The 10 Must-See Films About Cults Everyone Needs to See at Least Once

Cults are everywhere, often hiding in the most unassuming locations and organizations. They attract lost souls or people looking for purpose and manipulate that sense of yearning, transforming it into the collective power of the cult group. While not all cults are bad, technically, the films that document such groups often result in disturbing and violent ends. While there are more than a couple of options to watch, some of the must-see films provide stunning and disturbing displays of entertainment, taking more mundane processes of manipulation and oppression and transforming them into graphic, excessive displays of dark power. Satanism is a well-used trope in this arena, though real cults often use more light imagery to convey dark intentions.

While some films on this list explore cult themes in similar ways, they do so with a novel atmosphere and a keen sense of pacing. Others use an opaque sense of cult initiation to provide very believable progressions from curious onlookers into true believers. In this article, we will explore the 10 must-see films about cults that everyone needs to see at least once.

To compile a list of 10 must-see films about cults everyone needs to see at least once, 24/7 Tempo consulted a range of entertainment and movie publications including BFI.org , the Creepy Catalog, and Tom’s Guide. Next, we selected films that showed the clearest reference to cults, cult-like beliefs, and the consequences of cult thinking. After that, we confirmed aspects of the films’ plots and critical reception using sites like IMDB.com and Rottentomatoes.com.

The Wicker Man (1973)

After receiving a report about a missing child, Sergeant Howie travels to the small Scottish island of Summerisle to investigate. As a conservative Christian, Howie is shocked by the residents’ flagrant sexual behavior, particularly the advances made to him by one of the elder’s daughters. Soon, he witnesses aspects of their mysterious pagan rituals, which ruffle his Christian sensibilities. As he spends more time on the island, Howie learns more about the residents’ peculiar religious customs. The more he learns, the closer he gets to finding the missing child.

“The Wicker Man” is one of the must-see films about cults because it explores the mysterious pagan belief systems of the United Kingdom, ones practically made extinct by the shadow of Christianity. Infused with clever imagination and elegant cinematography, the film allows the viewer to take an outsider’s perspective on occultism, making the experience even stranger. While the film enjoyed moderate success upon release, it faded into obscurity in the following years. Luckily, it made a resurgence in recent years, with many fans considering it the “Citizen Kane” of horror movies.

Midsommar (2019)

American student Dani becomes traumatized after her sister kills her parents and then herself in a murder-suicide. Still reeling from the tragedy, Dani joins her boyfriend Josh and his friends on a trip to Sweden. There, they attend a nine-day summer solstice festival, which Josh and others intend to use as the basis for their college theses. Soon, however, things take a turn for the weird. After enduring a bad mushroom trip, the visitors embark on an increasingly strange and violent pagan ritual that results in the stuff of nightmares.

Unsettling yet beautiful, “Midsommar” finds a little-explored niche in the horror genre. Combining rural Sweden’s ethereal, pleasing sights with the shocking, unexpected turns of religious ritual, the film moves at an operatic pace between discovery and doom. It’s one of the must-see films about cults because it uses careful research of ancestral practices and transforms them into a maze of intrigue, occult imagery, and darkly-tinged awakenings. It also may be the most horrific break-up movie ever made.

The Master (2012)

Fresh out of the military and adrift in life, Freddie Quell drifts from place to place. Struggling with alcoholism, Quell finds himself in numerous fights and disruptive moments thanks to the trauma of war and other demons that haunt him. On a fortuitous night in 1950, Quell boards a passing boat. There, he meets Lancaster Dodd, the gregarious but mercurial leader of a new religious movement called the Cause. As time passes, Quell takes to Dodd even as he struggles to adhere to his strange, unconventional teachings. As Quell and Dodd grow closer, the Cause’s inner circle begins to perceive Quell’s presence as a threat.

What makes “The Master” one of the must-see films about cults is its careful balance of cool tones and hot energy, resulting in a purposefully challenging, unfinished, yet sublime film about master-servant dynamics and the American condition. It provides an elusive yet bristling real look at how lost souls find themselves immersed in groups that may not have their best interests at heart.

Compared to more Hollywood, excessively cinematic ideas of a cult, “The Master” gives a gripping, believable taste of that strange in-group dynamic that most real cults require. Furthermore, it illustrates that slow but steady initiation into dark dynamics is hard to realize until it’s too late. Thanks to incredible performances from Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman, as well as artful direction from Paul Thomas Anderson, “The Master” is a hair-raising yet opaque exploration of the riddles of belief and self-improvement.

Hereditary (2018)

Annie Graham is a miniature artist grappling with the death of her mysterious, unpleasant mother. As she attempts to mourn the women she despised, strange and tragic things begin occurring to her family. After the accidental death of her daughter, Graham befriends a woman in her support group named Joan who conducts a séance to help Graham find closure. Instead, this process sets off a chain of horrifying events that unravel the cryptic secrets about Graham’s family. In the process, Graham attempts to outpace the wicket fate her mother has in store for the family. As it turns out, her mother has been attempting to use her grandchildren’s bodies as vessels for one of the dark kings of hell.

As evidenced by his other movie on this list, “Midsommar,” director Ari Aster has a thing for occultism and the cults that practice it. His first feature-length foray, “Hereditary,” uses a classic horror framework. It evolves this structure, however, to explore well-researched notions of satanism, the occult, and the tragedy that follows. Anchored by a stellar performance from Toni Collette, “Hereditary” is one of the must-see cult films. It invokes more than just the shadow of demonic spirits to leave a profound emotional imprint on the audience. Indeed, it uses real satanic research and imagery to create a believable and disturbing atmosphere. It’s shocking, violent, and full of strange dark magic moments that will leave you looking over your shoulder. It also might make you take a suspicious look at your mysterious family members.

Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Dr. William “Bill” Harford and his wife Alice attend an upscale Christmas party where he runs into an old medical-school friend now moonlighting as a pianist. After the party, however, Harford and Alice get into a fight after she admits to fantasizing about another man. Seeking revenge, Harford hits the town looking to have his own sexual encounter. In the process, he runs into his pianist friend who gives him the secret password to a masked orgy party. Upon attending the party, however, Harford quickly realizes he’s in over his head. His presence there leads him on an increasingly dark and harrowing path through the secret lives of the city’s elite.

It’s a big club, and you’re not invited. That’s the overarching theme of famed director Stanley Kubrick’s final movie, and surely one of the must-see cult films. “Eyes Wide Shut” uses gorgeous, well-organized imagery, dream-like progressions, and an almost manic religious energy to explore the uneasy relationship between desire and dread. As Harford travels through increasingly elite and unsettling circles, he discovers more than he or the audience bargained for.

Thanks to its allusions to secret societies, satanic urges, and dark turns of the human heart, “Eyes Wide Shut” is rife for conspiracy. Many say that Kubrick was trying to tell the audience about something very real as it provides foreshadowing to the scandals surrounding elite figures like Jeffrey Epstein. More than that, however, it provides an engrossing if disturbing look at the consequences of fantasy in the framework of a sinister, impressively powerful cult.

Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

Rosemary Woodhouse and her struggling actor husband Guy move to a New York City apartment building. Soon, however, they meet their strange elderly neighbors and learn of the building’s ominous reputation. Upon getting pregnant, Rosemary becomes increasingly isolated, distraught, and terrified. That’s because she’s convinced the baby in her belly is not of this world. As her pregnancy takes its course, she learns increasingly disturbing things about her neighbors, how the baby was conceived, and what its birth spells for the world. Only after she gives birth, is the sinister truth about her baby revealed.

While Rosemary’s Baby may seem antiquated now, given it was made in 1968, the film is anything but. Directed by the legendary Roman Polanski, “Rosemary’s Baby” made its reputation through its unnerving use of witchcraft, devil worship, and cult influence to create a horror movie that finds terror in the mundanity of life.

It’s one of the must-see cult films because it serves as the foundation for many satanist-cult-inspired movies that followed. By rooting sinister forces in the doldrums of modern life, the film provides believable suspense, absorbing energy, and a shocking conclusion that sticks with viewers long after the movie is over.

(For other great horror films, discover the 50 greatest horror movies ever made. )

The Invitation (2015)

Will and his girlfriend Kira attend a dinner at his former home, a Hollywood Hills mansion now owned by his ex-wife and her new husband. As guests trickle in and the dinner party gets underway, Will finds himself wandering through the house reliving old memories. Soon, however, his ex-wife and her new husband reveal they are part of a cult-like group called The Invitation which helps people process their grief. As the night progresses, however, things become weirder and more violent. Soon, Will realizes the sinister plans in store for the dinner party guests.

Not to be confused with the 2022 film of the same name, “The Invitation” uses a tightly-crafted thriller atmosphere to slowly slide the audience into abject horror. It’s nuanced yet startling, using the well-worn “dinner party from hell” trope to spin new avenues of fear and terror. What makes “The Invitation” one of the must-see cult films, however, is its framework. Instead of frightening the audience into the sinister energy of a dark cult, it lures them in under false, but true-to-life pretenses. It captures that aspect of cult initiation that overwhelms the senses, tampering with survival instincts in an attempt to be polite. It also provides subtle but effective meditations on depression, grief, and the consequential lengths people will go to find some closure after tragic events.

The House of the Devil

Samantha Hughes is a college student desperate to make some extra money so she can move into a new apartment. As a result, she takes a mysterious babysitting job. Upon arriving at the house for the gig, however, the owner speaks of the incoming lunar eclipse. He also reveals Hughes won’t be watching a baby, but his elderly mother instead. As the night progresses, Hughes explores the ins and outs of the creepy house. In the process, however, she discovers that her new employers hold a terrifying secret and have sinister plans for her presence.

What makes “The House of the Devil” one of the must-see films about cults is its use of retro cinematography styles and well-worn satanic cult themes to create something startlingly new, novel, and delightful in its horror. Instead of digging into the usual violent, macabre displays of satanic ritual, however, it opts for a more mysterious, subtle, and tense atmosphere. In many ways, it’s a worthy inheritor of Alfred Hitchhock’s sense of suspense.

It’s a slow-boiler, no doubt, but that sense of steady foreboding helps propel the film above its genre roots into a newfound expression of the satanic cult horror genre. Clever, well-paced, and refreshing in its approach, “The House of the Devil” provides a throwback to horror films of old while finding new ground to cover.

Kill List (2011)

After aging out of the British army, Jay and Gal take jobs as contract killers. While Gal is more nonchalant, Jay still suffers from the memories of his war-time past. Soon, they receive a hit job from a shadowy figure who authenticates the contract for three murders by effectively signing it in blood. As the pair embark on the murder jobs, Jay’s past resurfaces in unpredictable ways. What’s worse, the murders lead them farther and farther down a rabbit hole of occultism, violent rituals, and the elite members of a secret society hell-bent on keeping their dark practices hidden.

From the outset, “Kill List” gives the impression of a taut psychological thriller about trauma and the places it takes its sufferers. All that is there, no doubt, but the film pulls an impressive trick on audiences as it slowly and artfully brings them to a place of visceral, abject horror.

What makes it one of the must-see cult films is how well it recreates the process of dark cult initiation. Step by step, it leads the viewer from a conventional sense of narrative into a dark, horrific world of ritual and violence. By the time you realize what’s happening, it’s too late. Instead of telling the audience these things, it shows them, using a dreamy atmosphere, arthouse realist imagery, and a manipulative pace to explore the dark undercurrents of elite British society.

The Endless (2017)

After receiving a mysterious video message, the two brothers decide to revisit the dark UFO cult they escaped from two decades earlier. While nervous about their return, at the very least they hope to find some closure they couldn’t find when they were younger. Instead, they are forced to reconsider the group’s strange beliefs after witnessing supernatural phenomena around the cult’s compound. While its members prepare for a cryptic incoming event, the brothers desperately try to find the truth before they are once again entangled in the group for good.

What makes “The Endless” one of the must-see films about cults is it takes a believable backstory of growing up in a cult and extends it to a fantastical, puzzling, yet still believable conclusion. Instead of learning that their childhood cult is delusional, the brothers discover there may be some truth to their far-out beliefs. As the story grows stranger and more mystifying, the film remains compelling through a grounded sense of direction and composition. Furthermore, it shows that a great and mysterious film doesn’t require a huge budget to accomplish its aims.

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