Culture / TV

This upcoming Hulu docuseries explores the Sarah Lawrence cult from survivors perspectives

Stolen Youth Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence

There's cult documentaries and then there's documentaries about cults. The upcoming Hulu series Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence has the potential to be both at once.

What is Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence about?

It follows a story first reported by New York Magazine in 2019, where journalists lifted the lid on a cult in operation at East Coast liberal arts college Sarah Lawrence in the early 2010s. The leader was Larry Ray, who after getting released from prison came to the college to crash on his daughter's dorm room couch. Eventually, Ray would become a father figure to the dorm of students, known as Slonim 9, and would subject them to intense psychological, physical and sexual abuse.

Although Peacock aired a documentary, entitled Sex, Lies and the College Cult, last year that delves into the story, director Zach Heinzerling will anchor the series on the survivors own perspectives instead. Rather than centring Larry, his lies and the subsequent federal trial that took place from March to April this year where he was convicted on charges of sex trafficking, extortion and conspiracy.

One of the students at the heart of story is Daniel Barban Levin, who came out with a harrowing memoir Slonim Woods 9 in 2021 that detailed his experience at Sarah Lawrence, is onboard as producer. Meanwhile, the docuseries will feature first hand interviews and footage from other survivors of the cult.

Is there a release date?

So far Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence is set to land on Hulu on February 9, 2023.

What about a trailer?

As you can imagine, this story is vastly complex. While you wait to learn all the details in the upcoming docuseries, you can watch the trailer for itbelow.

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