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Director Errol Morris' latest documentary, CHAOS: The Manson Murders, is set to be released on Netflix on Friday, March 7, 2025. The documentary will take a look at the murders committed by Charles Manson's followers under his orders. It is based on Tom O'Neill and Dan Piepenbring's 2019 book Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties.
The book explores the claims made in the 1960s that Manson might have been connected to CIA programs, LSD experiments, and figures like Jack Ruby and Vincent Bugliosi. These claims and the murders are looked at in the upcoming Netflix documentary as well.
Before they killed seven people in 1969, Charles Manson gathered a group of young followers, who were later known as the Manson Family. The Family lived on a remote property called the Spahn Ranch, located outside Los Angeles. Manson controlled his followers through manipulation, drug use, and teachings that enforced complete obedience from them.
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CHAOS: The Manson Murders will take a look at how Charles Manson convinced his followers that they had a role in triggering a race war that he called Helter Skelter. He sent his followers to actress Sharon Tate and her husband, Roman Polanski's rental house, in Los Angeles on August 8, 1969.
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While Polanski was away, Tate, who was eight months pregnant, was at home with four of her friends, Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, and Steven Parent. The members of the Manson Family brutally killed all five people at home. The following night, they killed two more people, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, at their Los Angeles house.
These murders remain one of the most shocking crimes in US true-crime history and will be the focal point of Netflix's latest documentary, CHAOS: The Manson Murders
Charles Manson, the cult leader behind the 1969 murders explored in Chaos: The Manson Murders, died at 83
In 1967, Charles Manson formed a group that became known as the Manson Family cult, and he established himself as their leader. The group lived at the Spahn Ranch in California.
Many of Manson's followers were young people supposedly searching for direction when he drew them in with his charisma and extremist beliefs. The new Netflix documentary CHAOS: The Manson Murders will take a look at how Manson manipulated and controlled them. He used drugs to weaken their independence and kept them isolated from the outside world. He also convinced them that he had a prophetic role in a supposed race war called "Helter Skelter" and that violence was the only way to bring about the chaos.
Manson's follower, Charles "Tex" Watson, was the leader of the group that killed actress Sharon Tate and her four friends. Meanwhile, other members of the Manson Family who were a part of the murders included Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Leslie Van Houten.
Linda Kasabian drove the car and later testified against the others. Bobby Beausoleil, Bruce Davis, and Steve Grogan were involved in different murders linked to Manson. Meanwhile, others, including Mary Brunner, Sandra Good, Catherine Share, Paul Watkins, and Dianne Lake, followed Manson’s beliefs even after his arrest.
CHAOS: The Manson Murders will look at their crimes and the control Manson had over them. Manson sent Watson and the others to a home in Los Angeles with orders to kill everyone inside. The house was being rented by actress Sharon Tate and her husband, Roman Polanski. Tate, who was eight months pregnant at the time, was in the house with Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, and Steven Parent.
They were brutally attacked and killed by the group, led by Watson, and they stabbed and shot the victims as they begged for their lives. Tate pleaded for the life of her unborn child, but Atkins and Watson showed no mercy.
Before stepping onto the property, Tex Watson severed the phone lines. Inside the house, the victims were bound with rope. While Parent was shot in his car as he tried to leave, Sebring was shot and beaten. Folger tried to run but was caught and slaughtered. Frykowski fought back, but Watson stabbed him 51 times.
Before forming the Family, Manson spent years in and out of prison for different crimes. After his release in 1967, he tried to start a music career and built connections with people like Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson and producer Terry Melcher. However, when he failed to break into the industry, his frustration grew.
Some believe this rejection led him to target 10050 Cielo Drive, a house Melcher once lived in but was being rented by Tate and Polanski at the time of the murders.
Manson never carried out the killings himself but commanded his followers to do so. He believed the murders would cause fear and spark a revolution. His ability to manipulate and control others remains a central theme in CHAOS: The Manson Murders, which reexamines the case and questions how he maintained such influence over his followers.
CHAOS: The Manson Murders also examines theories that his activities were connected to larger government experiments, including MKUltra, where psychological manipulation and LSD were tested, as per Bookforum, 2019.
Manson was an ex-convict who wanted to be a musician. According to Helter Skelter, written by prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi, Manson believed a race war called Helter Skelter was coming. He allegedly ordered the murders to spread chaos and frame Black communities, hoping to spark societal collapse, as per an article in The Sunday Times.
CHAOS: The Manson Murders questions the official version of events and suggests other influences may have shaped Manson’s actions. The documentary is based on Chaos: Charles Manson the CIA and the Secret History of the Sixties.
One of the book's co-authors, Tom O’Neill, found inconsistencies in law enforcement reports. He also found missing evidence and possible ties between Manson and CIA-backed LSD experiments linked to MKUltra, according to Bookforum 2019.
In 1967, Manson's parole officer, Roger Smith, did not revoke his parole despite repeated violations. Manson and his followers were also in contact with researchers running government-funded experiments on psychedelics and behavioural modification at the Haight-Ashbury Free Medical Clinic in San Francisco, according to The Sunday Times.
The Manson murders changed American culture by ending the optimism of the 1960s and bringing in a darker period of fear and suspicion. Sharon Tate’s sister, Debra Tate, has continued pushing for victims’ rights and has stated that more undiscovered victims of the Manson cult may exist, as reported by People in 2024.
CHAOS: The Manson Murders is set to be released on Netflix exclusively on March 7, 2025. It will take a fresh look at this infamous case and encourages viewers to rethink the narrative while considering the larger forces that may have influenced Manson.
The official logline for Chaos: The Manson Murders on IMDb reads:
"A deep dive into alternative theories surrounding the Manson murders reveals unexpected connections to government agencies, mind control experiments, and key figures from the era, challenging the accepted narrative."
CHAOS: The Manson Murders will be available to stream on Netflix from March 7, 2025.
