At the Heart of the Order of the Sun Temple: Shocking Must-See Documentary La Secte on Somersault

30 years after the novel of the Order of the Sun Temple sect, this drama is still difficult to understand. Exclusive pictures from inside the sect, unpublished Swiss police archives and never-before-heard testimonies make it possible to unravel the sectarian spiral.

A documentary series of events that shows the slow and hellish mechanism of control and the difficulties of escaping it for its followers.

The documentary series is available in its entirety on September 16 on Salto. Number of episodes watched: 4/4.

Dive into the heart of the murderous sect of the Order of the Sun Temple with this documentary mini-series. In the 1990s, the sect made headlines for a series of massacres in Switzerland, France and Canada. So this case is not entirely unknown to you, because in 1995, 16 followers of the cult killed themselves in the Verkor massif, in a ritual that is still difficult to understand today.

Over the course of four episodes, director Bruno Joukla (known for the documentary Tu seras mère ma fille) introduces us to never-before-seen archival images of the daily lives of those indoctrinated into the sect’s private circle. Investigations.. It also reveals the testimonies of people from the legal world (lawyer, investigator, police, etc.), journalists, psychologists, former followers and relatives of former believers.

The documentary offers us a retrospective of the events with no less than 20 absolutely thrilling testimonies that allow us to understand in part what was going on in the most secret way in the order. Although this mini-series provides only a few elements to understand what drove so many followers to commit suicide collectively, certain aspects of the cult still remain unexplained.

If part of the mystery still remains, La Secte at least allows us to understand the scale and consequences of such violence and to understand episodes that anyone can be subjected to. Indeed, between influence and manipulation, the remarkable interviews of Yannick Jaulin (a follower from 1985 to 1992) and Charles Duverne (a former high-ranking official of the Order who was one of the 20 members of the “Upper Circle”) shed light on the methods used. By gurus Luc Juret and Joe Di Mambro.

In their testimonies they return to different stages of individual but also collective drift towards esoteric beliefs and the hope of reincarnation into a better life. Therefore, the audience must somehow get the irrational part of the followers to assimilate their logic and finally try to understand it.

The immersion offered by the documentary can be disturbing for the viewers as they discover gruesome images such as the discovery of indoctrinated corpses or even the daily life of these people in a tragic ending. One passage is particularly poignant, focusing on the life of a little girl perceived as the Messiah who was tragically killed in the massacre.

Therefore, it is necessary to be psychologically well prepared before starting the mini-series, which will certainly not leave anyone indifferent.