by Alex Billington
March 25, 2024
Source: YouTube
"There were rules on which Synanon was founded, and those were solid, until they weren't." Another cult story. Max has revealed an official trailer for a fascinating documentary series called The Synanon Fix, from acclaimed doc filmmaker Rory Kennedy (of Take Every Wave, Downfall: The Case Against Boeing, The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari). This is the latest in the true crime doc subgenre about cults, which I will dub the "true cult" genre. This 4-episode doc series explores the rise & fall of the Synanon organization through the eyes of the members who lived it, from its early days as a groundbreaking drug rehabilitation program to its later descent into what many consider a cult. Obvious that it definitely was one. It recalls the story of a controversial heroin addiction program turned communal living center. Told through first person accounts of former members, this series is about the California rehab center called "Synanon", which grew from a groundbreaking drug rehabilitation program in the 1950s into a communal living experiment that would later be accused of abuse and worse. Of course it was a cult! Another story of a power-hungry maniac.
Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Rory Kennedy's doc The Synanon Fix, direct from YouTube:
Synanon, the brainchild of Charles "Chuck" Dederich, originated in 1958 as a scrappy Santa Monica-based storefront rehab for heroin addicts who had no place else to go. With remarkable success thanks to a confrontational talk therapy concept known as "The Game," Synanon became a darling of the growing recovery community with numerous locations throughout the United States. By attracting non-addicts, so-called "lifestylers" in search of community, and funded through donations, Synanon grew into a complex system of self-sustaining businesses & diverse, egalitarian communal living headed up by the charismatic Chuck and his wife Betty. But as the years went on, the radical therapies became increasingly extreme, degenerating into paranoid behavior and cult-like mandates from Chuck, and culminating in charges of child abuse, assault, and even attempted murder. The Synanon Fix explores the organization’s tragic fall from grace as its potential as a revolutionary way of healing spiraled into a profoundly destructive force.
The Synanon Fix is directed by award-winning doc producer / filmmaker Rory Kennedy, of the doc films American Hollow, Different Moms, A Boy's Life, Ghosts of Abu Ghraib, Ethel, Last Days in Vietnam, Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton, Without a Net, Downfall: The Case Against Boeing, The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari, and Adrift. Produced by Alexandra Korba, Kevin McAlester; co-produced by Jeff Swimmer. Executive produced by Rory Kennedy, Mark Bailey, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Tina Nguyen. HBO will debut The Synanon Fix streaming on Max starting April 1st, 2024 this spring. Curious to watch?