How to Become a Cult Leader (2023– ) User Reviews

Breezy but entertaining

[krachtm · 8/10 · 29 July 2023]

Peter Dinklage returns to perform sarcastic narration in another Netflix documentary.

Peter Dinklage is awesome. If you don't think he's awesome, you need to go watch The Station Agent. However, his name is not really the first that would come to my mind if Netflix said to me, "We're making a sarcastic documentary. Who's your dream narrator?" But after his turn at talking to us about the rules of how to become a tyrant, I'm glad he's back.

The topic of cult leaders is just as lurid and interesting as tyrants. It's also a pretty fluid transition talking about tyrants who prey on their citizens to cult leaders who prey on their followers. The problem is that it sometimes feels like we're covering very similar ground. Perhaps they're trying to say cult leaders and tyrants are not so different. If so, that's not exactly a deep thought.

Again, the choices will likely cause a lot of consternation. Would anyone have really complained if they had skimmed over the history of Heaven's Gate? Their history was more interesting than one might expect, but I doubt people are dying to know what Heaven's Gate was up to in the 1970s. It did lead to an intriguing concept, though: how do you deal with failed prophecies?

A failed prophecy seems like it would completely derail your cult. The truth is that sometimes cults bounce back stronger than ever. The reasons are really interesting, and they could go a long way to explaining why people stick with cults despite their ridiculousness. I mean, how do you stick around when someone says, "I'm the messiah, and I need you to have sex with me and mortgage your house"?

There are so many notorious cults that are missing. In many cases, there's no mention at all or just a trivial throwaway buried in the middle of an episode. And what can you say about Jim Jones or Charles Manson in 30 minutes that we haven't already seen several times before? Especially with them, it might have been better to talk more generically. Yes, we all know Manson was a failed rock star.

This is likely the sort of thing that would have sent me looking deeper if I had seen it when I was a teenager, and I think that's a good thing. So, despite its flaws, I have to say that I'm glad it's out there, and I'm glad that Peter Dinklage is back. I was leaning toward a 7, but I'll give it an 8 so encourage more sarcastic docuseries with him.

Here's he plot for the missing episode 7

[activesilver · 7/10 · 6 August 2023]

Title: Make your cult a religion

All of these episodes and just about every (if not all..) chapters fully apply to the big religions we know today.

A few examples i wrote down during the show.

• Build on your own piece of land (uhm like maybe the vatican?, maybe even Israel?)

-Uniformity, no one stands out (except the leader offcourse), so wear the same clothes (nuns, priests, imams, bisshops, monks, etc, etc)

• Wipe all doubts with standard frases (like "God works in mysterious ways" ?)
• The end of time (apocalypse, every religion has them)
• Although (a bit) saver now, overall agression is or has been used by all big religions, either to non believers or as punishments
• Go and multiply, 8 billion people on this world, killing the world by breeding more and more, believers like this one i guess
• Biblecamp
• Successionplan (Like the pope?)

Starts strong but sinks by monotony

[danielcereto · 6/10 · 8 September 2023]

The series is not original but still entertaining. It starts strong and the best episodes to me were the first trio. The narrative is great because the characters are quite interesting if you're into psicology or love series like Mindhunter. But it is far to be a masterpiece.

First, it can become monotone after watching the fourth episode. To add, the last cult leaders are not interesting or intriguing.

Second, last episode is terrible. And the ending is as important as the start. A big flawn. The series sinks by itself because it follows the same pattern all the time. Kind of boring.

Anyway, it is overall watchable but not great. If you want to maximize the time, skip the last episode.

Partial/shallow and sensationalized

[Saman91IT · 4 August 2023]

It shows a very partial picture of things. Includes some supposed cults (because easy targets, visually, e.g. Osho) while leaves out some real and active cults (e.g. Scientology) out of fear and general opportunism. Just easy or obvious targets without goung deep into why cults exist and how come people nees them in this consuneristic world. Shallow overall and kind of an exact copy of what Explained had already done (still shallow). To give it intelletual depth they should have shown more points of view and not only people piling up with such an absolute predetermined and similar outlook on things. The creators act with the same absolutism of cults themselves!

Interesting but missing something

[robertm-151-806182 · 7/10 · 30 July 2023]

I have been interested in cults and brainwashing for a while. Good show but agree that it missed out one of the most famous cults - the Branch Davidians. Probably because Netflix has a dedicated show about Waco which is excellent. I think it should have also focussed more on how people managed to get sucked in by these charlatans. I think the animations work really well too. The episode on the Moonies was interesting also. It would be interesting if the looked at why so many cults originate in the USA and Japan. I believe this may be due to the prevalence of spirituality and religion in these countries.

Great narration, poor design

[sarahjohnson-88311 · 7/10 · 2 August 2023]

I had no idea Peter Dinklage was such a beautiful narrator. His voice is silky smooth, and execution is well timed and witty.

The show appeals to a certain audience by presenting as a "how to" manual which degrades the content in my opinion. It could have stood on its own without the sales pitch, and without a lot of the kitschy animated sequences.

Cults are fascinating so I don't regret watching the series, but I believe the format presented as a lost opportunity for a less dumbed down version of the content.

Content is 8/10, delivery 5/10, animations 2/10 and narration 10/10.

Watch and enjoy. Don't become a cult leader.

Pretty Sensalistic, but informative

[atleverton · 6/10 · 2 August 2023]

I have always been fascinated with the dark Side of cults and cult leaders. This is a pretty much sensationalistic examination of the phenomenon. But if you have no knowledge of the topic, then it does do a good job of explaining some of the most famous cults in history, the people behind them, and their crimes. I did like that it didn't focus on only famous cults, but they did tell the story of one lesser known cult. Peter Dinklage does a great job of narrating. They also did a series called how to become a Dictator which also is of the same quality, so if you are interested in that subject and you like this, check it out.

Easy to watch

[ozguryilmaz955 · 6/10 · 16 February 2024]

I appreciate documentaries of this nature as they skillfully unveil hypocrisy. The term "cult" nowadays tends to evoke associations solely with religious factions within Islam. However, irrespective of societal progress, there exists a plethora of charlatans globally, endeavoring to exploit individuals' faiths. Hence, I deem this documentary highly valuable. Additionally, its storytelling employs an entertaining tone, while the incorporation of animations in a cinematic manner facilitates the digestibility of the content. Through such presentations, viewers are prompted to critically examine and reflect upon the complexities of belief systems and their manipulative potential in contemporary society.

Interesting

[vincentviolet-65071 · 9/10 · 1 August 2023]

This is a great idea for a tv show. It is very interesting and I am learning a lot. I will try to use this stuff when I try to set up my own cult. My favourite thing about the show is that it is literally a step by step guide for how to start a cult which is brilliant. There are some good animated sequences which tell the story of these creepy cult leaders. Peter Dinklage is great as the narrator and he produced it too. As long as you don't take it too seriously this is a fun and entertaining show. The best way to view it would actually be to study how these cult leaders manipulate people so you can start to identify when people are manipulating you. Sadly the world is full of psychopaths and so it is good to know what you are up against.

Brilliantly executed!!

[birkanyeniturk · 9/10 · 31 July 2023]

Witty, striking narration! I don't think that there is a better way to explain the 'boring' cults.

But I want to draw attention to the last part of the series. Look at people's lives! When you ask them, they will tell you: 'Of course we hate the cults that blindly follow a leader.' I am sure that they use at least three different social media platform. They have their own Cult leaders (social media celebrities). Their speech and photos are not different from a cult leader. People are worshipping them in modern ways (like buttons/ comments). If you don't believe me, just check the million-followers fan pages.

All in all, This not just a story of some 'devotee's' but it is a story of human nature, our need to aggrandize leaders whom we believe more glorious than us.

As the playbook says: 'Just remember, in this world, you are either the predator or the prey.'

frantic and superficial

[therzog-553-799739 · 2/10 · 1 August 2023]

As a fan of cult documentaries, movies and podcasts (e.g. The Vow, Martha Marcy May Marlene), I was excited to dive into this series. To say that I was disappointed with HTBACL would be an understatement. I didn't make it past the first episode, in which viewers are bombarded with various examples of cult leader strategies in a sensationalistic and sarcastic tone. The tone is basically: look at all these silly and quirky cult leaders who manipulated and harmed their followerz, LMAO; and like OMG some peeplz died; isn't that, like, so crazy?

I appreciated the interviews of former cult followers describing their experiences and current perspectives, but we receive these interviews as brief clips in a piecemeal fashion that doesn't allow us meaningfully connect with them and their subjective experiences.

The pace of the first episode was intolerable for me, as were the narrative and editing choices. I understand that HTBACL's focus is on identifying and communicating the tactics used by cult leaders, but I would have appreciated a more slowed-down and focused approach. In one episode, you'll hear examples from 15+ cults, offered to you at a frantic pace alongside random video footage, photos, as well as illustrated reinactments. The result (in my opinion): a superficial, meandering, emotionally bereft docuseries from which I learned absolutely nothing of significance.

This show was made for tik tok.

[gml-63752 · 10/10 · 31 July 2023]

This show is awesome. It was literally made for tik tok in that every 60 seconds is it's own whole clip. I can zone out and come back and immediately be reiterated into the plot. Perfect for modern age of attention spans. Would genuinely watch this whole show as 30 different parts on tik tok. 11/12.

Only on the first episode and I've been writing this review for all of it. Every time I tune back in I don't feel like I've missed anything. This is a new age of content driven by a smooth voiceover and random bits of exert dialogue. I don't have much else to say but this review needs ten more characters so I'm.

GREAT SHOW

[ayyanraghav · 10/10 · 15 December 2023]

I loved the showing in exposing the demons who had used religion and religious ideologies to gain their selfish ambitions. This series is a wake up call to everyone who might get caught up in a cult. Although, one scene in episode one had a shot of ISKCON Head. Though ISKCON had many convictions of the members in the West, I am not sure it's the same in the east. But I'm not sure and I studied the Bhagavad Gita and I know it's the Truth. This show apart from that is an eye-opener and will act as a warning for youngsters and other for falling in the cult trap. Besides religion, everything is a cult and a man-made belief such as Entertainment, Sports, Government and Laws which are always broken by the elite and rich in all the nations.

Highly problematic

[amjanzen_2000 · 2/10 · 5 September 2023]

Over sensationalized, inaccurate, and containing dangerous generalizations. Cults are a fascinating topic but there are countless better documentaries and podcasts out there. The problems start before the opening credits are finished. An "expert" stated that most cults end in bloodshed and death which is a both blatantly false and harmful. The presenters, not the cult survivors, tell there tales with glee. They almost seem to admire what cult leaders have accomplished and have a total lack of sensitivity to the people affected. I can only hope they weren't in the same space as the survivors that were interviewed.

How NOT to make a documentary about Cults

[rbrb · 2/10 · 8 August 2023]

This series of shows about cults is totally ruined by ridiculous and totally unnecessary animations which permeates all the episodes.

Goodness why such a serious real-life series about cults is destroyed by unfunny and awful animated nonsense.

And nothing is mentioned about other cults which parade as religion which in many ways are just as dangerous and wicked as the ones shown in these episodes.

Question: What if a show about Nazis and their horrific crimes was presented in such a way with trying to make light weight of the awful and hideous atrocities with stupid and ludicrous animated stupidity?

Dear oh dear:

2/10.

Lazy and shallow

[cunaguaroselvatico · 4/10 · 12 August 2023]

This is a lazy attempt to produce a docuseries similar to their last production on How to become a Tyrant, which was MUCH better. How to become a cult leader has few former cult member interviewees, close to no professional interviews with "cult experts" (anthropologists, psychologists, theologists, sociologists, whatever) and at least one if not more actors passing off as former cult member, the case I looked up was Lola Blanc. Who comes out throughout the whole series as a former cult interviewee but in actual fact has never been part of a cult, and looks like she is repeating scripted information. So although the image bank is good, and the cults and leaders chosen interesting (and new to me, I only knew of Manson and Jones) there in no depth in the research or information. Another bone to pick is all the cult leaders are men. Where are the women cult leaders? They only mention Anne Hamilton-Byrne and The Family, but why not make a chapter on her? How about Africa cult leaders, there are MANY. So yeah kinda informative but could have been better, with a little more effort... and less of the cartoon recreations.

Talk about playing it safe 😂😂

[ntxxjzn · 2/10 · 25 August 2023]

6 episodes and not one did you delve into of one of the worse, and still very active cults: Scientology, other than the fact the Charles Manson read about it in prison. Wow! What a way to play it safe. Too worried about wanting to play it safe to not get harassed by Scientology, huh?! They have a policy letter that states anyone against them " May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed." That would have been a great add to your video - getting harassed by a cult group while filming about cults!!! Instead, this is a very generic show about mostly has-been, defunct cults! There are better shows that go deep into the cults. This show also had an abundance of cheesy videotape transitions with all the royalty free video footage. Wasted my time on this!!!

Worth considering the show's full applications

[exmach · 4/10 · 4 August 2023]

This series was a superficial gloss on several cult leaders and cults. The level of information was quite low, but the narration was entertaining.

Whilst it alludes to several of the leaders' study of psychology and psychological techniques, with others' intuitive grasp of how to manipulate psychologically, much more should have been said about this -- including about what to look out for.

In terms of a 'playbook', or strategies for gaining and maintaining such power, the show makes a fairly convincing case that our own governments operate this way too. More particularly, it is reasonable to infer that mainstream liberal and progressive ideologies, and the institutional power bases that promote them, utilise such 'cultish' practices. For they involve: concerted efforts to control information flow and efforts to discredit alternative sources of information; policing forms of speech (determining what is 'correct'); conveying a meta-narrative that is just a mishmash of conflicting beliefs without ever really trying to resolve the contradictions therein; exploiting emotions to present certain beliefs as rational and logical and to discredit others (without ever addressing the merits); etc.

Running around so fast and nothing remains

[marvin6z6z6z · 3/10 · 21 November 2023]

I just waisted for precious time by cult like fishing series of How to become XXX documentary.

I'm excited to watch about UFO cults and Asahara from Japan and also Last one of the cult that with AR15 who cause to assassinate Abe Former Prime Minister of Japan. But shown about nothing in particular and there is no interested information about it.

I also watched other one of this series about how to become Mob boss something but almost same as empty can with about bunch useless contents. And who the hell are they talking and explaining about something? I noticed a lot of cuts editing before they experts who call themselves trying to finish explanations with just one of sentence but cutting out last few seconds of finishing one sentences. What a roughly editing. In these days even YouTuber has good and polite editing and YouTube videos are free but more enjoyable and educational than this trash. Give me my money and time back!

I strongly recommend Don't waist your time even if you have a lot of time to spend nothing and don't know what to watch. I should rewatch other movies or tv shows about fictional cults instead there are a lot of entertaining and also educational fiction tv shows. I'm just disappointed.

P.s. If I need to compliment one thing that The Narrator is so good taste btw. But as I said wasted by empty contents. They should make about 1 hour at least for focus to everyone doesn't know much and curious about couple themes.

How to Be a Cult Leader By Creating a Docuseries

[akehurstjoseph · 1/10 · 31 August 2023]

This show purports to expose a variety of cults but ends up creating a confusing mishmash with no actual learning or message to offer.

Lumping mass murderers like Charles Manson with spiritual teachers like Osho shows a real lack of discernment. I've had friends who spent time with Osho and had a beautiful experience, the same with Scientology and other groups who are now labeled as cults.

Many reviewers mention that this show is superficial, sensationalist, frantic and unfocused. In addition, it falls prey to the recent common practice of calling any group we do not understand a cult, akin to calling someone a witch in days of yore. In today's polarized society, the last thing we need is another way to justify saying arrogantly that we know the truth, and everyone else is an infidel, a witch, a cult member.

The series does not deserve the title documentary as it does not dive into any particular topic or ever show different viewpoints. The viewpoint that is pushed ad nauseum is that these groups have all been brainwashed by powerful leaders. I'm sorry, but if brain washing were actually possible, we would be able to convince our friends and neighbors to agree with us, and we know that is not happening!

Sadly, this series adds fuel to the fire of division and confusion and does not inform, uplift or unite anyone. The creators of this series could be labeled cult leaders themselves, trying to recruit people to their agenda.

Irresponsible and sadistic

[NatalieShark · 4/10 · 23 January 2024]

I was really interested in this docuseries as it touches on a subject close to me. I was hoping for something that would equip people with defenses against cult tactics. While I do believe that may have partly been the goal of the filmmakers, it is sadly not the end result.

While I enjoyed the graphics and voice over of Peter Dinklage, the tone of the series is all wrong. You get the impression that the writers took a certain sadistic glee in their portrayal of cult leaders. I get that cult leaders are often extravagant and strange people, but it doesn't make them funny.

People often look at cults leader and their followers as eccentrics, but the reality is nothing to scoff at. These people need help and compassion, or in some extreme cases, prison. This series wheels these people out so everyone can get a good look at the weirdos while offering nothing more to the conversation. It's bad youtube at best.