Chaos: The Manson Murders

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Chaos: The Manson Murders

2025

1h 36m

Crime

Documentary

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Popcornmeter

56%

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34 Reviews

22%

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50+ Ratings

In August 1969, Charles Manson's followers killed seven people on his orders. Why? Explore a conspiracy of mind control, CIA experiments and murder.

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Critics Consensus

Errol Morris' Chaos chases too many red herrings to prove a definitive document on the Manson cult, but it does reaffirm why this crime spree continues to haunt the public consciousness over half a century later.

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Graeme Blundell

The Australian

Chaos is wonderfully weird, sensational, if in the end not all that convincing.

Apr 21, 2025

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Jonathan Romney

Financial Times

An Errol Morris film seriously grappling with the current epidemic of conspiracy theory would be worth watching, but Chaos is hardly that film.

Rated: 2/5

Mar 12, 2025

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Alison Willmore

New York Magazine/Vulture

Chaos: The Manson Murders may only be 96 minutes long, but it feels padded, as though its existence is meant to serve as proof that even a documentary legend who helped establish the true-crime genre isn’t immune to the genre’s current streaming bloat.

Mar 10, 2025

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Daniel Gorman

In Review Online

It all adds up to more artless true-crime nonsense, which has proliferated at an alarming rate in our present streaming era. In this case, you’re far better off reading the book.

Apr 3, 2025

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Carla Hay

Culture Mix

Chaos: The Manson Murders is less of a documentary and more of an infomercial for Tom O'Neill's book and conspiracy theory that the U.S. government and Charles Manson used the same mind-control techniques to engineer the Manson Family cult murders.

Mar 30, 2025

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Shawn Edwards

Fox 4 Kansas City

After all the excessive mumbo jumbo, not a single thing is proven... it's just another quick grab for those infatuated with serial killers and mass murderers.

Rated: 2/5

Mar 20, 2025

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Chris H

This is a useful history of Manson and his cult and the sickening crimes they committed. There's nothing new here though - the CIA conspiracy thing looks like bunkum.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

09/10/25

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Dave C

I thought this was a pretty good documentary. I enjoyed it. It makes me glad that he is gone now. What he did was horrible.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

06/28/25

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Mark D

The book deserved a ten hour series, not this half baked rubbish

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

04/07/25

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Thomas B

Simply put, the book is WAY better. Read it. So much interesting info. This documentary isn't worth your time.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

04/06/25

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Pieter D

There is no clear storyline; it is all over the place, and often, it leaves the viewer more confused rather than clearing up the claim to a conspiracy.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

04/04/25

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Birithivy Y

Chaos: The Manson Murders - 6/10. Errol Morris directs this documentary about Charles Manson, his life before becoming the demon of a human that he became, and his cult. Errol Morris is one of the greatest documentarians in history, and his craftsmanship and abilities as a documentarian are on full display here. But, I feel like this felt a little disconnected at times. Also, it felt a bit indulgent in its stylization the events and focus on Manson. Informative, but not amazing in my opinion.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/26/25

Full Review

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Errol Morris

Director

Robert Fernandez

Producer

Steven Hathaway

Producer

Errol Morris

Producer

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Synopsis

In August 1969, Charles Manson's followers killed seven people on his orders. Why? Explore a conspiracy of mind control, CIA experiments and murder.

Director: Errol Morris
Producer: Robert Fernandez, Steven Hathaway, Errol Morris
Distributor: Netflix
Genre: Crime, Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 7, 2025
Runtime: 1h 36m

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