Cults and critical thinking

Netflix’s latest dark but glossy psychological thriller Unchosen starts with the staggering statement that “over two thousand cults exist in the United Kingdom”.

It appears on-screen over some stunning pastoral shots of England looking serene. The series unfolds, with a star-studded cast including Asa Butterfield as Adam – the husband and burgeoning church leader; Molly Windsor as his wife Rosie – the protagonist; Christopher Ecclestone as cult leader Mr Phillips; and Fra Fee as Sam – the “unchosen”, who finds himself drawn into the world of this fictional sect and forms an attachment to Rosie, who finds herself yearning for freedom.

The Daily Express called it “possibly Netflix’s most distressing drama of 2026”. It feels a bit like an attempt to take the grimmest element of as many cults as possible and create a mega-mashup of misogyny and abuse, but beautifully filmed. Brothers are set against brothers, tiny sons weaponised against fathers. The Netflix show Adolescence was released while Unchosen was being filmed, and the cast were aware of the effects of childhood trauma, on men especially.