Twisted Yoga Review: Survivors of Movement for Spiritual Integration into the Absolute (MISA) discuss their time around its leader, Gregorian Bivolaru, and the ordeal they had to go through in the name of learning tantric yoga.
Twisted Yoga Apple TV+ Director
Rowan Deacon
The documentary series has 3 episodes, each with a runtime of around 45 minutes.
Twisted Yoga Review
In Twisted Yoga, we dive into the world of an alleged cult that lured people in with the promise to believers of providing enlightenment and, instead, pushed them into sexual slavery and worse. The series, with only three episodes, dives deep into this maddening spiral with the help of survivors who either fled the cult or got out years later. It’s a shocking documentary that makes you feel extremely uncomfortable, and the psychological manipulation that we see in front of our eyes is nothing short of baffling.
The series is extremely heavy, which is obvious thanks to the real stories of the victims being portrayed so rawly and intensely. Its focus on the voices of the survivors is possibly its strongest suit – they are emotional and unsettling, and no one beats around the bush. These are people from all walks of life who are left destroyed by a power-hungry person’s twisted fetishes, but their fight to get justice is what stays with us when the episodes come to an end.
The series takes a slow-burning investigative approach, gradually increasing the intensity as the process of indoctrination also gets more and more intense. I was left speechless after realising that these ordinary people were just out there to find a yoga studio for some good workout and maybe some deeper understanding. But, to eventually find themselves being abused, mistreated and forced into sex work is such a horrifying escalation that it almost feels like it comes out of nowhere.
The extent to which Gregorian Bivolaru took his sick fantasies is honestly mind-boggling. You constantly ask yourself what kind of sick person would even come up with such a shockingly exploitative “business” as the victims continue to tell us one harrowing story after another. But then again, Jonestown existed, so you know, human beings can truly be horrible.
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The series discusses how promises of giving women a deeper understanding of their bodies, peace and spirituality resulted in hundreds of women getting abused, and the stories just don’t stop at one or two. The brave victims, including Agnes, Bonnie, Miranda, Andrea, Ash and others, bring forth one shocking fact after another, leaving us to grapple with our emotions as the suffering doesn’t seem to end. There’s depth to the investigation, as the series talks to detectives, lawyers and journalists to piece together different aspects of the case and how justice can be delivered.
Final Thoughts
Twisted Yoga is intense, as it highlights how easily a random, charismatic man can just bring vulnerable people under his control with the promise of showing them something beyond this world. The series is a harrowing watch and isn’t for the faint of heart, as the ordeals that are depicted here are straight out of a nightmare. The isolating and dangerous situations that the women found themselves in are terrifying, and further reading into the matter will shed light on just what the documentary might have missed.
What are your thoughts on Twisted Yoga? Let us know in the comments below!
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