What “Trust Me: The False Prophet” Gets Right About Religious Trauma

There’s a new Netflix show out right now called Trust Me: The False Prophet, and a lot of people are watching it thinking:

“How does something like this even happen?”

How do people follow someone like that?
How do they not see it?
Why don’t they just leave?

And if you’ve ever been part of a high-control religious environment, you might be having a completely different reaction:

“This feels… familiar.”

It’s Not About Intelligence, It’s About Influence

One of the biggest misconceptions about situations like the one portrayed in Trust Me: The False Prophet is that people who get pulled in are naive, uneducated, or “easily manipulated.”

That’s not actually how it works.

High-control leaders don’t gain influence through force at first. They build it through:

• trust

• belonging

• purpose

• certainty

They often present themselves as:

• deeply caring

• spiritually authoritative

• uniquely insightful

• “chosen” or set apart

And over time, the dynamic shifts.

What starts as guidance becomes control.
What feels like community becomes pressure.
What feels like truth becomes something you’re not allowed to question.

The Gradual Loss of Your Own Voice

One of the most accurate parts of shows like this is how slowly things change.

People don’t wake up one day and hand over their autonomy.

Instead, it looks like:

• deferring decisions to leadership

• second-guessing your own instincts

• feeling guilt for questioning

• believing doubt is a personal failure

Over time, your internal compass gets quieter.

And the leader’s voice gets louder.

Why Leaving Isn’t Simple

From the outside, it can look like people should “just leave.”

But leaving often means:

• losing your entire community

• questioning your identity

• facing fear (spiritual, emotional, sometimes physical)

• starting over from scratch

For many people, it’s not just leaving a belief system.

It’s leaving:

• their support system

• their sense of safety

• their understanding of the world

That’s not a small decision, it’s a complete unraveling.

The Aftermath No One Talks About

What happens after someone leaves is something shows only touch on briefly.

This is where religious trauma often shows up.

It can look like:

• anxiety or panic when making decisions

• difficulty trusting yourself or others

• fear of being “wrong” or punished

• grief over lost relationships

• confusion about identity and values

Even when leaving is the right choice, it can still feel disorienting and painful.

If This Show Hit Close to Home

If watching Trust Me: The False Prophet stirred something in you, you’re not overreacting.

Sometimes media like this brings language and clarity to experiences you may not have fully named yet.

And sometimes it just confirms:

“Yeah… that wasn’t normal.”

You’re Allowed to Rebuild

If you’ve left a high-control religious environment, you don’t have to have everything figured out right away.

Rebuilding can include:

• learning to trust your own thoughts again

• redefining your values on your own terms

• creating new, safe community

• processing what you went through at your own pace

There’s no “right” timeline for that.

A Gentle Reminder

You are allowed to question.
You are allowed to change your mind.
You are allowed to choose a life that feels like yours.

If You’re Navigating This Yourself

If you’re unpacking your own religious upbringing or trying to make sense of a high-control environment you were part of, you don’t have to do that alone.

This is the kind of work I do with clients. Therapy can help with making sense of what happened, rebuilding trust in yourself, and creating a life that actually feels aligned with who you are now.