Context:

HBO Max bets on Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult, a three-part true-crime docuseries about model Hoyt Richards and the New Age group Eternal Values led by Frederick von Mierers. The show, which has earned a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score, debuts its first episode now with two follow-ups releasing on June 8 and June 15, totaling about three hours. The documentary canvasses a little-documented cult today, including von Mierers’ death in 1990 and the group’s winding down around 1999, framing a portrait of manipulation and money-motivation in the modeling world. As HBO Max continues to roll out high-profile series, Bring Me the Beauties sits ahead of House of the Dragon season 3, potentially redefining the service’s true-crime slate. The broader takeaway is that the series could set a benchmark for tightly wound, investigative storytelling within streaming lineups.

Dive Deeper:

• Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult is a three-part true-crime docuseries currently airing its first episode, with the remaining two episodes released on June 8 and June 15, totaling roughly three hours of content.

• The program centers on Hoyt Richards, a world-famous model, who joined Eternal Values, a ’80s-era New Age group led by Frederick von Mierers, and who spent about 15 years in the group before escaping from its North Carolina compound.

• Von Mierers presented himself as an alien prophet and used large-scale contributions from followers, many from the modeling industry, to build a substantial, cult-like financial base.

• Beyond Richards’ escape, the documentary notes von Mierers’ death in 1990 from AIDS-related complications, a fact he reportedly hid from his followers, and that the cult persisted until around 1999.

• The show sits at sixth place on HBO Max’s Top 10, trailing reality offerings and the network’s big titles like Euphoria and Hacks, which recently concluded, the latter with a 98% Rotten Tomatoes score overall.

• HBO Max’s schedule context includes high anticipation for House of the Dragon season 3, set to premiere about two weeks after these new docu-episodes, illustrating the service’s ongoing strategy of pairing prestige dramas with compelling documentaries.

• Critics highlighted the scarcity of online material about von Mierers and the cult, underscoring the docuseries’ role as a significant, perhaps inaugural, deep dive into this particular formative period for the modeling world.