# The best movies about cults

Charismatic leaders, isolated communes and followers who can't get out: from Elmer Gantry and The Wicker Man to The Master, Martha Marcy May Marlene and Midsommar, according to Cinespacio24's two-part selection.

- 53 votes · 14 items
- May 11, 2022 · Ramón Durán
- https://even.best/en/l/4513/the-best-movies-about-cults

## Top 14

1. **The Master (2012)** (8 · ▲8 ▼0) — Paul Thomas Anderson. A traumatised ex-sailor falls into the orbit of a leader inspired by Scientology.
2. **Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)** (7 · ▲7 ▼0) — Sean Durkin. Elizabeth Olsen as a young woman who escapes a cult but can't leave it behind.
3. **Elmer Gantry (1960)** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — Richard Brooks. Burt Lancaster as an opportunist preacher. Best Actor Oscar.
4. **Love Exposure (2008)** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — Sion Sono. Four hours of love, Catholic guilt and a cult in Japan.
5. **Faults (2014)** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — Riley Stearns. Parents hire a deprogrammer to get their daughter back.
6. **The Wicker Man (1973)** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — Robin Hardy. A policeman searches for a girl on a pagan Scottish island. With Christopher Lee.
7. **Mandy (2018)** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — Panos Cosmatos. Nicolas Cage takes revenge on the cult that killed his partner.
8. **Charlie Says (2018)** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — Mary Harron. The three young women who killed for Charles Manson, in prison.
9. **Savage Messiah (2002)** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — Mario Azzopardi. The true case of Roch Thériault, leader of a commune in Canada.
10. **The Devil Rides Out (1968)** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Terence Fisher. Christopher Lee against a satanic cult, from Dennis Wheatley's novel.
11. **Holy Smoke (1999)** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — Jane Campion. Kate Winslet and Harvey Keitel: an expert hired to deprogram a cult member.
12. **Midsommar (2019)** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Ari Aster. Students at a Swedish commune's midsummer festival.
13. **The Seventh Victim (1943)** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Mark Robson. A young woman searches New York for her sister, caught up with Satanists.
14. **Sound of My Voice (2011)** (0 · ▲3 ▼3) — Zal Batmanglij. Two documentary makers infiltrate the cult of a woman who says she's from the future.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.