They may all not be cult classics, but these remarkable movies about cults are definitely worth following.
As anyone with a streaming subscription can attest, society's collective fascination with cults has only become more and more encompassing over the year.
XYZ FIlms
Yet even with the true crime documentaries and podcasts that have swept the nation, people still can't get enough stories about cults, real or otherwise. As such, I've aggregated more than 22 must-see movies about cults that you can watch immediately!
1. Martha Marcy May Marlene
Fox Searchlight / Courtesy Everett Collection
Elizabeth Olsen is a revelation in Sean Durkin's unnerving slow-burn thriller about a delusional and socially maladjusted woman who returns home to her family after escaping a psychologically abusive cult.
Where to Stream:Martha Marcy May Marlene is available to rent on Video-on-Demand platforms.
2. Faults
Snoot Entertainment via YouTube
Riley Stearns' directorial debut is a demented dark comedy about an insecure cult specialist who is recruited by a pair of desperate parents who request his services in deprogramming their cultist daughter.
Where to Stream: Faultsis currently streaming onTubi & Paramount+.
3. The Sacrament
Magnolia Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
Ti West's frightening found footage film places the audience in Eden Parish, a fictional substitute for Jonestown, as a trio of VICE journalists attempt to locate a relative who has requested their appearance in their too-good-to-be-true compound.
Where to Stream: The Sacramentis currently streaming onSling TV.
4. Them That Follow
1091 Media / Courtesy Everett Collection
Anchored by an incredible cast that includes Olivia Colman, Walton Goggins, Alice Englert, and Kaitlyn Dever, to name a few, this tense Sundance alumni follows the pregnant daughter of a pastor of a secluded Pentecostal off-shoot that incorporates snake handling into their sermons as she attempts to hide her secrets from her volatile community.
Where to Stream: Them That Followis currently streaming onShowtime.
5. Apostle
Warren Orchard / Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection
The Raidmastermind Gareth Evans ventured outside of his comfort zone with this terrifying and gruesome tale of an ex-missionary who attempts to extract his sister from a bloodthirsty cult on a barren island outside of Wales in 1905.
Where to Stream: Apostleis currently streaming on Netflix.
6. Hereditary
Reid Chavis / A24 / Courtesy Everett Collection
Ari Aster put his brand of emotionally devastating horror front and center in this movie about a mother who utilizes occult methods of contacting her recently deceased daughter, only to discover a much more sinister plot unfolding closer and closer to home.
Where to Stream:Hereditary is currently streaming on Showtime.
7. The Endless
Well Go USA / Courtesy Everett Collection
In this sequel to their directorial debut, Resolution, directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead reprise their cameo roles as oddball cultists who decide to return to the scene of their traumatic cult experience after receiving a mysterious video cassette in the mail.
Where to Stream: The Endlessis currently streaming on Tubi, YouTube, and the Roku channel.
8. The Invitation
XYZ Films /Atlaspix / Alamy
Karyn Kusama's deceptive and devastating psychological horror film follows an emotionally unstable man who is invited to a dinner party by his estranged ex-wife after years of silence, at which he begins to believe the hosts may have more sinister intentions for their guests.
Where to Watch: The Invitationis currently streaming onTubi, the Roku channel, and Sling TV.
9. Midsommar
A24 / Courtesy Everett Collection
Ari Aster's dramatized depiction of cults extended to his sophom*ore feature film as well, as Midsommartells the story of a group of college students that join their Swedish friend for a celebration at his ancestral commune, only to discover their customs and celebrations harbor darker intentions.
Where to Watch: Midsommar is currently streaming on Netflix.
10. Charlie Says
IFC Films / Courtesy Everett Collection
Based on Karlene Faith's true story of attempting to deprogram former Manson Family member Leslie "Lulu" Van Houten, this film from American Psychodirector Mary Harron is a unique and unsettling perspective on the infamous California-based cult.
Where to Watch: Charlie Saysis currently streaming on Netflix.
11. Sound of My Voice
Fox Searchlight / Courtesy Everett Collection
Before Brit Marling andZal Batmanglij created The OA, the pair teamed up for a spellbinding drama about two journalists who try to infiltrate a secluded cult led by an enigmatic woman claiming to be from the future.
Where to Watch: Sound of My Voiceis available for rent on Video-on-Demand.
12. The Master
Weinstein Company / Courtesy Everett Collection
Paul Thomas Anderson's thinly veiled shot at the origins of Scientology follows a social pariah (Joaquin Phoenix) who finds acceptance and kindness from amagnanimous yet fragile leader of a rising religious movement (Philip Seymour Hoffman) in post-World War II America.
Where to Watch: The Masteris currently streaming on Showtime.
13. Son
Shudder / Courtesy Everett Collection
A young cult survivor must go beyond the call of duty to save her mysteriously ill son in this pulse-pounding horror thriller from The CanaldirectorIvan Kavanagh.
Where to Watch: Sonis currently streaming on Shudder.
14. Split Image
Orion Pictures Corp / Courtesy Everett Collection
In this forgotten yet fun thriller from the early '80s, a young man is forced to choose between a manipulative cult and a psychologically abusive cult deprogrammer hired to rescue him by his parents.
Where to Watch:Split Imageis currently streaming on the Roku channel.
15. The House of the Devil
Magnet Releasing / Courtesy Everett Collection
In Ti West's bloody breakout horror throwback, a desperate college student accepts a babysitting gig from a mysterious old man, only to find that all is not as it seems in her seemingly easy gig.
Where to Watch:The House of the Devilis currently streaming on Peaco*ck, Tubi, and Amazon Prime.
16. Race with the Devil
20th Century Fox / Courtesy Everett Collection
Two couples on a road trip accidentally stumble upon a ritual human sacrifice and find themselves in the cross-hairs of unwavering occult worshipers in this classic white-knuckle road thriller.
Where to Watch: Race with the Devilis available for rent on Video-on-Demand.
17. Rosemary’s Baby
Paramount Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
A masterpiece of the horror genre, this unnerving chiller surrounds a young woman who becomes pregnant shortly after moving into a new apartment and begins to suspect that she is at the center of a wide-reaching devilish plot.
Where to Watch: Rosemary's Babyis currently streaming onParamount+ and Sling TV.
18. The Wicker Man (1973)
British Lion Film Corporation / Courtesy Everett Collection
While the Nicolas Cage-starring remake has superseded the 1973 original in notoriety, Robin Hardy'sThe Wicker Man follows a police officer investigating the disappearance of a young girl on a remote island controlled by a pagan cult, and holds up to this day as one of the creepiest movies ever made.
Where to Watch: The Wicker Man(1973) is currently streaming on BFI Player Classics.
19. Messiah of Evil
International Cine Film Corp. / V/M Productions / Alamy
In this horrifying B-movie favorite, a young woman travels to a remote coastal town in search of her missing father, only to learn this colony of private, starving artists may not be entirely welcoming to newcomers.
Where to Watch: Messiah of Evilis currently streaming on Paramount+.
20. The Empty Man
20th Century Studios / Courtesy Everett Collection
A local legend tied to a series of shocking events leads a former detective to the doorsteps of a bizarre cult obsessed with metaphysics and theosophy in David Prior's polarizing adaptation of Cullen Bunn and Vanesa Del Rey's graphic novel.
Where to Watch: The Empty Manis currently streaming on HBO Max.
21. Holy Smoke!
Miramax / Courtesy Everett Collection
In this off-beat romantic comedy from 2022 Academy Award-winning director Jane Campion, Harvey Keitel plays a cult exit counselor who falls in love with an Australian woman (an incredible Kate Winslet), who he was hired to deprogram from a new age cult in India.
Where to Watch: Holy Smoke!is currently available to rent on Video-on-Demand.
22. The Seventh Victim
RKO Radio Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
A controversial and pioneering film about cults, The Seventh Victimis a horror-noir hybrid from 1943 that follows a woman searching for her missing sister in Greenwich Village in New York City with all signs pointing to a secret satanic society.
Where to Watch:The Seventh Victimis currently available to rent on video-on-demand.
