One of the most compelling stories within HBO's The Vow, a docuseries about the infamous NXIVM sex cult, is about a mother's tireless fight to save her daughter from its clutches.
And now, Starz will air its own four-part documentary series in which we will get to hear the story from said-daughter India Oxenberg's perspective. It's a real first-person look at the cult itself, but also how easily perfectly stable people can be preyed upon and convinced to do things they'd never dream they'd do.
Executive produced by Oxenberg herself and helmed by the Emmy-nominated female filmmaking team Cecilia Peck and Inbal B. Lessner, Seduced: Inside The NXIVM Cult, allows Oxenberg (whose grandmother is the Princess of Yugoslavia and Prince Charles' second cousin) to recount how she, a "19-year-old looking for direction," along with over 17,000 other people around the globe, was roped into a deceitful organization that Keith Raniere pitched as a self-improvement program.
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“It’s like freaking Shakespeare,” Oxenberg told Vanity Fair of her experience last week in one of her first interviews since NXIVM was shut down in 2018. She said that she sees it this way because while her story is "so tragic," the fact that her mother, Catherine Oxenberg, never gave up trying to get her out is “so beautiful at the same time." But this perspective only came after about two years of "intensive therapy and deprogramming."
“I didn’t understand that there are people out there who will try and destroy love, destroy connection, and destroy family," said India. "I will fiercely never let that happen again, and be much more watchful and mindful of people." She said she hopes that by telling her story in the series, it will help people understand her dimensionality and help drive home the idea that this could happen to anyone.
Watch the trailer for Seduced: Inside The NXVIM Cult, which premieres at 9 p.m. on October 18 on Starz.
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