Dark comedy is a high-wire act. When it works, you get something like The Righteous Gemstones or Succession—shows that find the absurdity in terrible people doing terrible things. When it fails, you get Let's Start a Cult.
The movie tries to mine laughs from the bleakest possible soil: a guy who is so much of a loser that he even failed at dying with his cult. It’s a road trip movie where the "misfits" being recruited are people in genuine crisis. While the premise has the bones of a sharp satire about the American search for belonging, the execution is a total wreck. The 27% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is the smoking gun here. Usually, even bad movies have a niche fan base that props up the audience rating, but here, almost everyone agrees: this isn't funny.
The problem with "punching down"
The biggest friction point is who the movie chooses to laugh at. Satire works best when it targets the powerful or the systems that exploit people. This movie spends its runtime mocking a "mentally unstable mom" and other vulnerable outcasts. Because the writing isn't sharp enough to make a point about why these people are being exploited, the humor just feels mean-spirited.
If you’re a fan of the "cringe comedy" genre, you know there’s a fine line between second-hand embarrassment and genuine discomfort. This film lives on the wrong side of that line. It swaps wit for shock value, but the shock wears off about twenty minutes in, leaving you with a bickering duo and a plot that moves at a crawl.
Why it might show up on your teen's radar
Despite the poor reviews, the movie is currently scattered across almost every major streaming service, from Hulu to various "free with ads" platforms like Plex and The Roku Channel. The title is pure clickbait for a generation that grew up on edgy internet humor and true crime documentaries about real cults.
If your teen sees the thumbnail and thinks they’re getting a raunchy, fast-paced comedy in the vein of Bottoms or Superbad, they’re going to be disappointed. It’s slower, bleaker, and lacks the heart that makes those other movies work. If you're wondering if the "edginess" is worth the watch, our guide on whether this raunchy comedy is too dark for your teen breaks down the specific triggers and tone.
Better ways to spend 90 minutes
If you want a story about outcasts finding a family, there are a thousand better options that don't involve a suicide cult as a gag. If you want a deep dive into the weirdness of cult mentality, stick to the well-produced documentaries on Netflix or Max.
This movie is a "hard skip" for almost everyone. It isn't provocative enough to be art and isn't funny enough to be entertainment. In a landscape where there is too much good TV to keep up with, don't waste the bandwidth on a film that critics and audiences have already buried.
