‘The Doomsday Cult of Antares de la Luz’ Netflix Review - The Case of Mass Delulu

The Netflix documentary The Doomsday Cult of Antares de la Luz is 100 minutes long. With the beginning being rather dull, it failed to create the impression it should have. All those stories about being in prison didn't bring justice to what was coming.

This is the story of a madman who claimed himself to be a God and did hideous things. The lengths to which Antares went can easily be compared to that of a man under the influence of drugs, which he in reality was. Though the thing he consumed has been named innumerable times as a herb having good medicinal properties, it seems to have some effect on his thinking as well.

Whenever the cult leader or his right hand Pablo and others consumed it, they saw visions. In my opinion, the herb should have been studied first. They traveled miles for it, it must be addictive then.

Antares’s introduction as someone radiating a glow and knowing things made people attracted to him. The people he drew to form a cult never had an ounce of idea what they were getting themselves into because they thought that they finally found a place. Though all of them received social rehabilitation after their jail time, it was something that they needed before.

All the outcasts found their place in Antares company. He made everyone comfortable and his reality was revealed once he started to control their lives. The audience gets a clear idea by the hints like how the followers were cut from their families and weren't allowed any contact.

The final act in which murder of a three-day-old child was murdered finally opened everyone's eyes. How can Lucifer inhabit the body of someone who is not even born? Such questions come up in the minds of the audience. There are many things that we'll question over the course of 100 minutes, but then, we're in our right minds and they were not.

The process of mass hysteria never was explained in the show. Instead was shown a man hungry for power who used the prediction of doomsday in 2012 in his favour. The audience will be dumbfounded by how people fell at his feet. He never did anything convincing enough that make his followers follow him without any second thought.

In my opinion, this Netflix documentary fails to make a point. Though they did show how things ended, they didn't show what influence the cult leader had, they weren't successful in showing how he executed his ideologies on others. Merely showing that he made them do things doesn't do any justice. My main issue is that the incomplete testimonials being shown, make it difficult to trust the narratives. The story does feel incomplete in every aspect imaginable.

The documentary had many parameters to improve upon and the makers could take inspiration from other projects that were successful in the portrayal of their experiences. The audience looking for a good documentary needs to research a bit more.

Final Score – [6/10]
Reviewed by - Riya Singh
Follow @_riyasinghhh_ on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times