Love Has Won: El culto a la Madre Dios

I've seen a lot of people thinking the people in this are faking, but I found it to highlight really well the mindset of a lot of people who go down the rabbit hole of new age/ "lightworker" thinking. This highlighted one group under one leader, and I wanted it to go more in depth on certain aspects of their beliefs because there is so much going on that those unfamiliar with this world is going to be confused. I appreciated how this documentary let these followers of Amy talk directly about their beliefs because it truly can be something that you have to hear directly from believers to even begin to comprehend that there are people who truly believe these things.

It is a sad story overall, but I think is important for people to watch to understand that there are lots of people mentally living in an entirely different reality from actual reality. Again, I wish this documentary went in a little more detail and could've used an extra episode, but overall reccomend watching.

A good way to make money, have a bunch of hippie chicks wait on me hand and foot. Don't need the Anthony Kedis wannabe cramping my style. Sorry this D-bag is a mental criminal who should be jailed n prison. These people are absolutely insane. All are broken people, grasping at anything to give themselves validation. You look at the interviews and just tell there is something not right.

I loved how the Hawaiian people we not putting up with this. A snapshot of what is wrong with people. All are making excuses and pointing fingers as who they s crazier. Here's an idea, drink a bunch of toxic materials to see if a space ship will pick you up.

Sporadically interesting but it didn't really make any effort to tell me why I should care or why this is even interesting. Its almost completely devoid of insights. The cult was only around a dozen people at most, so its hard to argue it had any wider impact. 'Heaven's Gate: Cult of Cults' made a pretty good effort to delve into the psychology of cult members and why people join cults. There's nothing of that here. Much of it was just watching a sad collective of drug and alcohol addicts getting intoxicated and talking gibberish, with a leader who's clearly suffering from a mental illness. Am I supposed to be entertained by this? Clearly the idea is that crazy automatically means interesting. But without analysis the spectacle verges on voyeurism. There definitely should have been more non-LHW voices to give a more grounded and critical perspective.

I've seen videos on this cult before, but once this came out I hunkered down to binge the whole thing. Love Has Won is a deep dive into the beginning of the cult and its growth, with interviews with (former?) members of the cult sharing their views and experiences.

Honestly, I think this is one of the better cult documentaries I've seen. For once, there isn't insane child abuse, but what went on is still undeniably wild! The first episode was a bit slow for my tastes, but the last two were shocking. Seeing how deep the delusions of LHW run, hearing their beliefs, and the sheer amount of substance abuse going on has me baffled as to how they functioned for so long. I think this might be a great example of spiritual psychosis leading to the exploitation of other, more vulnerable people.

Highly recommend if you have an interest in this sort of thing.

There were several times I had to ask, is this a spoof series? Like 'This is Spinal Tap' for cults. It's sad that these are real people living life so poorly.

But, somehow, it's compelling to watch. How? How do people get this lost? I hope the rest of the series takes a dive into these lives (rather than the crazy clips) and how they became so broken. Trauma, obviously, but it's got to be more than just that.

As a parent it's a nightmare to think your kids might end up so astray in their lives. We'd like to think we'll be there for them and have given them enough tools. Sometimes it's still not enough. It's easy to call these people absolute morons. Outliers. Anomalies. Freaks. Is that in any way helpful, or preventative? I hope the rest of the series veers a little more in that direction.