The Cult of Us

Ren is a condescending skeptic who can't stand his college roommate's girlfriend Lena: a tarot card-loving, patriarchal-hating free spirit. The annoyance is palpable. They need to get a room. Years later, life has drained from them all hope, joy, and a sense of deeper meaning. But they find their saviours! Lena’s self-empowerment “visionary,” Dr. Knowles, plans to topple the patriarchy, funded by sales of mood supplements in definitely-not-a-pyramid-scheme. Ren's leather-jacketed enlightenment guru, Harriet, can literally glow gold and make the stars dance… for a steep monthly fee. Ren and Lena bump into each other at an X-rated hypnosis show, failing to recruit the same hapless young man. They share a laugh over the debacle and discover that Ren is desperate for a place to live and Lena needs a roommate! Ren's celibate monk-like life immediately clashes with Dr. Knowles' prescription for Lena to lure potential recruits home with the promise of sex. And Lena can't help but taunt Ren with not-so-subtle sexual innuendos and an occasional pinch on the bottom. Ren's quirky OCD meditation practices produce mystical visions (i.e., having to escape zombies on his daily run) and new insight into Knowles' cultish control over Lena. He knows best, since he's definitely not in a cult. Ren's lectures about the dangers of cults (financial ruin, life-long phobias, suicide) convince Lena that he's the one in serious trouble. And so, their crusade to rescue each other begins! Faced with Harriet's plan for her students to cut ties with the world and vanish (or just end it and try for enlightement in the next life), Ren risks sharing his epiphany with Lena: 1) He loves her (and she him!), 2) They should be together, forever (she agrees!), 3) Therefore, Lena must quit Dr. Knowles and join Harriet! This sparks a brutal fight of cruel insults and accusations of the other being brainwashed, pushing them to part ways forever. Ren's spiritual progress is meaningless compared to the pain of leaving his soulmate behind. So, in a cognitive dissonance-fueled trance, he attempts to overdose on Lena's mood supplements – but they're made of magic mushrooms – so, not as much of an overdose but a mega-dose! His fantastical trip teaches him the true source of enlightenment, and Harriet ain't it. Still holding a thread of hope for Ren, Lena returns to the X-rated hypnotist show to understand how people get manipulated, only to get unwittingly hypnotized into a nauseatingly sexual hallucination. Disgusted and now convinced that smart people can be made to think, feel, and see things that aren't real, Knowles' control over her unravels, and she now sees him for what he is: a not-so-slick con man. Their minds finally set free, they'll beat Harriet and Dr. Knowles at their own game by exposing these cult leaders to the forces they fear most: the federal government and popular true-crime television. Bonded by a shared experience, Lena and Ren build their relationship on a genuine connection as they move through the world with renewed clarity, courage, and hope.