Check out these "cult" classics... Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at films that capture either the factual or emotional realism of real-life cults.
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00:00 "Some of this sounds quite like hypnosis. Is it not?"
00:03 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at films that capture either the factual or
00:07 emotional realism of real-life cults. Setting aside the supernatural element of most movies
00:13 about religious fanatics, these films delve into the real human horror of cult life.
00:19 "I should go back." "Go back where?"
00:23 The Invitation
00:26 "I'm free. All that useless pain, it's gone."
00:31 In 2015's underappreciated horror The Invitation, Will and his girlfriend are invited to dinner at
00:37 his ex-wife Eden's home. Will and Eden have both been struggling with grief over their son who died
00:43 accidentally. Will struggles day to day, but Eden has ostensibly overcome her grief thanks to the
00:48 help of a cult she's found in Mexico. Real-life cults use bereavement and grief as a weapon. Death,
00:55 divorce, and other similar events in a person's life leave them at their most vulnerable.
01:00 "Don't tell me that this is normal. The Invitation."
01:04 "It helps people."
01:05 The specific motivations of the film's murder cult are never truly discussed. Still,
01:09 their weaponization of grief and post-mourning love-bombing are textbook examples of cult
01:15 behavior. "To a better world." "To peace." "Cheers." "Sound of my voice." "Like anything new,
01:28 it will be impossible for your mind to digest. Maybe close your eyes."
01:35 Writer and actress Britt Marling has a history of using sci-fi and horror as lenses through
01:42 which to examine the human condition. In 2011, she starred as Maggie, the supposed time traveler
01:48 from the future. She's formed a group to prepare them for horrors to come.
01:52 "Who took your power away from you?
01:54 Who made you feel so powerless you've become obsessed with control?"
02:00 While the film leans into the sci-fi elements, Maggie may actually be from the future,
02:05 it strikes a realistic note. We follow potential members at every stage, from neophyte to believer.
02:12 The aesthetic of the cult, from the wardrobe to the rituals, is spot on. As with real cults,
02:17 every piece of clothing, every mantra, every ritual is designed for coercive persuasion.
02:23 The individual is broken down, their thought process is overwritten, until their skepticism
02:29 is converted into belief. "The ones who will not only survive, but will thrive,
02:34 are the ones who realize that there's nothing to be afraid of."
02:39 Lords of Chaos. "Things are miserable. People are ruled by dictatorship.
02:44 Just like us here in Norway." Evolving out of heavy metal, black metal music can be traced
02:51 to Norway in the late 1980s. Early bands utilized satanic lyrics and imagery for shock value.
02:57 By the early 1990s, some bands, led by Mayhem, took it more literally. Lords of Chaos is a
03:03 biopic about Mayhem, starring Rory Colkin as their lead guitarist, Euronymous. By incorporating
03:10 pagan blood-fuelled rituals into their act, the band and its fans morphed into a cult of
03:15 personality. "I hate that. All those death metal kids with their stupid morbid angel t-shirts,
03:21 and making a trend out of something that was meant to instill fear." In the film, Euronymous
03:26 spurs his bandmates and fans to the mass arson of churches in Norway. In real life, he wasn't
03:32 officially connected. Still, other black metal musicians and fans were. Lords of Chaos brings
03:38 that period of fire and blood to life. "You'll have to find another idiot to steal everything
03:44 from." "I haven't stolen anything from you." The Endless. "You have a horrible memory. That place
03:50 is not what you think it is." "I know." Doomsday cults often come to tragic, deadly endings.
03:55 Heaven's Gate, a UFO-based cult, ended that way in 1997. The aftermath of such an event
04:01 leaves generations of trauma in its wake. The Endless tells the story of two adult brothers
04:06 exploring their past. They were raised in a Heaven's Gate-style cult and managed to escape.
04:12 The film imagines a world where a cult like Heaven's Gate might actually be right. "Can
04:17 you have power over yourself if you give up any amount of authority to something else?"
04:23 It makes the list due to its emotional content. The Endless is a deep dive into what it feels
04:28 like to be brainwashed. The process of falling into, and out of, a cult is one that leaves a
04:34 victim questioning their reality. The eerie, uncomfortable vibe is meant to reflect that
04:39 descent into uncertainty. "We never anticipate the ways we're gonna isolate ourselves from the
04:44 ones we care about." Red State. "God doesn't love you. Let's fear him." Kevin Smith may be known for
04:51 stoner comedies, but the writer-director has never shied away from examining his own faith.
04:57 Smith, raised Catholic, felt deep disdain for the actions of the Westboro Baptist Church. He spent
05:03 years putting together Red State, a piercing look at the extremist organization. Smith's version
05:09 imagines a similar church that follows through on its homophobic rhetoric. "Well, so I went for this
05:14 flick that I feel is me trying my best to do Quentin Tarantino by way of the Coen brothers."
05:20 Their hateful beliefs extend to ritualistic murders. The leader of this church employs
05:25 classic cult tools to brainwash his congregants. He uses force and coercion to break their will,
05:32 and fear of another to target their rage. "People just do the strangest things when they believe
05:38 they're entitled. But they do even stranger things when they just plain believe." Faults.
05:46 "They were worried about you, Claire." "Don't call me that. She was weak and stupid." Given the nature
05:52 of cults, it makes sense that most cult-related movies tend to be horrors. Riley Stern's independent
05:58 film Faults takes a different approach. The dark comedy focuses on the difficulties that surround
06:04 deprogramming a cult member. The film follows Ansel, a down-on-his-luck cult specialist,
06:10 hired to deprogram cultist Claire. "I've moved up a level, Ansel.
06:18 Claire is a part of me. I accept that, but I'm not her." Claire's parents are desperate for help,
06:23 and will turn to anyone. Even a man whose failed attempt at deprogramming once led to a woman's
06:29 death. It's a heavy topic, but Stern's handles the subject fairly well. The deprogramming becomes a
06:36 battle of wills and gives off a similar vibe to an exorcism. "One day I will be a mountain terry,
06:43 but for now I am a fault." Apostle. "No tax gatherers bill shall ever
06:48 threaten our church door. We, I tell thee, we, we are free men."
06:56 When one thinks of British movie about cults, it's natural to think of the original 1973
07:03 Wicker Man. 2018's Apostle could give Wicker Man a run for its money. Apostle takes place in 1905
07:10 on a tiny island off the coast of Wales. Thomas, a former missionary, infiltrates a diabolical cult
07:16 that has recruited his sister. "Beware false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing,
07:23 but inwardly they are ravening wolves." The raid mastermind, Gareth Evans, ventured outside of his
07:30 comfort zone with this terrifying and gruesome tale of an ex-missionary who attempts to extract
07:35 his sister from a bloodthirsty cult on a barren island outside of Wales in 1905. "They told me
07:42 you were dead." "Not to him I was, but I'm here now." It's not uncommon for some cults to set up
07:49 camp out in the wilderness, away from prying eyes and local authorities. The Sacrament. "Children,
07:56 we have some special visitors to the parish today. Let's show them our hospitality and
08:03 represent ourselves with the way the Lord has taught us." The Sacrament is a 2013 horror movie
08:09 loosely based on the Jonestown Massacre. The People's Temple began in the 1950s as a social,
08:15 revolutionary church. It evolved into a large and powerful cult. Leader Jim Jones moved his
08:20 community of over 900 followers to a commune in Guyana. In 1978, Jonestown was visited by U.S.
08:27 Congressman Leo Ryan at the request of some of their families. The trip ended with disaster.
08:33 Jones' men attacked the Congressman's delegation while the community drank poisoned fruit punch.
08:39 "Just relax, you're in paradise." The Sacrament follows a news crew as they visit a similar cult
08:45 in Central America. While fictional, the film is a slow-burn psychological thriller that attempts
08:50 to capture the terror of being in a death cult. "I gave them all I could and then I gave them
08:56 away." The Master
08:58 Five years after There Will Be Blood netted a pair of Oscars, director Paul Thomas Anderson
09:03 followed up with The Master. Telling the story of a Navy vet with PTSD looking to heal and find
09:10 purpose, The Master looks at the founding of a cult called The Cause. "Dude, tell me why you're
09:14 not with her if you love her so much." "I told her I'd come back and I never went back and now
09:18 I just, I gotta get back to her." "Why don't you go back?" "I don't know." "Why don't you go back?"
09:22 "I don't know!" The movie is a slow, methodical drama, eschewing the violence and terror of most
09:27 films about cults. Instead, Anderson opts to focus on the human connections between cult members.
09:33 "You know I can leave any time I want, but I choose not to, I choose to stay here."
09:38 The search for meaning, love, and escape from pain is how many cults reel in victims. Through
09:44 isolation, cults like The Cause manipulate people at their lowest and most desperate.
09:51 "For if you figure a way to live without serving a master, any master,
09:58 then let the rest of us know, will you?"
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10:20 Martha Marcy May Marlene
10:22 "You're shaking. Calm down."
10:25 Years before becoming an Avenger, Elizabeth Olsen made her film debut
10:29 in the psychological drama Martha Marcy May Marlene. She plays Martha, a 22-year-old woman
10:36 who starts the film by escaping a cult deep in the Catskill Mountains. While doing research,
10:41 writer and director Sean Durkin was enthralled by the process of entering a cult.
10:46 "I know you feel like something bad just happened, Marcy May.
10:49 But you have to trust me, that wasn't bad. That was truly good."
10:57 He wrote a short film and followed it up with his feature debut about exiting the same cult.
11:02 He retells that story in Martha Marcy May Marlene through flashbacks. He doesn't spare the details.
11:09 As with real cults, the fictional commune uses brutality, isolation, and psychological
11:14 torment to break Martha to their will. "I thought we had a connection."
11:18 Do you have personal knowledge about cults? Or have you watched a ton of true crime
11:24 documentaries on cults? Is there a realistic cult on film that we missed? Let us know in the comments.
11:29 "Are you involved in some kind of cult?"
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