“When Talking to Aliens is Your Religion”
The New York Times offers some insight into the Aetherius Society, one of the OG UFO religions of the 20th century.
Culty cults
“How to Not Start a Cult”
Matt Arnold speaks at the September 2024 Fluidity Forum in Detroit, Michigan: It all started with good intentions. A group had heightened emotional and psychological experiences, and years later, some of the participants wrote regretful blog posts saying they gained a sense of purpose but lost their sense of self; their sense of proportion; and … Read more“How to Not Start a Cult”
Meanwhile City
A re-cut of the “Meanwhile City” storyline from the 2008 movie Franklyn, in which private investigator/masked vigilante Jonathan Preest – the only atheist in a fantastical metropolis of bizarre religions – pursues a vendetta against a shadowy cult leader known as “the Individual”.
“The Sound of My Voice” (2012)
In Sound of My Voice, amateur documentarists Peter (Christopher Denham) and Lorna (Nicole Vicius) go undercover to investigate a secretive cult led by the enigmatic Maggie (Britt Marling, who also co-wrote the story), who claims to have traveled back in time from the year 2054. According to co-writer/director Zal Batmanglij: We were interested in fringe … Read more“The Sound of My Voice” (2012)
“Glory be to the Bomb, and to the Holy Fallout”
In Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), a group of mutated, telepathic humans who survived nuclear holocaust have retreated into underground bunkers and evolved a new religion – the worship of the atomic bomb.
“Shiny and Chrome”: The Cult of the V8 in Mad Max: Fury Road, Before and Behind the Cameras
Trevor Talley’s new article for CBR.com reveals the intense, cult-like preparations undergone by actors and stuntmen who played the fearsome War Boys in George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). More details on the War Boys’ behind-the-scenes training is available in the book Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: … Read more“Shiny and Chrome”: The Cult of the V8 in Mad Max: Fury Road, Before and Behind the Cameras
“A Sacrifice” (2024)
Synopsis: A psychiatrist must save his daughter from a cult after she falls in love with a boy whose mother is its charismatic leader.
“Church of the Flying Saucer” (May 2024)
The Church of the Flying Saucer follows Carol Klodie, a former film school student who has hit a slump in her life. By happenstance, she finds a pamphlet under the windshield of her car advertising what seems to be a support group for UFO abductees and alien conspiracy theorists. She finds the pamphlet ridiculous and … Read more“Church of the Flying Saucer” (May 2024)
“UFO Belief is a Modern Outlet for Ancient Spiritual Yearnings”
Francesco Dimitri writes for Psyche: The Raëlians are not the only UFO religion born in the 20th century. They are the most laid-back, with their dancing nights and their ‘sensual meditation’, a far cry from the nihilism of another, Heaven’s Gate, whose members died in a mass suicide in 1997. The Aetherius Society is an … Read more“UFO Belief is a Modern Outlet for Ancient Spiritual Yearnings”
“We need a better class of cult”
Blogger Felonious Monk writes on the potentials of ethical cults: When you look at the downfall of most cults, it almost always relates to the very thing that cults ask their members to give up: ego. And specifically, the ego of a leader who has become drunk on his (usually) power, treating members as his … Read more“We need a better class of cult”