Unchosen & 5 More Gripping TV Shows About Cults
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2 hours ago
Fascinated by followers? Here are six series to delve into
Often distinguished by their compelling leaders, cults are tightly organised (arguably controlled) groups drawn together by a shared ideology. Often this is religion, but cults can also centre around non-religious belief systems or individual figures – think Charles Manson and his Manson family. And unlike mainstream religious organisations, cults rely on isolation, lifting their members out of a society they do not believe in and distancing themselves from anyone deemed an outsider. This creates pretty dangerous ground, with many followers willing to kill for their leaders. And what all of this also makes is very compelling television.
Luckily the media world agrees, and there are lots of TV shows about cults out there to sink your teeth into. In Netflix’s new cult drama, for example, outsiders are deemed ‘unchosen’: they have not been chosen by God to see his light. This concept gives its name to the six-part series, which is streaming in full now. And if you’ve already binged it, we’ve got five more cult dramas worth the watch below.
Unchosen (2026)
Starring Molly Windsor as devoted wife Rosie, Unchosen brings the cult dramas we so often associate with the US firmly onto British shores. Filmed in Surrey and centring on a countryside-isolated band of devoted Christians, the series traces the fallout following the arrival of an outsider in need. Sex Education star Asa Butterfield joins Windsor as her domineering husband Adam, while Fra Fee is new arrival Sam.
Six episodes streaming on Netflix.
Under the Banner of Heaven (2022)
While we are not calling the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (more commonly known as the Mormon Church) a cult, some breakaway sects of Mormon fundamentalists transform into cults. Such is the case in Under the Banner of Heaven, a gripping true crime drama delving into the 1984 case of brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty killing their sister in law and her daughter. Andrew Garfield anchors the drama as Detective Jeb Pyre, a Mormon police detective who finds his faith shaken by the horror of the case.
Seven episodes streaming on Disney+.
Unorthodox (2020)
Continuing the theme of religious extremism, if you found the idea of breaking out of oppressively controlled conditions compelling in Unchosen, we would recommend Unorthodox next, another Netflix original series. This time the drama is in Brooklyn, where a young woman, Esty (Shira Haas), lives in a strictly cloistered Satmar Hasidic community, a subset of Haredi Judaism known for its rigidity: think shaving women’s hair off, arranged marriages, and limited secular education. Dissatisfied with her life there, Esty escapes to Berlin to find her estranged mother who left the community when she was a child.
Four episodes streaming on Netflix.
Wild Wild Country (2018)
If you are open to a docuseries, the six-part Wild Wild Country feels as far-fetched as fiction. Over six episodes, Wild Wild Country traces the rise and fall of the Rajneeshee cult, and its controversial leader Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, also known as ‘Osho’, featuring contemporaneous footage plus retrospective interviews with former members. Rising to notoriety in the ‘80s after relocating from India to the US, Rajneesh rejected institutional religion and promoted a meditative, ascetic practice. Facing political resistance in his homeland of India, Rajneesh and his followers immediately landed on the radar of the FBI when they bought up 80,000 acres of Oregon land to found their new commune, with Rajneesh himself arriving in town in a Rolls-Royce.
Six episodes streaming on Netflix.
Nine Perfect Strangers (2021-25)
Is wellness a cult? This is the question at the heart of Nine Perfect Strangers, which takes place at retreat centre Tranquillum House, where the mysteriously serene and compelling Russian founder Masha Dmitrichenko (Nicole Kidman) purports to transform guests’ lives. As you can tell from the title, nine guests stay at Tranquillum House at a time, all from varying walks of life. And while clean eating and bespoke smoothies are part and parcel of their escape, the eight-part drama takes modern wellness one step further, from whispered transformation to psychological invasion and a touch of psychedelic drugging. With a second series released in 2025, this is cult-lite, questioning the self-optimisation of the modern day.
16 episodes streaming on Prime Video.
The Following (2013-15)
Led by Kevin Bacon, this crime drama delves into the notoriety serial killers can wield. Bacon is a detective hunting down literary-minded murderer Joe Carroll (James Purefoy), who has managed to escape prison and build a devoted network of followers willing to kill for him. High adrenaline and high concept to boot, it’s a twisty-turny thriller with a cultish question at the centre: why do people choose to follow?
45 episodes streaming on Channel 5.
