A New HBO Docuseries About The NXIVM Cult Has Released Its First Teaser & It Looks Wild

The first teaser for The Vow, a new docuseries detailing the inner workings of NXIVM – the self-help group and multi-level marketing scheme that has since been accused of being an abusive sex cult – has dropped, and it looks like we’re going to get a good look behind the curtain from people who experienced the group firsthand.

In the teaser clip, we’re introduced to the NXIVM group at the centre of the docuseries, almost in a way that an advert for a new self-improvement collective would be – with footage from inside the group’s conferences, camps, and self-help sessions, with footage of the group’s founder Keith Raniere weaved through.

It all comes across very positive and happy-clappy until you realise the voiceovers begin to espouse behaviour of the group, like “good manipulation” and “power” through their commitment to the group, and leaving a very ominous vibe to the whole thing.

Rolling Stone reports the official press release confirms the docuseries will “take a deep, nuanced look at the experiences of a number of people deeply involved in NXIVM over the course of several years… [It] seeks to reveal the issues behind the headlines and explore the emotional toll of unfolding events on these individuals.”

WOOF this is gonna be good as hell.

The Vow‘s teaser barely scratches the surface of the whole NXIVM group, including the inner-workings of the alleged cult, the “masters” hierarchy with Keith at the top, and the women’s-only sub-group called D.O.S where members were apparently branded with the initials of Raniere and Allison Mack.

It also doesn’t cover the arrest of Raniere in 2019, where he was then convicted of crimes including sex trafficking of children and conspiracy to commit forced labour, linked to the sub-group, but I’m sure the docuseries will tuck right into that spicy stuff.

The Vow is set to be released on August 23 on HBO, and the legends at Foxtel have told me that it’ll be landing on Aussie screens from September 20 on FOX Showcase and Binge.

You can sign up for an account over on the Binge website, right in time for when the doco drops next month.

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