The Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, better known by its informal name "Jonestown", was a remote settlement established by The People's Temple, a cult under the leadership of Reverend Jim Jones, in northwestern Guyana. On November 18th, 1978, a total of 918 people died at the settlement, at the airstrip in Port Kaituma, and at a Temple-run building in Georgetown, Guyana's capital city. It was the largest single loss of American civilian life in a deliberate act until September 11, 2001.
Although poisoned Flavor Aid was used in the mass suicides/murders at Jonestown, the drink mix was also commonly referred to as Kool-Aid. This has led to the phrase "drinking the Kool-Aid" entering popular culture, referring to a person or group holding an unquestioned belief, argument, or philosophy without critical examination.
Much of the character Jim Jones's dialogue is taken from recordings and transcripts of sermons by the real-life cult leader.
The plot is based on the same real life events as Jonestown: Terror in the Jungle (2018), Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple (2006), Jonestown (2013), Jonestown: Paradise Lost (2007), Jonestown: The Women Behind the Massacre (2018), Jim Jones: A Tragédia da Guyana (1980), Jonestown: The Life and Death of the Peoples Temple (2007), The Jonestown Massacre (2016), and Truth and Lies: Jonestown, Paradise Lost (2018).