How to Become a Cult Leader Review: “It’s all a play, isn’t it?” tells Charles Manson, leader of the Mason Family cult, to the media as he is taken into custody. Netflix’s latest 6-part docuseries covers 6 different cult leaders and breaks down their process of becoming so in the form of distinct steps and presents them as rules in the “playbook” of the title, an apt way to explore the topic. Each episode is of around 30 minutes.
How to Become a Cult Leader Review Does Not Contain Spoilers
How to Become a Cult Leader Plot/Storyline
Each episode of the docuseries is based on a different cult leader and shows their rise and fall. Their lives and what they did to earn followers and manipulate them as per requirement have been explained in a brief manner. Six cult leaders, namely Charles Manson, Reverend Jim Jones, Jaime Gomez, Marshall Applewhite, Shoko Asahara and Reverend Sun Myung Moon have been showcased here.
Through interviews of members of the cults, archive footage, and animations accompanied by Peter Dinklage’s convincing narration, the series shows the extent to which people have been misused by the “leaders” to quench their thirst, be it for control or self-pleasure or any other personal gain. The docuseries also explores the mindset of the people who have been members of such cults. They explain how a cult works and just how vulnerable they had become almost to the point of no return.
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How to Become a Cult Leader Review
It is ironic yet apt for the show to present the steps to become a cult leader in the form of a “playbook”. A cult leader is all about becoming more than human, something which is not at all a “play”, and yet it is because the whole process is just a game for the master manipulator to get people to follow him/her and do whatever they want. This is a job well done on the part of the makers, who have skillfully managed to divide the process into steps.
The way the series explains the steps to becoming a successful cult leader is also interesting. At any particular step, when the fall of one cult leader is encountered, the show picks up the rise of another in the following episode. This allows the series to maintain its flow, and it’s not unlikely for you to finish the docuseries in one go, as you might just want to know what the next step is.
However, this succinct manner in which each cult leader’s story is told takes a toll because it feels like each episode is in a hurry to move on to the next. While the beginning is steady, the ending (of each episode), which deals with how the cult leader was apprehended or what his fate was ultimately, isn’t paid much heed. This makes the docuseries feel incomplete.
When you have established something well, it needs a proper ending, especially in such cases when the outcome and the repercussions are as important as what led to them. Again, the succinct manner might make some viewers feel like it’s a lot to take in, and they might have to rewind and watch in case they missed something.
The ending of the last episode, i.e. Episode 6, despite having the feeling of incompleteness, does contribute to the overall vibe of the docuseries. This is because it speaks about Reverend Sun Myung Moon, whose cult still exists and is growing, many years after his death. The rest of the cults (in the previous episodes) are no more, and neither are the leaders. In this way, the show tells us that cults still exist, and if you want to form a cult of your own that transcends even your death, the rules in the “playbook” are what you should keep in mind.
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How to Become a Cult Leader Review: Final Thoughts
Overall, if you want to know about different cult leaders and their cults, How to Become a Cult Leader is a good watch. But it doesn’t offer an in-depth explanation of them and is more like a summary of their actions. Some people will find it just enough, while others will look up the internet to know more because they will feel like there’s a lot that’s not here. If you are into docuseries, you will definitely like it, and if you don’t, do give it a watch; you might just.
How to Become a Cult Leader is streaming on Netflix.
Have you seen the docuseries? What are your thoughts on it? Do let us know in the comments below.
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