With rare access and no holds barred, the acclaimed documentarian investigates a growing ultra-masculine network and its controversial influencers.
Ratings
Curator score: 3.8/10
IMDb: 6.9/10
Letterboxd: 3.23/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 78%
Metacritic: 70
TMDB: 6.6/10
Director
Adrian Choa
Production
Mindhouse Productions
Cast
Louis Theroux, HSTikkyTokky, Myron Gaines, Sneako, Justin Waller, Ed Matthews, Elaine Sullivan, Kacey May, Andrew Tate, Tristan Tate, Donald Trump, Bonnie Blue
Where to watch
Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
An accessible, often sharply observed documentary that benefits from Louis Theroux’s calm, disarming presence, but it’s also been criticized for staying too close to the surface of a toxic subculture it’s trying to interrogate. Worth it if you want a topical, unsettling look at online masculinity and the people who profit from it; less so if you want deep analysis or a broader social context.
Best for
viewers curious about internet culture and modern gender politics
fans of Louis Theroux’s awkward, patient interview style
people who like documentaries that expose subjects by letting them talk themselves into trouble
audiences comfortable with abrasive, controversial personalities
Skip if
you want a deeply reported, systemic investigation rather than a snapshot
you’re looking for strong focus on women’s perspectives and lived consequences
you’re easily frustrated by evasive interview subjects and surface-level answers
you prefer documentaries with a more formal or cinematic approach
Overview
This is a timely, uncomfortable documentary that knows exactly how to make its subjects reveal themselves. Louis Theroux’s signature method still works: he stays polite, lets silence do the work, and watches confidence curdle into contradiction. The result is often funny in a bleak way, and sometimes genuinely chilling.
Worth noting
The film’s weakness is scope. It captures the rhetoric, performance, and self-mythology of the manosphere better than it captures the damage it causes. Several viewers will come away wanting more context, more consequence, and more voices from the people most affected by these ideas.
Bottom line
Even so, it remains an effective watch if you’re interested in how online grievance becomes identity, brand, and business. It’s less a definitive study than a sharp, unsettling entry point into a very real cultural rot.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Nico (4★) · 15090 likes
Wait until these guys find out that the matrix was written by two trans women
Leon (3.5★) · 10469 likes
shoutout to that one lad who said depression doesn’t exist and then in the same sentence said his brother killed himself !
aaron (3.5★) · 7204 likes
make no mistake, this is a horror movie
NAJI (3.5★) · 6208 likes
“I don’t want juice, mummy”
݁˖ ❀ ⋆｡˚ Ella ˚｡⋆ ❀ ˖ ݁ (3★) · 5909 likes
Fairly surface-level, and I wish it would've delved deeper into the consequences of the manosphere.
I personally don't care much for the high-profile men stuck in it (sorry not sorry). I care about the women affected by it, the children and young men affected by it, and its integration into mainstream society, most obviously its impact on politics. The documentary gets a lift when those aspects are explored.
Louis Theroux stays level-headed and his silence can kill, as usual. It's a shame he couldn't get more out of his interviewees this time.