If you really want to peel the curtain back on a weird, grimy subculture, who better to call than Louis Theroux? The British former journalist turned cult documentarian continues to be the perennial bar-setter for any attempt at exposé on the more curious areas of society. And like any figure who’s managed to stay relevant since the turn of the century, he’s also had to move with the times. In the politically saturated world of today, even your reports on the surreal have to come with a political edge. So what better time than now for Theroux to return with a deep dive on the most surreal political circus of our times - the manosphere?
It helps that the manosphere has grown exponentially over the past decade; for better or worse, everyone knows who Andrew Tate is. And from him has stemmed a horde of copycat podcasters and live-streaming influencers whose online presence exists solely around the pursuit of over-inflated machismo, misogyny and money. Theroux joins the company of four of these influencers in their day-to-day lives.
Most focal of these is Harrison Sullivan (“HS”) a British vlogger based in Marbella, Spain, promising his viewers a life of glamour models, wild partying and street thuggery - as long as they live by his advice (and also download his investment tips app). HS is also joined by several others on the American side, including fellow ‘red piller’ and podcaster Myron Gaines, proclaimed steel magnate and Trumper Justin Waller, and Jewish conspiracy peddler Sneako.
As you might expect, these four have a lot to say to Theroux, and none of it good if you value yourself. It’s also another masterclass in Theroux’s inimitable interviewing style. The big reveals of this documentary come not through furious moral questioning about their conduct, like less-skilled documentarians looking for an angle might adopt. Instead, Theroux’s tried and tested approach of simply and subtly repeating their ugly views back to them - with encouragement to elaborate further - becomes the mirror his subjects are forced to see themselves in. And like the Israeli settlers, white supremacists and other toxic masculinists of his previous documentaries, they’ll do anything but look directly into it.
Inside the Manosphere does achieve two key things in what it sets out to do. Firstly, it is another disturbing glimpse on a bleak world of influencers exploiting impressionable teenagers for financial gain. Secondly, it is able to portray these demagogues for what they actually are: scared little boys using the rage of perceived persecution in a ‘woke’, ‘anti-male’ age as shielding from the reality of their own insecurities.
As Theroux gently unravels the fabric of their public personas, the fragility of these men becomes plain to see. HS begins to have a paranoid meltdown about Theroux’s subtle framing of him within what he considers ‘a hit piece’ - trying and failing to smear Theroux in return. This is even before the documentary has been cut or aired, and he has no idea how he’ll be perceived. Gaines’ and Waller’s fronting about living a life with multiple women while keeping a partner at home sees both of them become increasingly anxious when they have to explain their reasoning to Theroux - while in front of these very partners. Sneako, meanwhile, comes off as the most isolated figure: no flaunting of girls nor big money, but plenty of ridiculous diatribes on Satanist symbolism and ‘the Jews’, indicating a psychosis has set in following his exile from most online platforms.
All of these men, however, still have the ability to manipulate young males who are as internally mis-guided as they are. In amongst his ramblings about being a champion of the hustle culture, Waller even puts most of his success down to being a salesman. Hard to disagree, given that all these men are successful at is selling an identity forged out of insecurity and hate - their own.
The documentary does at least attempt a more compassionate ‘why’ behind the manosphere’s rampant success, underpinning a key message that abusive upbringings beget more abuse. But it's also a message that fails to land. None of Theroux’s subjects do themselves any favours posturing in the way that they do, but their backgrounds of lives grown up in broken homes or unloving environments do offer some humanity behind the bluster. An explanation too, for their frequently disgusting attitudes. They still end up squandering these gifts, anyway. One such example being the child-like manner in which HS speaks to his own mum at one point. It could have been a touching moment, if he hadn’t admitted earlier on that his own violent content, all done in the name of profiting off of vulnerable teenagers, was intentionally done only with his wallet in mind.
This constant need to maintain personas that HS and his fellow blowhards can’t live up to means that the subject matter of Inside the Manosphere is still captivating, but only for its shocking nature. There are plenty of eye-opening moments when these edgelords engage in their soundbites, but no deep theory on why they’re motivated to say what they say - or why it gets across so well in certain circles. Those questions have definitely been better answered elsewhere - particularly in 2025’s award-winning drama, Adolescence, which highlighted the damage done by exposure to the manosphere from all angles. What Theroux ultimately provides here is another entertaining documentary that highlights his usual deft manner of getting angry, insecure people out of their shells to great effect - but nothing that can help us combat the deeper social issues that drive their hate.
