

An impressionable young man finds himself enslaved by a modern-day religious cult. In an effort to bring him back to reality, the boy's parents hire a deprogrammer to kidnap him and return him to his family.
Acting
James Woods' snake-charmer deprogrammer steals every scene
Direction
Kotcheff's documentary-style tension builds queasy authenticity
Writing
Moral ambiguity refuses easy answers about rescue vs. violation

Director
Ted Kotcheff
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released at peak 'Satanic Panic' era, the film mirrors real deprogramming scandals like the Ted Patrick cases.
Michael O'Keefe researched actual cult members; his vacant stare in the 'reunion' scene reportedly disturbed test audiences so deeply the studio trimmed it.