15 Best Cult Documentaries Ranked RELATED The 10 Most Dangerous Cults In Movies & TV Ranked

15 Best Cult Documentaries, Ranked

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1 15 Best Cult Documentaries, Ranked

Cults can be equal parts fascinating and horrifying, and here are 15 of the best documentaries which shine a light on their inner workings.

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People are fascinated by cults, how they operate, and how anyone could join them are questions people continually ask. Often, these questions come as a reaction to the rumors and horrific stories that come to light about these cults—rape, murder, abuse, and more—seem to dominate the conversations about them.

For curious people looking to learn more about them, there are a number of documentaries that offer insight into these cults, from their inception to their downfall. Some of them even feature first-hand accounts from former members and their families. Here is a list of the best cult documentaries.

Updated on November 19th, 2020 by Christopher Fain: Following the end of the acclaimed A&E series Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, audiences around the world find themselves more curious than ever to explore the world of cults. The documentaries that expose the stories of these malicious groups reveal the dark world of extreme beliefs from splitting families to true illegal activity. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of these documentaries is that they take such an in-depth look at the human psyche, showing how little it takes to convince people into doing terrible things. Those coming off the high of recent docuseries such as Leah Remini’s have plenty to explore as some cults continue growing and cameras continue rolling.

15 Kumaré

While it may not cover a legitimate cult, Kumaré by filmmaker, Vikram Gandhi, explores the world of yogis and their following by posing as one. In the series, he calls himself, Sri Kumaré, hailing from a fiction region of India. He journeys to Arizona in an attempt to grow and develop a cult of followers.

The documentary earned fair reviews upon release but came under fire for the filmmaker’s deception. Gandhi realizes the experiment grew a bit out of control, but it made for good filmmaking and posed thought-provoking questions about the nature of cults and their leaders.

14 Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief

In 2015, the documentary movie known as Going Clear made serious headway in pop culture, winning three Emmy awards and exposing the dark side of the Church of Scientology. It deconstructs some of founder L. Ron Hubbard’s claims and sheds light on the relationship between the church and its celebrity members.

The documentary also explores some of the many alleged cases of abuse by the church, such as child labor as well as financial malfeasance. It mixes archive footage with the dramatic reconstructions built with the information compiled from eight former Scientologists.

13 Holy Hell

Will Allen tells the world his story as a former member of Buddhafield in his documentary Holy Hell. As a member of the cult for 22 years, Allen exposes abuse led by their leader known as Michel. He interviews several other former members, all sharing stories of their time in the Buddhafield cult.

Allen shares footage he took during his job as a videographer for the group, offering a first-hand account of the events that unfolded. As of 2016, the group still remained with nearly 100 members.

12 Heaven’s Gate: The Untold True Story

One of the more unique cults in the modern era was that of Marshall Applewhite who founded a religion based on UFOs. Filmmaker Sergio Myers shares the gruesome story of this cult in Heaven’s Gate: The Untold True Story. Not only did they believe in aliens, but their ultimate goal was to unite with them. Unfortunately, this unification was a bit more complicated than simply being beamed up.

After intense study, the group reached a point in which they believed they were ready to meet with their heavenly brethren. In March of 1997, San Diego County deputies discovered the result of this after a mysterious post went live on the group’s website.

11 A (Aum Shinrikyo Cult)

In 1998, Tatsuya Mori released a documentary of the so-called Aum Shinrikyo Cult. A came in the wake of the 1995 gas attack on the Tokyo subway. It centers its focus on a well-known spokesman of the group known as Hiroshi Araki. Similar to other cults, Araki had to sever all family ties in joining.

The cult claimed to be a sect of Buddhism but ended up being more of an extremist group that launched a terrorist attack on the city of Tokyo. The attack was meant to be a smokescreen to stall investigation into the cult by local law enforcement, however, it only made the situation worse for the leader and his members.

10 Children of God

This 1994 documentary features Sylvia Padilla and her children, who describe their time inside the Children of God cult. Founded by David Berg, Children of God, now known as “the Family,” was founded in Huntington Beach in the late 1960s.

What began as a spiritual movement soon devolved into something more sinister. The religious group soon became notorious for their views on and encouragement of such practices as “flirty fishing”—having members have sex with non-members to recruit them—and their authorization of sexual abuse of minors. Padilla and her daughters discuss how these practices impacted them directly in heartbreaking detail.

9 Deprogrammed

This documentary follows a man named Ted “Black Lightning” Patrick, a man who spent much of his career in the 1970s”deprogramming” former cult members.

Filmmaker Mia Donovan, who first met Patrick when she was just 13 when he was asked by her stepfather to help deprogram her brother Matthew, explores the extreme lengths Patrick would go to break the hold cults may have had on people, including kidnapping and rigorous questioning. “He was the first person to advocate that there was a potential danger with these kinds of groups,” Donovan said.

8 Six Degrees of Helter Skelter

Perhaps the most famous cult in American history is the Manson family. Led by Charles Manson, several members of the Manson family were tried and jailed for the Tate-LaBianca murders that occurred in August of 1969.

Six Degrees of Helter Skelter delves more into the murders themselves and the areas in Los Angeles that the Manson family spent time in. The film includes autopsy reports, photos of the Manson Family, and more.

7 The Source Family

This 2012 documentary discusses Father Yod and the Source Family. Father Yod founded a “spiritual commune” in the Hollywood hills in the late 1960s. His followers became known as the Source Family, and the group practiced communal living, ate a vegetarian diet, and lived off of the earnings from Yod’s restaurant.

The Source Family also formed a rock band, habitually smoked marijuana and took LSD, and gave themselves new names like “Isis” and “Prism.” The documentary also delves into the darker side of the group, including them being forbidden to use modern medicine and things like antibiotics to treat illnesses.

6 Jonestown: The Life and Death Of The People’s Temple

Started by Reverend Jim Jones, The People’s Temple was a religious group with the goal of attaining equality for all. However, the group would never see their goal come to fruition, as nearly 1,000 people, including Jones, committed “revolutionary suicide” in 1978 in Jonestown, their commune in Guyana.

This documentary recounts some of Jones’ humble beginnings as well as the founding of the People’s Temple. Several People’s Temple members speak out about their experiences, including Jones’ oldest son, Stephen Jones. Viewers who are unaware of the details of Jonestown will get what they’re looking for with this documentary.

5 My Scientology Movie

This 2015 documentary follows filmmaker Louis Theroux as he strives to learn about the inner workings of the world’s most mysterious religious organizations. Theroux meets with several former members, including Marty Rathbun, who had at one point been one of the highest-ranking members of the church.

Throughout the film, Theroux is followed by mysterious cars and confronted by seemingly random people. He also talks about the history of the organization and how the Church of Scientology keeps its members from speaking out about them.

4 Prophet’s Prey

This documentary is based on the 2011 book Prophet’s Prey: My Seven-Year Investigation Into Warren Jeffs And The Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints by Sam Brower, who also serves as a producer of the movie.

The documentary follows Warren Jeffs, the head of the FLDS church who was tried and jailed for the rape of teenage girls. Jeffs is still in charge of the organization despite being in prison, and the documentary chronicles much of the shady dealings and abuse that other members of the church experienced.

3 Wild, Wild Country

This documentary follows the Rajnesshpuram group as they clash with locals after moving to a remote Oregon town. The conflict escalates, due in part to high-ranking member Ma Anand Sheela, and culminates in a bioterror attack in 1984.

The documentary follows the founding of the group by guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. Several former members of the group speak about why they joined the group, what it was really like on the inside, and how things escalated so quickly. The documentary also features an interview of Sheela herself, who talks about her life and her ambitious climb to the top of the group’s hierarchy.

2 Waco: The Rules of Engagement

This documentary recounts the 51-day standoff between members of the FBI and the Branch Davidians at their compound in Waco, Texas. Led by David Koresh, the Branch Davidians were a religious group that thought that Koresh was a prophet. There are allegations that Koresh was committing child abuse, a fact widely believed to have contributed to the siege by the FBI.

While many people still contend that the government was not to blame for the escalation in conflict and eventual death of 76 members of the Branch Davidians, this documentary will make viewers wonder if the outcome could have been different.

1 The Lost Women of NXIVM

One of the most recent cults to come to the public eye, NXIVM was initially billed as a female empowerment group started by a man named Keith Rainere. This documentary follows investigator Frank Parlato as he delves into the lives of four women involved in NXIVM, two of whom died from illnesses, one allegedly committed suicide, and the other went missing in the Alaskan wilderness.

The documentary also sheds light on some of NXIVM’s inner workings, including expensive “self-help” classes, sex trafficking, and branding members with Keith Rainere’s initials.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/best-cult-documentaries-ranked/

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