7 documentaries about cults that will leave you cold: a famous actress ended up in prison

‘Colonia Dignidad’ is a six-episode Netflix documentary miniseries that tells the story of a sect in Chile founded by a charismatic refugee German cleric who manipulated the members of his group and became a key player during the Pinochet dictatorship.

The story is told with testimonies from Chilean and German inhabitants who were in the sect and were victims of exploitation.

‘The vow’ shows testimonies from former members of NXIVM, a sect that presented itself as a multi-level marketing organization that was exposed for sex trafficking, identity theft and forced labor.

Actress Allison Mack was identified as a high-ranking member of NXIVM, for which she was sentenced to three years in prison in 2020. ‘The vow’ is a documentary series that has nine episodes available on HBO Max.

Three young Jewish members of the extreme Orthodox community in New York run away from their religion and tell the story of secrets behind the Hasidic community. Abuses, drugs and arranged marriages are some of the situations they recount after escaping. The documentary is available on Netflix.

‘Heaven’s gate’ is an HBO Max documentary miniseries that tells the story of a cult that believes in extraterrestrials and to which the collective suicide of 39 people in the nineties was attributed in the hope of entering a special ship that, according to the belief, was hiding behind Comet Hale-Boop.

Through four episodes, the documentary tells the story of the founding of the cult, makes a study of its former leaders and presents testimonies from former members of the group.

In the late 1970s, a region of New York was threatened by a series of crimes that led to the arrest of a 24-year-old man named David Berkowitz, who introduced himself as “the son of Sam” and confessed to attacking different people.

A journalistic investigation by Maury Terry revealed that the Berkowitz attacks were related to a satanic cult of the time, so there were several “Sons of Sam” planning attacks. The documentary is available on Netflix.

Produced by the Duplass brothers, ‘Wild wild country’ tells the story of spiritual guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, also known as Osho, who founded a community of followers in the Oregon desert that caused political conflict over the territories of the region.

Through six episodes, the Netflix series shows what some of Osho’s followers experienced within the sect disguised as spirituality.

After the popularity of ‘Wild wild country’, Netflix produced another spin-off documentary with the story of Ma Anand Sheela, Osho’s personal assistant. 30 years after being part of the guru’s group and serving a prison sentence. Sheela became a celebrity in her 70s, so the documentary shows journalists attempting to interview her and learn her side of her story.