HBO’s “The Vow” Uncovers the Truth about NΧΙVM
(Photo via HBO)
By Veronica Longo
A new, 9-episode docuseries produced and directed by Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer examines how NXIVM was able to enrapture so many of Hollywood’s elite so quickly. Released on Aug. 23, “The Vow” highlights the contrast between former members’ initial attraction to the cult and their disillusionment about its true nature and crimes.
Noujaim and Amer, whose previous works include “The Great Hack” (2019), created this series to uncover the hidden truths behind the cult founded in 1998 by Keith Ranier and Nancy Salzman. NXIVM appeared on the surface to be a self-help community for professional development championed by several actors and directors across Hollywood. The group enjoyed positive feedback worldwide. Even the Dalai Lama praised it in its prime and spoke at an event where he honored Raniere with traditional ceremonial Tibetan garb.
In the first episode, viewers are introduced to Mark Vicente, Sarah Edmondson, and Bonnie Piesse, all long-standing NXIVM members who attended the Executive Success Program, a 5-day convention. The series provides background on how they came to join NXIVM and shows all of the seemingly positive changes that occurred in their lives as a result. Mark and Bonnie, for example, end up getting married. However, Bonnie’s words to Mark ominously foreshadow what’s to come when the episode ends with her words: “there are a lot of things that I am starting to see in the organization that are not right.”
After the first episode, “The Vow” takes a dark turn, delving into the details of why and how members sought to leave the group. Layers are peeled off one-by-one as Mark, Sarah, and Bonnie descend deeper into the culture of NXIVM. They find evidence of a secret organization within their group, called the Dominus Obsequious Sororium, or DOS. Convinced to take part in the order’s vow of obedience, Sarah agrees to offer up a compromising video of herself as collateral. She falls down the rabbit hole into a world where submission is expected and where she has essentially become a slave. She keeps her vow secret but begins to ask questions when it becomes clear that crimes are taking place within the program. This revelation acts as the catalyst, giving Sarah, Mark, and Bonnie the courage to leave NXIVM.
Even after deciding to leave, the main characters find it difficult to cut all ties. They are worried about all the younger people who had also been recruited into NXIVM’s ranks. These young, naive starlets were the real target, and most of them were a part of DOS. This is what led them to reach out to a blogger to leak the information about the secretive organization while keeping their identities anonymous. It caused ripples in the community, and the fallout gave more people the courage to leave.
Those who left the group feared legal fallout from the organization since NXIVM, equipped with top legal representation, began to threaten all the former members with legal action. While the ex-members had released a plethora of information about the cult’s illicit practices, none of them had yet officially gone on the record. To save more of the younger recruits, some former members chose to go on the record in a New York Times expose on the group, putting themselves in great danger.
Although only five of the nine episodes have so far been released, “The Vow” does not fail to engage its audience. Cults are often very secretive, so people rarely have access to visuals that can help them understand what a cult looks like. The directors do a fantastic job showing how easy it can be for anyone to fall prey to deception such as those perpetrated by NXIVM.
