Hulu released the trailer for its next true crime docuseries, Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence. The three-part series will explore the story of Larry Ray, a former CIA operative convicted of extortion, sex trafficking, and conspiracy for his role in manipulating a group of college students at Sarah Lawrence College.
After his release from prison in 2010, Ray moved into his daughter’s apartment at Sarah Lawrence College. At first, Ray’s presence was welcome as he bonded with the students and earned their trust. However, these gestures signified his authoritarian personality, as Ray would manipulate the group to follow his orders and send him money. Interviewees in the trailer share how Ray would feed the students Adderall to stay up for long periods and physically punish people for falling out of line. This all culminated with Ray’s decision to start a sex cult with the manipulated students.
Stolen Youth is told through the eyes of the victims as they share their gut-wrenching stories about how a master manipulator controlled their lives. The docuseries stems from Zachary Heinzerling, the Academy Award-nominated director of the 2013 documentary film Cutie and the Boxer. While these crimes are unfathomable, but Heinzerling reiterates that sympathy and empathy for the survivors are necessary to understand what happened.
“When you see videos of these students admitting to these bizarre crimes, it’s hard to know what to make of it,” said Heinzerling in a Vulture interview. “I think the goal is to understand how it happened and to sympathize with the survivors and understand their story in a deeper way — and hopefully learn something about yourself and society.”
