Inside the Manosphere (2026)
Directed by: Adrian Choa
Premise: A documentary in which journalist Louis Theroux investigates the online male subculture known as the manosphere. Theroux interviews several prominent figures in the manosphere and critiques their rhetoric.
What Works: The past decade has seen the rise of an online subculture known as the manosphere which is characterized by hypermasculinity and misogyny and obsessions with health and finance. The filmmakers of Inside the Manosphere interrogate this social movement by speaking with several high-profile figures including HSTikkyTokky, Myron Gaines, Sneako, and Justin Waller. For viewers who are unfamiliar with this subculture, Inside the Manosphere effectively lays out the values and worldviews espoused by these creators. The interviews between journalist Louis Theroux and these men reveal the paranoia, cynicism, and bareness of the manosphere’s leading voices. In one of the most clarifying moments, Theroux asks HSTikkyTokky about his interview with adult film performer Bonnie Blue, suggesting that the manosphere creator and the porn star are all monkeys in the same circus, a comparison that is obviously true but HSTikkyTokky rejects outright. There is a vivid discomfort and defensiveness among everyone on screen. These men are constantly online and commenting upon the documentary as it is being shot, micromanaging their public image against any possible criticism. The filmmakers smartly intercut these statements into the documentary, reflecting the multiscreen culture that it depicts.
What Doesn’t: Like much of the coverage about this social phenomenon, Inside the Manosphere focuses almost exclusively on the creator-side of the subculture, especially their posh lifestyles and expressions of hypermasculinity and misogyny. That is the sexier side of the story but framing the topic this way misses the bigger picture. These creators are ultimately not that interesting because they are intellectually, spiritually, and ideologically vacuous. Their shifty interviews reveal that these men don’t actually believe what they’re selling. The real story of the manosphere is not with the influencers but with their acolytes and the financial sponsors underwriting this subculture. Both are mostly absent from this documentary. Theroux makes passing reference to the way these influencers are supported by investment and cryptocurrency schemes that don’t generate much in the way of returns. As in a lot of coverage of the manosphere, this documentary presents the subculture as a uniquely twenty-first century phenomenon but it’s really the same old Mad Men-style marketing in which inadequacy is manufactured and exploited. The women, the cars, and the bravado are purely window dressing to funnel young men to the sponsors. The documentary underreports the manosphere economy and mostly misses the lives of everyday consumers where the social consequences of that economy play out.
Disc extras: Available on Netflix.
Bottom Line: Inside the Manosphere succeeds as a summary of this online subculture and as a profile of the signature personalities. The filmmakers stay on the surface and miss the bigger picture, especially the way the manosphere manifests in everyday life. Inside the Manosphere would be well viewed as a double feature with the 2020 documentary TFW NO GF.
Episode: #1092 (March 29, 2026)