy. After her mummified corpse was found adorned with glitter and wrapped in Christmas lights, her remaining disciples refused to let go. This documentary is a harrowing portrait of mass delusion in the digital age.
17. Deprogrammed (2015)
Ted Patrick was called both a savior and a kidnapper. This documentary plunges us into the morally ambiguous world of “deprogramming.” What it entailed was forcibly removing people from cults. It exposes the heartache families endure and the extremes they'll go to for redemption. A gut-punch of ethics and desperation.
16. Sons of Perdition (2010)
Banished for trivial “sins” like listening to music, three teens find themselves exiled from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. What follows is a raw, visceral chronicle of survival. Homeless, aimless, and stripped of their identity, their journey is a quiet but thunderous cry against the tyranny of blind faith.
15. A (1998)
This takes viewers inside the enigmatic cult Aum Shinrikyo, which unleashed a deadly sarin gas attack on Tokyo's subway in 1995. With shocking access, Tatsuya Mori captures the chilling calm of Hiroshi Araki, a cult spokesperson who remains disturbingly faithful. The horror isn't just in the past, it’s in the lack of remorse.
14. Heaven’s Gate: The Cult of Cults (2020)
From quaint UFO beliefs to mass suicide, ‘Heaven’s Gate’ traces the grotesque escalation of trust in a false prophet. With rare archival footage and interviews with those left behind, this is a tragic blueprint of how charismatic leaders hijack human hope and turn it deadly.
13. Kumaré (2011)
Vikram Gandhi becomes a guru… literally. Disguised in robes and spouting faux-philosophy, he amasses real followers. The twist? It’s all fake and still they believe. ‘Kumaré’ is a terrifying testament to how easy it is to manufacture devotion, and how quickly we surrender logic for salvation.
12. The Source Family (2012)
They seemed harmless enough—hippies in the Hollywood Hills, stoned on idealism and LSD. But behind the glowing vegetarian smiles was Father Yod, a leader who manipulated sex, music, and power in cultic proportions. ‘The Source Family’ is a psychedelic descent into 1970s spiritual exploitation.
11. Escaping Twin Flames (2023)
A YouTube-based matchmaking empire turned into a grotesque emotional prison. Jeff and Shaleia Divine promise eternal love, but their tactics are malevolent—encouraging stalking, controlling identities, and pushing followers into harmful relationships. ‘Escaping Twin Flames' reveals a chilling weaponization of our romantic longing.
10. My Scientology Movie (2015)
Louis Theroux's irreverent charm disarms, but what unfolds is anything but funny. Denied access to the Church, Theroux recreates accounts of abuse with ex-members, and in doing so, he provokes the Church to retaliate in real-time. The hunter becomes the hunted in this bizarre, metafictional exposé.
9. The Vow (2020)
From the outside, NXIVM was a self-help empire. Inside, it was a branding cult fueled by manipulation, blackmail, and sexual slavery. This gripping docuseries follows whistleblowers as they risk everything to bring down Keith Raniere, a monster hiding behind empowerment mantras.
8. The Deep End (2022)
Teal Swan is either a misunderstood healer or a calculating manipulator. ‘The Deep End’ offers unprecedented access to her inner circle and it’s not the safe space her followers believe. What begins as spiritual guidance spirals into control, isolation, and emotional domination.
7. Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence (2023)
A father moves into his daughter’s college dorm. Years later, she and her friends are slaves to his psychological web of abuse. Larry Ray used love, paranoia, and sex as weapons in one of the most disturbing modern cults. Remember, this isn’t fiction, it’s Ivy League horror.
6. Prophet’s Prey (2015)
Warren Jeffs, self-proclaimed prophet and convicted predator, ruled the FLDS Church with a blend of apocalyptic vision and authoritarian control. This documentary exposes how religious institutions can become strongholds for abuse and how faith can be twisted into a weapon of terror.
5. Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (2015)
With ex-members finally breaking their silence, this HBO juggernaut rips apart the facade of the Church of Scientology. From psychological coercion to celebrity worship, it’s a damning look at a billion-dollar institution that silences dissent with litigation and fear.
4. Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple (2006)
You’ve heard of “drinking the Kool-Aid.” This is where it came from. Jim Jones began as a civil rights preacher. He ended with 900 people dead in a jungle. This is the definitive story of how love, idealism, and faith were perverted into one of history’s greatest tragedies.
3. Waco: The Rules of Engagement (1997)
In this, a government siege turns into an apocalyptic inferno. David Koresh and his Branch Davidians held strong for 51 days before it all went up in flames. This documentary doesn’t just recount the events, it questions the power and recklessness of government force.
2. Wild Wild Country (2018)
A spiritual utopia in Oregon becomes a war zone. Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and his followers build a city. What next? They literally poison salad bars, stockpile weapons, and wage war on the state. This documentary is explosive, literally and figuratively, unraveling one of America’s wildest cult stories that traces back to India.
1. Manson (1973)
Shot during the trial that rocked America, this raw, grainy documentary features real-time interviews with Charles Manson’s followers. No dramatic reenactments. No voiceovers. Just pure, unfiltered madness from the mouths of the murderers themselves. The effect is chilling—a time capsule of brainwashing, violence, and chaos.
