Bailar para el diablo: La secta de 7M en TikTok

Netflix True Crime docuseries are usually well done and are great. This one was missing something for me.

I do not have tik toc and was unfamiliar with all of the dancing that takes place on that social media platform. I also never heard of the Shekinah cult or the 7M Managemebt Company. So I was interested in learning more.

I watched all of the series and I feel I do not know that much about the Shekinah Cult. I was expecting to learn much more. It appears they are doing a good job at keeping the inter-workings of their cult secretive.

Only a few former cult members are interviewed and they don't share that much information.

If you want to watch a true crime series without paying attention and multi-tasking then this show is one to watch.

As Episode 1 of "Dancing For the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult" (2024 release; 3 episodes ranging 49-38 min each) opens, we are in "Detroit, MI" and a woman named Melissa laments "I miss my sister so much". That would be Miranda, whose dance videos, made by 7M, have gone viral on TIkTok. 7M happens to be run by a pastor of the Shekinah Church in Los Angeles. Miranda has severed all contact with her family... At this point we are 10 minutes into Episode 1.

Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary from director Derek Doneen ("The Price of Free"). Here he digs into the situation at the Shekinah Church in Los Angeles which also runs the "talent management" company called 7M. The documentary's talking heads are primarily former members who have left. We are given ample evidence of financial shenanigans and worse. A man who claims to be "Man of God" and manipulates people into believing that if they please him, they please God directly. Hmmm, where have we heard this before? It is your classical cult. It never fails to amaze me how people still fall for this, time and again. At 3 episodes, this clips by in no time.

"Dancing For the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult" premiered on Netflix earlier this week. I watched all 3 episodes in a single setting. If you are intrigued how people get sucked into a cult, whether they realize or or not, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

This could've been a lot better. It's so drawn out because they insist on showing many clips of this awful "social media dancing", which isn't even good and is choreographed poorly. To make it worse, they play sound clips of the incredibly creepy and grating voice of Robert over them, which makes it even more painful to watch. Also, there's really nothing to this other than a family exploited low-IQ, gullible people to line their pockets with money. Kind of like what pastors at every mega church too. Just another Joel Osteen-lite.

You can tell this entire story in a 45 minute episode. Also there isn't much of a conclusion, yet. Premature, drawn-out series, most likely just being used as a cash grab, which is super ironic given that the context of this documentary is gullible people being exploited for money!

Robert Shinn saw a golden opportunity to expand his flock by 7 million followers through his son's band of influential Tik Tok dancers, and dollar signs danced across his eyes. His true intent lies plainly in the title of company he set up to do so - 7M Management, that is to manage 7 million potential followers and their coffers, because those who follow these dancers would by proxy be following him in his demented grandiose mind.

It was especially heartbreaking to see Dean, Miranda's father, breaking down in tears as he described his horrific realisation that he was losing his daughter to the cult of Robert Shinn. Only thirty minutes into the first episode, you can see the mechanism of the cult churning away at isolating the dancers from their families to gain total and complete control over them in the name of Jesus.

I am not a believer in religion but I also would never believe something as omnipotent as a god would care for a portion of our earnings; what use would they have for it. What has Robert Shinn or any of the other proselytisers done with all the money they have stolen from their followers, other than spend it on themselves? These malignant narcissists know the power of religion and wield it to gain supply, but their appetite is insatiable. In the age of social media and rapid influence, it is more relevant than ever before to question someone's motives when they use the influence of religion on you.

I've just finished this series of three episodes which I initially found interesting, I think it's great to uncover stories like this and the interviewees were incredibly brave for speaking out. But... episode two and three didn't take the story much further or resolve anything and there was a lot more filler that went off point. I wish the editors had just summed it all up in one longer episode, three episodes was totally unnecessary and a bit disrespectful of viewers time. Please Netflix - if the story doesn't go anywhere then cut it down! Stop trying to make a series when there simply isn't the content for a series.