From Catholicism and Judaism to Mormonism and Scientology, this list of the best religion documentaries features unique perspectives into some of the … | Lex de Man, 119 min RAJNEESH MOVEMENT, “WILD WILD COUNTRY” Netflix’s six-part series chronicles the rise and fall… Star: In the spring of 1947, hidden amidst the desert wasteland that is now known as the West Bank, three shepherds happened upon a series of ancient scrolls. “Wild Wild Country” is earning strong buzz on Netflix for investigating the rise and fall of a spiritual cult that made headlines in Oregon throughout the 1980s. | His ... See full summary », Director: Ricky Rodriguez, Samuel Stefan, More so than any other series on the list, watching this will leave you shocked that you hadn’t heard this nutso story before. John Smithson Stars: Robert ... See full summary », Director: Robert Hendrickson, Documentary, Biography, Crime, Documentary on Charles Manson and his family. 100 min Article now available on Filmhounds on the link below: Documentaries To Watch If You’re Interested In… Cults Director: Bill Bunten, Paul Haggis, Once you exit a cult, how do you regain your independence and sense of self? Documentary, Biography, Part documentary, part expose, this film follows one-time child evangelist Marjoe Gortner on the "church tent" Revivalist circuit, commenting on the showmanship of Evangelism and "the ... See full summary », Directors: | Ahom Aquarian, Browse List Top 100. Director: | Documentaries on religion, religious traditionalism, religious cults, spiritual awakening, hallucinative plants, and atheism. 100 min Whether it bases the collective ideology on religion or a more secular and idealistic lifestyle, cults are generally marked by a distaste for critical thinking among followers. Don Bolles, | Bruce Davis, | In fact, Allen benefitted in quite a few ways from joining Buddhafield, though he almost paid with his independence. Director: Cults encourage their members to drop out of society completely, to cut off ties with loved ones and change their personality traits and habits. Because, sure, people want to belong to a group they identify with, and maybe it’s this internal quest for acceptance that fuels so many cults. Directors: Vincent Bugliosi, | Stars: 12,018 | From the filmmakers behind Jesus Camp (unfortunately not available on Netflix anymore), One of Us examines religious faith and orthodoxy with an impressively delicate touch. | | Dan Gifford, | Rena Mundo Croshere, | Noah Thomson Documentary. | Etty was forced into marrying her abuser at 19 and bore 7 children while waiting on him hand and foot. Stars: Samuel Stefan, See titles to watch instantly, titles you haven't rated, etc, Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple, Charles Manson: The Man Who Killed the Sixties, Going Clear: Scientology & the Prison of Belief, Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath. | Lynette Fromme, 104 min For many people, this process of returning to life outside a cult is called “deprogramming”, and this 2016 documentary tells the story of several people who needed to be removed from cults. It’s set up in the woods or on an island or somewhere else that’s hard to reach. Top Documentary Films. The stereotypical cult exists somewhere on the literal edge of society. Sylvia Padilla, Nick Cave, But where does one start? Miriam Padilla, TV-MA In 2009, Ray ended a meditation retreat by asking his followers to shave their heads and fast without food or water for days in the desert. Stars: There is also a history of Manson... See full summary », Directors: Stars: | Daniel Garcia, What’s less often discussed is the way women in the church respond to allegations of sexual assault — some investigate tirelessly, a quest immortalized by Meryl Streep in Doubt, but others choose to act complicitly. “Wild Wild Country” is earning strong buzz on Netflix for investigating the rise and fall of a spiritual cult that made headlines in Oregon throughout the 1980s. 165 min Hiroshi Araki, Not Rated Elaine Anderson, Then, check out our list of the best religious documentaries. From there, cults, both secular and religious, get creative. Saved by Worklizard. Tim Wolochatiuk However, if you’re feeling curious about how religious people cope with sexual urges, and their intense drive for intimacy, The Lost Key is a fascinating look into one man’s life. James Buddy Day ** This film may not be suitable for all viewers; parental guidance is advised. Dan Grove, PG-13 For those who foster a curiosity about these groups, here are 10 documentaries — including HBO's recent docuseries The Vow — that get to the bottom of life inside a cult. The film documents them as they enter ... See full summary », Director: The Catholic Church covering up cases of pedophilia in its leadership is such a well-publicized horror story that it’s difficult to imagine a time when people didn’t make pedo-priest jokes. | 1,474 Jane Stork, PG-13 | Yet, this is a fascinating expose on the hypocrisy and hubris surrounding a cult and one of the better documentaries about cults. We’ve compiled a list of the best (and most disturbing) docs available to stream on Netflix right now because cults are fascinating. A film about cults and the the indomitable human soul. A documentary on kids who attend a summer camp hoping to become the next Billy Graham. | Spanky Taylor, The movie centers around Ted "Black Lightning" Patrick, a man who went on an anti-cult campaign in the 1970s that often involved illegal tactics. 25 min Sam Brower, Joaquin Sullivan, Stars: Director: Director: Documentary, History. | Stars: Liz Shaw, 136 min | Laurence Merrick Directors: Warren Jeffs, That film, Holy Hell, is available on Netflix, and it’s a sensitive (yet disturbing) look at how cults never appear sinister right away. Sure, cult leader Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh is interesting, but his second-in-command takes center stage after a while. 26,349 | Stars: | Timothy Findley, Hridayananda Das Goswami, Buddhafield was (and technically still is, since the active members moved to Hawaii) a cult that shirks that stereotype. Andrew Chatwin, Votes: Stars: | Gross: By the time the sun went down on the cult retreat’s finale, followers were screaming for help and hallucinating. Irene Cara, Documentary, Crime. Michael Travesser, Not Rated Anna Flowers, | This article, originally published on August 22, 2017, has been updated. Stanley Clayton, 85 min Journalist Elizabeth Vargas, alongside former members of controversial organizations, goes on a search to uncover how these sects use their influence to prey upon people's desperation to create powerful and often destructive belief systems. 48 min Marcy, TV-G Stars: Like Holy Hell, this documentary tells a specific and personal story, as the filmmaker Ricardo Adler analyzes his spirituality and speaks with a Rabbi after a brutal divorce. Documentary. | An exclusive interview with Manson Family member Patricia Krenwinkel reveals an ... See full summary », Director: This list of fictional and real-life accounts of cult activity are a great way to get a glimpse inside—from a safe distance. | | | | Director: Warren Carter, This 2017 docuseries leaves viewers grasping at straws for a possible solution to Sister Cesnik’s murder, which remains unsolved. | Stars: Stars: Documentary, Short, Crime, Life After Manson is an intimate portrait of one of the world's most infamous crimes and notorious killers. Documentary, The events of the night of August 9th, 1969 changed the face of the '60s. Claire Headley, Not Rated He eventually left and deprogrammed, but lucky for us, Allen is a filmmaker who compiled hours of footage he shot while living with the Buddhafield cultists into a documentary film for CNN. Stars: Mia Donovan Nadine Mundo, Not Rated David Miscavige, TV-14 Fred Phelps, the Westboro Baptist Church, those who oppose it, and those who chose to leave it all behind. Vernon Gosney, | Nadine Mundo | Search. | Ted Biggs, Stars: From documentaries to psychological thrillers, each of these films also focuses on individuals who have brushes with the darkness and charisma of cults. Debbie Padilla, Rachel Grady | Nothing in this Oscar-winning docuseries, executive produced by the Duplass brothers, is exactly what it seems. Documentary, Biography, Crime, For forty years, Charles Manson has survived most of his life in what he calls 'the hallways of the all ways,' the reform schools, jails and prisons that have been his home and tomb. As leader of a cult in a remote corner of New ... See full summary », Director: Documentary. Tyler Measom, | | His followers had each paid $10,000 to attend. Evangeline Griego | Kelly Franz, Peter Bate The shocking story of Rev. $0.02M, PG No, HBO’s incredible Scientology documentary, Going Clear, is not available on Netflix. 85 min This series is actually the story of two very unlike communities — the people of Rajneeshpuram and Wasco County, Oregon — as they rub up against each other on barren American land. | Barbara Hoyt, | | Dot Krenwinkel, Religious Cult Documentaries. | Anita Hoffman, TV-14 90 min Documentary, Award winning filmmaker, Ondi Timoner, follows four families as they leave an abusive church in South Carolina and realize they have been in a cult. Michael Bortin, | Louis Theroux, Michelle Benward, A documentary looking at the inner-workings of the Church of Scientology. | Mary Brunner, He had become a paranoid drug addict; and the documentary displays all footages and facts on how he led over 900 members of his religious cult group to a settlement in Guyana called Jonestown, where he masterminded a mass suicide in November 1978. Star: 88 min Jack Harwell, Bruce Davis, 100 min 98 min Refine See titles to watch instantly, titles you haven't rated, etc Instant Watch Options | Ted Haggard, Votes: It takes as its focus "The Church," also known as "The Brotherhood,... See full summary », Director: Documentary, Music. ... A family describes their time within a religious cult, one that perpetuated pedophilia, sexual abuse, and prostitution. Sally Howell Becky Fischer, The documentary is one of many titles in the fascinating subgenre of controversial religious documentaries. Stars: Documentary, Drama, History. When 22-year-old Will Allen was kicked out of his house for being gay, he found solace temporarily in the Buddhafield cult. Jordan Fraser-Trumble, Documentary, Michael Travesser says he's the Messiah and that God has told him the world will end with an apocalyptic event at midnight on 31 October 2007. Religion Sort by: The Dead Sea Scrolls. Documentary. ‘The People’s Temple of the Disciples of Christ’, commonly known as the Peoples Temple, is a religious cult founded by Jim Jones in 1955 in America. Stars: When Osho, the world's most controversial guru, builds an Utopian city deep in the Oregon country, conflict with the locals escalates into a national scandal. $0.01M, R Clive Doyle, Louis Theroux documents his investigation into what goes on behind the scenes of the infamous Church of Scientology. Stars: | Stars: | From one side there was a story of villains and child abuse and a cult. Indian-American-Swiss co-cultist Ma Anand Sheela proves to be a more formidable power in the cult over time, and she was instrumental to the 1984 Rajneeshee bioterror attack. Sharmagne Leland-St. John, TV-PG Raymund Melz, The brutal murders of starlet Sharon Tate and her friends shocked the world, and when the Manson Family murderers ... See full summary », Director: Brent Jeffs, 83 min Tim Carter, Patricia Krenwinkel, "Wild Wild Country" is earning strong buzz on Netflix, and it's one of several religious cult documentaries you can watch right now. Documentary. Witch trials are a common subject in creepy pop culture, but Witches: A Century of Murder makes the subject feel freshly disturbing, by setting it outside the American colonies and in rural Britain. | Members forked over their savings, grew their own food, delivered their babies at home and built a... See full summary », Directors: 9 Best Serial Killer Documentaries on Netflix Right Now, Ranked. Vote up your favorite cult documentaries below or add one that you found interesting that isn't already on the list. Mike Rinder, Though it’s not technically about a cult, Witches explores what happens to a group of people when their new ideals override their shared humanity. From Scientology to Kabbalah to Rajneeshpuram, there seems to be a documentary or docu-series for every religious extremist group. | Documentary, History. TV-MA Jeff Gannon, Not Rated Email Subscribe. | Jason Beghe, Alex Gibney | Gross: | Mary Brunner, | | Many cults involve drug use, but even the ones that don’t, according to Deprogrammed use a type of psychological intoxication, born from a charismatic leader and a cult’s developing hive mind. Ce film peut ne pas convenir à tous les publics. A family describes their time within a religious cult, one that perpetuated pedophilia, sexual abuse, and prostitution. Etty was forced into marrying her abuser at 19 and bore 7 children while waiting on him hand foot! 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