Netflix has teamed up with acclaimed documentarian Louis Theroux for a hard-hitting documentary about the toxicity of the “Manosphere.”
On the heels of Netflix’s Emmy Award-winning drama series Adolescence, Theroux embeds within the controversial world of the men’s rights movement for Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere. Theroux meets with many of the figures accused of warping young men’s minds, including divisive online content creators such as HS Tikky Tokky (a.k.a Harrison Sullivan), Sneako (a.k.a. Nicolas Kenn De Balinthazy) and Myron Gaines, among others, to examine their growing influence on young males.
Theroux is no stranger to controversial subject matter, as he has previously profiled hate groups such as Aryan Nation and the Westboro Baptist Church, and made himself an enemy of the Church of Scientology with his 2015 film My Scientology Movie.
Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere differs from those previous projects in that it examines the way an extreme ideology has become alarmingly mainstream in the age of social media.
Keep scrolling for more information about Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere.
What Is the ‘Manosphere’?
The “Manosphere” is a catch-all term for an online community whose members espouse anti-feminist beliefs. Within the movement, many prominent content creators promote controversial theories that society has become biased against men because of an anti-male agenda supposedly pursued by feminists.
The “Manosphere” has frequently been associated with the alt-right political movement, with Andrew Tate, Adin Ross and Jordan Peterson among its most influential figures. There are various offshoots within the “Manosphere,” including incel culture — a group of “involuntary celibates” — and Gamergate, an online harassment campaign aimed at women in the video game industry. Members of the movement often reference the “red pill” from The Matrix, which opened their eyes to supposed injustices. (The Matrix filmmakers Lana and Lilly Wachowski have repeatedly distanced themselves from the “Manosphere.”)
In addition to promoting inflammatory views about women and conspiracy theories, the “Manosphere” has also been linked to multiple real-world acts of violence. When terrorist Elliot Rodger killed six people in Isla Vista, California, in May 2014, he left behind a manifesto espousing a litany of anti-feminist beliefs that came to be associated with the “Manosphere.” In April 2018, Alek Minassian killed 11 people — nine of them women — in a vehicle-ramming attack in Toronto, Canada, in a continuation of the so-called “incel rebellion” started by Rodger. (Rodger took his own life during a standoff with police after his mass killing incident, while Minassian was convicted on 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder in November 2020.)
What Is Netflix’s ‘Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere’ About?
An official Netflix synopsis for the series reads: “With rare access and no holds barred, the acclaimed documentarian investigates a growing ultra-masculine network and its controversial influencers.”
The documentary includes Louis Theroux speaking with several of the most popular and divisive “Manosphere” content creators about their beliefs, including HS Tikky Tokky, Sneako and Myron Gaines. “Manosphere” influencers Justin Waller and Ed Matthews are also profiled in Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere.
What Has Louis Theroux Said About ‘Inside the Manosphere’?
The topic of Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere may bring to mind Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham’s Adolescence, the Emmy-winning drama series about a 13-year-old boy (Owen Cooper) accused of murdering a female classmate. The gripping crime drama fictionalized the influence of the “Manosphere” on one vulnerable young mind.
Louis Theroux told Deadline in February 2026 that Inside the Manosphere was shot before Adolescence was released by Netflix, so any thematic similarities are coincidental.
“It’s sort of nothing like Adolescence but it’s in the precinct of what the boy in Adolescence might have been watching,” he explained. “I guess Adolescence was a proof of concept, but I don’t ever think we needed a proof of concept. We knew it was a hot subject.”
One of the stranger aspects of making Inside the Manosphere for Theroux was the way he started to show up in the content created by the influencers he profiled.
“I knew they would be streaming or filming me and would put that content out,” he pointed out. “And I hoped we’d get this feedback loop where there was a meta narrative that was then affecting my approach to the story. Sometimes it was kind of embarrassing. I’d arrive back from filming trips and my kids would say, ‘Dad what you were doing? You got owned.’ That’s a little bit painful but actually makes for a stronger film.”
How Can You Watch Netflix’s ‘Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere’?
Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere premieres Wednesday, March 11, on Netflix.
