Not all Netflix documentaries need to be about serial killers or gruesome murders in order to capture the imagination of subscribers around the world, but that doesn’t mean that How to Become a Cult Leader isn’t chilling in its own right.
Several of the subjects covered in the new miniseries have already been given the standalone deep dive treatment, but throwing them altogether into a stew of brainwashing and indoctrination somehow conspired to make it even more unsettling when you realize just how many thousands of people have given up their entire existence to a single person preaching a mantra or lifestyle that’s quite clearly a terrible idea to follow on every imaginable level.
Ironically, then, users have been drawn into the hypnotic tale of what it takes to be anointed a deity by a throng of dedicated followers, with FlixPatrol revealing How to be a Cult Leader as the seventh most-watched episodic title on the streaming service’s global watch-list, ensuring the dulcet tones of narrator Peter Dinklage will be seared into their minds for the foreseeable future.
It’s easy to sit comfortably on your bed, couch, or preferred mode of viewership and question how these people managed to win over so many converts despite being obviously insane, but the hold they had over their subjects is remarkable to witness with the benefit of time and hindsight.
Let’s just hope there isn’t anybody out there who becomes a little too enamored, and decides that maybe they were onto something after all…