Heaven's Gate: The Cult of Cults | |
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Genre | Documentary |
Directed by | Clay Tweel |
Music by | David Wingo |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 4 |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producer | Mark McCune |
Cinematography |
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Editors |
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Running time | 49-52 minutes |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | HBO Max |
Release | December 3, 2020 |
Heaven's Gate: The Cult of Cults is an American documentary television miniseries revolving around the religious group Heaven's Gate and its leader Marshall Applewhite. It consists of four episodes and premiered on December 3, 2020, on HBO Max. [1]
Told through the eyes of former members and loved ones of former members, the series follows Heaven's Gate and its leader Marshall Applewhite. [2] The series included never before seen footage of the cult. [3]
No. | Title [4] | Directed by | Original air date [4] | |
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1 | "The Awakening" | Clay Tweel | December 3, 2020 | |
Marshall Applewhite teaches his followers in Waldport, Oregon that the bodies of his followers can be transformed into perfected space aliens. This was called the "Next Level." Reza Aslan characterizes Heaven's Gate as a millenarian group. Chariots of the Gods? had gained much publicity in the 1960s. | ||||
2 | "The Chrysalis" | Clay Tweel | December 3, 2020 | |
3 | "The Second Harvest" | Clay Tweel | December 3, 2020 | |
4 | "The Exit" | Clay Tweel | December 3, 2020 |
In October 2019, it was announced HBO Max had greenlit a 4-part documentary series following the Heaven's Gate with Clay Tweel set to direct and executive produce with CNN Original Studios and Stitcher set to produce the series. [5]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 86%. [6] On Metacritic, the series has a weighted average score of 67 out of 100, based on 4 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [7]
Heaven's Gate was an American new religious movement known primarily for the mass suicides committed by its members in 1997. Commonly designated a cult, it was founded in 1974 and led by Marshall Applewhite (1931–1997) and Bonnie Nettles (1927–1985), known within the movement as Do and Ti. Nettles and Applewhite first met in 1972 and went on a journey of spiritual discovery, identifying themselves as the two witnesses of Revelation, attracting a following of several hundred people in the mid-1970s. In 1976, a core group of a few dozen members stopped recruiting and instituted a monastic lifestyle.
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