Cults are unfortunately very real in our world and have led to a variety of tragedies. The topic of cults and cult behaviour is a common one to be chosen for films as it gives filmmakers a great deal to work with. Freedom to work outside the box of what’s right and wrong, as cults often have their own definition of right and wrong, it blurs the lines of morality and can make for some interesting stories.
Some films about cults are based on true stories like Charlie Says, which will be discussed below,while others like Ready or Notand Rosemary’s Babyare focused more on the concept of cults by displaying cult behaviour and actions that harm others for their own gain. Either way, the mere mention of cults can be quite unsettling to some whether they are Christian extremists, Satan worshippers, or are simply following the word of one man, being seduced by his charisma, cults as a whole are dangerous but also fascinating, just like poisonous mushrooms. Here’s a list of some of the best, most underrated films about cults.
10 Ready or Not
Revolving around newlyweds Alex and Megan, if Megan wishes to truly join the family, she has to play a game. She’s in for a big surprise when that game turns out to be Hide and Seek, but rather than just find Megan, the family must find her and sacrifice her in order to save their empire. The LeDomas family runs a gaming empire, but they paid a big price for it by selling their souls to the devil himself. Ready or Not is full of dark and violent scenes, as well as a few humorous ones, that display the family’s incompetence in carrying out their task of finding Megan as two of their servants are shot by mistake. This surprisingly funny thriller will send shivers down your spine while also giving you a giggle.
9 Rosemary’s Baby
Rosemary and her husband Guy move into a new apartment building with a history of witches and cult-like occurrences to start their family. Rosemary is eager to get pregnant and when they stumble upon their eccentric elderly neighbours, the Castevettes, a series of strange events occur in Rosemary’s life. It’s not long before Rosemary discovers that the Castavettes and their friends are witches and she believes that they want her baby for one of their satanic rituals. Rosemary’s Baby is a classic that even had its own television reboot and approaches the cult with a great deal of subtlety with quite a few things happening off-screen, including their ex-landlord falling into a coma and dying when he finds out more about the Castavettes from Rosemary telling him about the Tannis Root that the Castavettes provide her. Rosemary’s Baby is worth the lengthy screen-time for the twist ending alone.
8 Martha Marcy May Marlene
Martha Marcy May Marlene is a tale of an ex-cult member who manages to escape and returns to society, but it’s not so easy for her to integrate back in after many years spent in a cult. The memories she has of being within the cult haunt her and make it difficult to move on. As Elizabeth Olsen’s debut as a solo actress, Marth Marcy May Marlene is a look into the aftermath of being in a cult and how the struggle continues even if you can manage to escape. It also displays the psychological impact that the abuse within a cult can have.
7 Charlie Says
Based on the events that occurred in 1969 involving the Manson Family, Charlie Says is one of the few on this list that is based on a true story. Years after the Manson Family Murders, Charles Manson’s followers are still hypnotized by him and seem to still believe that what they did was part of a much larger plan. Leslie Van Houten, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Susan Atkins spend their time in solitary confinement while a tenacious grad student visits them, determined to rehabilitate them. Charlie Says displays that while his followers were the ones who carried out the murders, they were also victims of the leader. That doesn’t make them innocent, but it does mitigate some of the circumstances.
6 Midsommar
A young couple visits remote Sweden to witness their beautifully famous Midsummer festival that occurs only once every 90 years carried out by the Hårga community. However, struggling couple Dani and Christian are quick to discover that this wholesome festival has something far more sinister behind it. From everything like ättestupa, the Scandinavian tradition of elders committing suicide so as not to be a burden on their family to being told that outsiders are brought into the community to avoid incest, this pagan cult does not hold back. Midsommar is a look at how cults are as a whole. They seem wholesome and harmless at first, but eventually, it’s revealed that everything within a cult revolves around a leader or a higher power getting what they want by any means necessary.
5 The Lodge
Stranded at a lodge over Christmas with her soon-to-be step-children, Grace is forced to face her extreme cult upbringing when a prank goes horribly wrong. The Lodge is a dark look into the psychology of a cult member. The children manage to convince Grace that they are all dead and in purgatory and she believes them. While the children go to great lengths to make her believe them, even when they tell her the truth, she believes they are in purgatory and must atone for their sins in order to ascend to Heaven. During this time, she is forced to relive her past through dreams and vision, the stress of the conditions leads her back to her cult mentality.
4 The Wicker Man
Not to be confused with the Nicholas Cage remake, the original The Wicker Man follows detective Sergeant Howie, brought to a remote Scottish island to investigate a missing child case. Howie being a conservative Christian finds that the inhabitants of the island are carrying out pagan rituals and carrying out many sexual acts in public. As much as he wants to leave this place, the more he discovers about the cult, the closer he gets to cracking his missing child case. With a strong cast, including Christopher Lee as the leader, The Wicker Man became a classic cult film that was unfortunately tainted by Nicholas Cage’s poor performance in the unnecessary remake.
3 Mandy
Red and Mandy live a peaceful life, but that soon changes when their home is destroyed and Red is taken captive by a cult leader. Mandy is a psychedelic trip into the world of cults, showing the darker side of drug usage within cults. The violence is ample and gratuitous to also display the danger that many don’t see as cults seduce with drugs, sex, and other vices, but if you misbehave, your fate will be far worse than you can even imagine. Mandy is horrifying enough to warrant them selling a recreation of Nicholas Cage’s character Red’s face as a mask.
2 The Sacrament
Another on this list based on a true story, The Sacrament follows the story of Jim Jones leading up to the Jonestown Massacre. As a found footage film, The Sacrament follows journalists who try to find their co-worker’s sister who joined the cult and was taken to Jonestown, a religious commune where the most devout followers moved to. Everything seems wonderful and happy on the outside, but the reality of the followers was that they were sleep-deprived, worked hard, and had their loyalty tested on a regular basis. If you’d like to see a different portrayal of the Jonestown Massacre from a different perspective, then The Sacrament is the right film for you.
1 The Master
Starring Joaquin Phoenix and Phillip Seymour Hoffman, The Master follows Freddie Quell, a drifter struggling after WWII and his journey with a religious movement called the Cause, led by Lancaster Dodd. Freddie finds peace with the movement and while he struggles with sticking to the teachings, he forms a bond with Dodd. Others in the group aren’t as fond of Dodd. It’s been speculated that The Master was loosely based on the teachings of Ron L. Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, but the creator of the film has denied this.
