The Cult Content Boom: What's Behind Our Obsession?

Forbes

a day ago

Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, 1985. (Photo by Matthew NAYTHONS/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images) Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
From streaming documentaries to bestselling books and theatrical productions, cults are trending. The groups have become a dominant force in contemporary media, reflecting deeper societal anxieties and a search for meaning in a world that can often feel disconnected.
The International Cultic Studies Association estimates that up to 3% of people are involved in a cult at some point in their lives. Accurate data is scarce, given that members of groups rarely self-identify. The definition of a cult can also vary widely. Is cult membership increasing, or has awareness and reportage of the groups climbed?
What is measurable is the exponential growth in public interest around cults. Streaming platforms have released dozens of high-profile productions in recent years, reflecting audience demand. The stories are compelling, often blending sure-fire elements of true crime, psychology (primarily the surrender and loss of self, replaced with a groupthink mentality), deception, betrayal and all manner of drama.
Netflix has cornered the cult documentary genre, releasing productions like Wild Wild Country (2018), which examined the Rajneeshpuram commune headed by Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. Also, Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives. (2022) and How To Become A Cult Leader (2023).
Mass Marriage Blessing Ceremony performed by the Unification Church at Madison Square Garden circa 1982 in New York City. (Photo by PL Gould/IMAGES/Getty Images) Getty Images
The number of shows goes on, produced by Netflix and other streamers. The shortlist: Bad Faith (Amazon Prime, 2024); Born in Synanon (Paramount+, 2023); The Family (Netflix, 2019); Breath of Fire (HBO, 2024); Heaven's Gate: The Cult of Cults (HBO, 2020); Desperately Seeking Soulmate: Escaping Twin Flames Universe (Amazon Prime, 2023) and Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath (A&E, 2016).
The mass suicide of the People's Temple in the jungles of Jonestown, Guyana, where 912 people died on November 17, 1978 (photo by Tim Chapman). Getty Images
Further back, there are numerous documentaries about the world's most well-known cult, the Peoples Temple, led by Jim Jones, given the mass murder-suicide of more than 900 of its members in Guyana in 1978. The standout documentary mini-series on the cult was recently released in 2024, reflecting renewed interest: Cult Massacre: One Day in Jonestown (Hulu). The three-episode production includes rare archival footage and recordings of Jones, along with survivor and eyewitness interviews. 'I Would Never Join A Cult' Think Again
What's behind the fixation with cults? 'The fascination with cults fundamentally rests in the idea that people believe that they can't be drawn into one,' says Dr. Mara Einstein, author of Hoodwinked : How Marketers Use the Same Tactics as Cults (Prometheus, 2025). 'The first step in the recruitment process is to find vulnerable people. We are all vulnerable at some point in our lives—we've moved to a new town, gotten a divorce, lost a loved one—which means we could all be lured into a cult.'
The definition of cult has broadened, fueling greater interest. About 50 years ago, a cult was equated with the word 'dangerous.' Think Jim Jones, the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas and the Manson Family cult led by Charles Manson. 'Because of digital media, the definition has expanded to be closer to the 17th century one, when cults were groups that venerated a person or ideology,' says Einstein, who is a professor at Queens College, City University of New York. From Analysis To Memoir: Books Dissect The Phenomenon
Beyond documentaries, the book market has weighed in: academic analyses, books on how to identify cults and help loved ones, along with memoirs. The New York Times bestselling memoir Stolen Innocence by Elissa Wall (William Morrow, 2008) relays life inside Utah's FLDS polygamist sect. The author's courtroom testimony helped convict sect leader Warren Jeffs in 2007.
Uriah Wesman performs his solo show, "Three Cults Walk Into A Bar," at the Lyric Hyperion near Hollywood. Damu Malik
Journalist Mike Rothschild wrote The Storm Is Upon Us: How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything (Monoray, 2021). The Financial Times called the book 'timely and chilling.'
'Rothschild is brilliant at outlining the process by which people who were not previously drawn to political extremism come to see themselves as 'patriotic researchers,' able to see patterns in the information that is fed to them,' the review continued.
Sean Prophet, son of Elizabeth Clare Prophet who headed Church Universal and Triumphant before she died in 2009, recently penned My Cult Your Cult : How Cults Destroy Truth and Bolster Authoritarian Power (Amika Press, 2025). Born into the cult, Prophet draws comparisons between the group's apocalyptic dogma (braced for a Soviet nuclear strike, the church built extensive Montana bomb shelters in the early 1990s), and Christian Nationalism, QAnon and the MAGA movement.
David Reinert holds up a large "Q" sign, representing the conspiracy group QAnon, while waiting in line to see President Donald J. Trump at his rally on August 2, 2018 (Photo by) Getty Images
The resurgence in cult interest represents a 'deeper shift in how humans process belonging, belief and betrayal in a world saturated with uncertainty,' says Dr. Christopher Kaufman, a business consultant and professor at Southern California State University. 'The delivery systems have gone exponential,' he adds, citing the apps, subreddits, monetized livestreams and Discord servers that lure people in. 'This isn't just happening in sects. It's visible in brand loyalty, political tribes, startup cultures and influencer fandoms.'
Kaufman posits a new question, in contrast to asking why people are fascinated with cults. 'What happens when every institution starts to look like one?' Taking It To The Stage
Theatrical productions have also delved into the allure of cults, or at least the broad idea of them. The Cult of Love by Leslye Headland opened on Broadway in 2024. It explored religion and the widely divergent beliefs within families. The overarching theme? Families can also feel cultish.
In 2018, the Phoenix Theatre Ensemble premiered Topher Cusumano's The Cult Play, which detailed the 'Soul Scouts,' a religious cult shepherded by a charismatic mystic.
Members of the Osho Ashram in Pune, India, celebrate the 1st anniversary of the death of their leader Bhagwan Rajneesh, later known as Osho (photo by T.C.Malhotra) Getty Images
The Pros & Cons of Killing Your Cult Leader , presented by Weird Sisters Theatre Project, is a satirical comedy that tracks five women hierarchs in a cult. The production examines patriarchal systems and themes of manipulation, control and the search for belonging. The play premiered at Atlanta's Aurora Theatre in 2023.
In Los Angeles, Uriah Wesman's solo show, Three Cults Walk Into A Bar , details his life growing up in three different cults, the primary being Church Universal and Triumphant, which, as a young man, I also was a part of. Wesman's unique perspective is that he was born into the group (I joined at age 21 and stayed for six years). During his show at the Lyric Hyperion near Hollywood, the comedy actor summed up the cult I knew so well, although from a later era: the leader's fiery dictations (messages she channeled via the 'ascended masters'), the climate of paranoia epitomized by various 'astral entities' that were forever hungry for members' souls, and so forth.
Uriah Wesman performs his solo show, "Three Cults Walk Into A Bar," at the Lyric Hyperion near Hollywood. Damu Malik
In such groups, fear is central to keeping members in check. I remember meeting an ex-member of Yogi Bhajan's group, 3HO (Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization). After discovering we had both been in a cult, I asked him what would happen should he leave the organization, betting that I would get a good answer.
Elizabeth Clare Prophet headed the Church Universal and Triumphant. Denver Post via Getty Images
'If we left, we were told that we would spend our next 9,999 lifetimes as a cockroach,' he replied.
I responded: 'If we left, we were told we would not reincarnate for 10,000 years, and then it would be on some hellhole of a planet in a distant galaxy.'
I told him that he had the better deal, given that his cockroach incarnations would be over at the exact time I would finally be able to reincarnate, and then only on some horrid planet. Finding another cult brother is rare; we became fast friends.
Yogi Bhajan in 1974. Denver Post via Getty Images Hearing Cult Stories Can Deliver A Psychological Thrill
Indeed, humor is the way that Wesman dealt with the psychologically twisted mess of his childhood; he's also a stand-up comedian.
Hearing stories like the ones Wesman relays can give people a 'psychological thrill,' says clinical psychologist Avigail Lev, director of the Bay Area CBT Center. 'Cult content provides voyeurism wrapped in moral distance. We get to explore the darkest edges of human behavior while safely positioning ourselves as the rational outsider. 'I would never fall for that,' we think—while binging eight hours of content about people who did.'
But part of that thrill is 'the realization that maybe we aren't so different,' she adds. 'That under different conditions—enough grief, enough doubt, enough loneliness—we too might have been drawn in. That's why the fascination sticks. Cults don't just tell us something about 'them.' They tell us something about us.'