“Do exactly as I say…” HBO has unveiled an official trailer for a documentary series titled Heaven’s Gate: The Cult of Cults, available for streaming starting in December this year. This is the latest documentary made by filmmaker Clay Tweel, who has directed a number of my favorite docs over the years including Finders Keepers, Gleason, Print the Legend, and Make Believe. It will air as a four-part series next month on HBO Max. Most Americans will remember the shocking news story – in March of 1997, 39 people killed themselves in order to reach what they believed was an extraterrestrial spacecraft following Comet Hale–Bopp. This is the story of Heaven’s Gate, a UFO religious cult based near San Diego that was founded in 1974 and led by Marshall Applewhite. We’ve seen many films about cults, many docs about cults, and plenty of TV specials examining Heaven’s Gate and how so many people could be duped into believe this nonsense. Tweel’s series uses never-before-seen footage & first-person accounts to dig even deeper into this crazy cult.
Official trailer (+ poster) for Clay Tweel’s doc Heaven’s Gate: The Cult of Cults, from HBO’s YouTube:
Heaven’s Gate: The Cult of Cults is a thorough examination of the infamous UFO cult through the eyes of its former members and loved ones. What started in 1975 with the disappearance of 20 people from a small town in Oregon ended in 1997 with the largest suicide on US soil and changed the face of modern new age religion forever. This four-part HBO docuseries uses never-before-seen footage and first-person accounts to explore the infamous UFO cult that shocked the nation with their out-of-this-world beliefs. Heaven’s Gate: The Cult of Cults is directed by American doc filmmaker Clay Tweel, director of the doc films Make Believe, Print the Legend, Finders Keepers, Gleason, and Out of Omaha previously, as well as a few shorts and other production work. Executive produced by Clay Tweel as well as Campfire CEO Ross Dinerstein and Shannon Riggs, with Chris Bannon, Eric Spiegelman, Peter Clowney and Erik Diehn for the digital media / podcast company Stitcher. HBO will soon debut Tweel’s Heaven’s Gate: The Cult of Cults docuseries streaming on HBO Max starting on December 3rd. Who wants to believe in the power of cults?
