Real Time Review: Cultish by Amanda Montell

What defines a cult? What makes one cult more dangerous than another? Are certain types of people
more susceptible to cult influence than others? The answers all have to do with the power of language.

Amanda Montell’s Cultish seeks to answer these questions and more through a thought-provoking, fascinating exploration of the use of language in these types of movements.

Told in six different portions ranging from exploring the most infamous of cults (Scientology, Jonestown, Heaven's Gate) to modern day movements that are just a little too “culty”, Montell slowly peels back the layered language that cults use to recruit, entrance and sustain their members. With a familial connection to cults, it was fascinating to learn how her past experiences made her both weary to these ideas but also still allowed an openness to learn.

I swear I have seen everything there is to see on cults, including movies, tv shows, articles and more.  But Cultish offers a deep dive into a perspective that I haven’t yet run into, which is the power of language. 

While it’s impossible to fully understand how each and every cult (and each and every member) finds success, Montell’s exploration of language adds a more complete picture. Once Montell points out the different language mechanisms that cults use to control their members, you’ll find yourself noticing patterns between many different cult-like organizations. Tactics like love-bombing seem to appear in many of them, as a way to increase allegiance/dependence. Understandably, the language used around cults (even labeling a movement with the word “cult”) can be incredibly dangerous and divisive (interesting considering how the language is supposed to create more of a feeling of belonging).

We also learn more about why members of these organizations become “followers”; in Cultish, they are not painted as gullible or easily swayed, but as victims of circumstance, hope, country of residence, the era they’re living in (or all of the above). There are absolutely fascinating conversations surrounding how and why certain cults have found success and first hand accounts from followers as to why they joined, and it’s not always as simple as one might think.

Cultish is not only a window into the world of how cults become what they are using language, but, more widely, its messages open a window into the human experience, a desire for a self of belonging, purpose and hope.

Cultish is available through HarperCollins.