Unchosen - a review
Unchosen is a story set in a religious cult The Fellowship of the Divine, whose members are closely controlled by male Christian leaders. From the outside, all seems peaceful and happy. Inside people know and understand their roles. The womenfolk produce children and look after homes. The men provide.
Those inside the cult are cut off from the outside world – no phones, no televisions, no radio. Children are cherished, and, somewhat surprisingly attend school outside, although the group has raised funds for its own school, plans in place.
Unchosen has a troubling, if somewhat predictable, storyline, based around a murderer, escaped from prison, who joins them.
Since the only authority is God, cult members don’t trust the police, which helps protect the escapee.
And since those inside the cult are chosen, those outside of the cult are Unchosen – hence the title.
Watched from a CAAGe perspective, grooming people into cults, this series tells you little. Most characters are born into the cult, which seems to be growing organically rather than recruiting new members, although – spoiler alert – a new follower seems to be coming to find them.
What this series does expose, though, is the harsh reality of trying to leave a cult. If you have no income, a fixed routine, solid beliefs and a support system, and the outside World is a dangerous place, leaving is hard.
I’m not going to reveal the ending or the plot line – watch it, ir may surprise you.
The series premiered on Netflix on 21 April 2026. This is a drama that’s ‘made for television’. It’s billed as “Rosie, a wife and mother in a religious sect, begins a journey of female emancipation following a chance encounter.” There’s certainly an awakening, but it’s hardly a feminist flagbearer. movie Sexuality, however, does feature in the storyline, strongly, creating moral tensions - and not only the ones you might expect.
Control over sexuality within a cult gets a good airing here.
Lad Bible describes it as “Netflix's number one drama”, in a review that’s pretty accurate.
The Mirror describes it as “Unmissable”. I’d not go thatt far. It’s a little slow paced and feels ‘made for TV’. The actors do a great job, and the series is worth a binge. But I suspect it will, for most, have a ‘Marmite’ effect* – love it or hate it. Lucy Mangan of The Guardian gave it two out of five stars: "creepy cultshow is a total waste of all this talent”, for example. I’d not go that far either. Gearey, the writer, researched with people who have left cults. In this respect, it’s enlightening and accurate,
In short, you may love or hate it, and there are far worse ways to spend your time. Make up your own mind, but from the cult perspective, the kindness, cruelty and “high control” control seem pretty accurate. And hopefully it will open up discussions about religious cults.
My advice: give it a try if you have a Netflix account. It may well fall on the right end of the Marmite scale for you, and if it doesn’t, you have the remote control.
For readers outside of the UK, Marmite is a strongly flavoured yeast extract spread: For Australians, Marmite is a Vegemite type spread. Across Australasia, British Marmite is apparently sold as ‘My Mate’ In the USA I believe it’s called Vegex. South Africa apparently offers a unique variation known as Ma’amite. It uses the marketing slogan: "Love it or hate it” with good reason - it has a striong, distinctive taste which people love or hate, but are trarely indifferent to.
