Louis Theroux’s latest documentary, Louis Theroux: Inside The Manosphere, has been hailed by critics as one of the most unsettling pieces of work in his long career — with some viewers admitting it left them “quivering behind their sofas.”
The 90-minute Netflix documentary, released on March 11, follows the veteran documentarian, now 55, as he dives into the murky online network known as the “manosphere” — a controversial digital subculture of hyper-masculine influencers accused of spreading misogynistic and extremist views.
Throughout the film, Theroux travels to Marbella, Miami and New York, where he meets several prominent figures from the movement. Among those interviewed are Harrison Sullivan, known online as HSTikkyTokky, podcast host Myron Gaines and internet personality Nicolas Kenn De Balinthazy, better known as Sneako.
According to Netflix’s synopsis, the documentary offers rare access to a world rarely examined so closely. The streamer describes it as an investigation in which “the acclaimed documentarian investigates a growing ultra-masculine network and its controversial influencers with rare access and no holds barred.”
Critics have largely responded with strong praise — though many also admitted the experience was deeply uncomfortable.
Writing in The Telegraph, critic Benji Wilson awarded the documentary a full five stars and confessed it struck a nerve on a personal level. He wrote that, as a father of two teenage boys, watching the film felt like a horror experience: “I like horror films, but as a father of two teenage boys, I was quivering behind the sofa like the lily-livered beta I am while watching Louis Theroux’s latest documentary.”
Wilson added that the documentary reveals a disturbing corner of the internet, describing the manosphere as a “toxic online network of misogynistic male influencers” whose views can be “extremely unpleasant.”
City AM critic Adam Bloodworth also praised the film, awarding it four stars and describing it as “horrid, addictive viewing.” While he noted that social media influencers often claim their livestreamed content is more authentic than traditional documentaries, he argued that Theroux remains uniquely equipped to challenge their claims.
Bloodworth wrote that while influencers argue audiences no longer need “four-people-strong camera crews” to produce content, the real issue lies in what these creators are promoting. “What they’re spewing is vile,” he said, adding that Theroux remains “absolutely the journalist to take these men to task.”
Other reviewers highlighted the way the documentary exposes the business model behind the movement. Mashable’s Sam Haysom pointed out that many influencers featured in the film share similar traits — extreme views, anti-feminist rhetoric and a clear strategy to profit from their online notoriety.
Harrison Sullivan, for example, reportedly runs a Telegram group with more than half a million members and directs followers toward OnlyFans creators and financial apps to generate income. When Theroux questioned the contradiction of profiting from OnlyFans creators while publicly criticising them, Sullivan responded bluntly: “I openly say I don’t give a f**k, and I’m doing it for money.”
The film also examines influencers’ treatment of women in their content. Myron Gaines, for instance, frequently invites OnlyFans creators onto his podcast, yet critics say he often uses the platform to humiliate them publicly.
Some reviewers felt the documentary could have gone further in confronting its subjects. Writing in The Irish Times, one critic noted that Theroux chose not to interview controversial influencer Andrew Tate directly, instead speaking with members of his circle.
The review argued that while Theroux’s detached interviewing style is familiar to audiences, the gravity of the subject might have required a stronger response. It suggested that the film sometimes felt like “a conversation about misogyny without any contribution from the people at whom the hate is directed.”
Still, many critics found moments that revealed the contradictions behind the macho personas of the influencers. In The Times, Carol Midgley described one telling scene involving Sullivan before his interview. In unseen footage, he is reprimanded by his mother, who tells him: “Don’t be rude. That’s not the way I brought you up.”
Midgley noted that Sullivan quietly obeys, calling his mother “Mummy,” a moment that subtly punctures the hyper-masculine image he projects online.
Meanwhile, The Guardian’s Lucy Mangan observed that Theroux appears slightly tougher in this documentary than in some of his previous work. She noted that he no longer leans as heavily on the naïve persona he once used in interviews, instead challenging his subjects more directly.
However, the film is far from easy viewing. Metro’s Alana Anderson warned that audiences should brace themselves for disturbing scenes, including casual racism, misogyny and even antisemitic comments directed at Theroux during filming.
She wrote that watching the presenter face such hostility on camera can be deeply uncomfortable. At one point, the hostility of the influencers feels “like seeing a group of teenagers gang up on your dad.”
Despite the discomfort, critics broadly agree that Louis Theroux: Inside The Manosphere offers a gripping and unsettling look at a rapidly growing online culture — one that is shaping the attitudes of a new generation of young men.
