Lifetime Is Already Hard at Work on Its NXIVM Movie

The long road to legal justice is underway for the architects of NXIVM, which means it’s time for Lifetime to announce that it’s got a film in the works.

In perhaps the most Lifetime move of all time, the project is tentatively called NXIVM Cult: A Mother’s Nightmare, a title guaranteed to attract wide-eyed parents around the country like moths to a morbid flame. According to People, the movie “will center on the true story of actress Catherine Oxenberg and her fight to save her 28-year-old daughter India, who joined NXIVM in 2011 but has since left, from the group.”

“When Catherine Oxenberg learns about a leadership seminar from a new organization called NXIVM, she decides to take 20-year-old India to the professional development meeting. Led by the extremely enigmatic Raniere, Catherine can’t help but shake the feeling there’s more than meets the eye with the self-help organization. Despite Catherine’s best efforts, India is drawn deeper into the cult, eventually joining a secret sorority of female members who are branded with the cult leader’s initials, ordered to maintain a restricted diet, and forced to recruit other women as sex slaves.

“NXIVM Cult: A Mother’s Nightmare tells the story of a mother who will stop at nothing to get her daughter back and exposes the intricate seductive power of Allison and Keith and the mental and physical abuse India fell victim to.”

NXIVM leader Keith Raniere will be played by Peter Facinelli, while Andrea Roth will play Catherine. Jasper Roth has been cast as India, and Sarah Fletcher will appear as Raniere associate and Smallville actress Allison Mack.

The story of NXIVM will require little by way of cinematic embellishment. Earlier this month, Raniere was found guilty on seven counts that ranged from sex trafficking to forced labor conspiracy to racketeering, all of which stemmed from his role as the founder of the self-help program/cult NXVIUM and its even more sinister offshoot, DOS. You can read all about the trial and the people involved here. The movie is set to debut in the fall.