Teal Swan Documentary Will Usher in the Summer of Cults

After a few summers of scamming, we’re back to cults. (Sorry, summer of Mormons!) Freeform is branching out from its firm grasp on teen dramas to dive into nonfiction documentaries with three new docuseries. The Deep End, out May 18 on Freeform and next-day on Hulu, is the first drop of the new slate, made with Gen Z in mind. It focuses on Teal Swan — who has also appeared in Vox’s Cults, Explained on Netflix — a mysterious and controversial figure in the world of wellness and therapy, who has a history of using questionable practices on her dedicated following. Filmed over the course of three years, the trailer features not only Swan, but also her “Inner Circle.� Director Jon Kasbe integrated himself into the world of Teal Swan to the degree that even he “began to understand how someone could get completely consumed by Teal’s world.�