Academy Award-winning director Errol Morris, known for works such as The Thin Blue Line and The Fog of War, is directing a new Netflix documentary about cult leader Charles Manson titled CHAOS: The Manson Murders. This true crime documentary takes inspiration from the nonfiction book by journalist Tom O’Neill, written in collaboration with Dan Piepenbring.
The documentary revisits the infamous killing spree executed by the Manson family in 1969, featuring insights from O’Neill. O’Neill began investigating the case in 1999 as part of an assignment and over the subsequent decades uncovered a complex conspiracy. This includes alleged links to CIA mind control experiments, such as MK-Ultra, the use of LSD, and prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi. With these revelations, CHAOS seeks to determine if the official account of the Manson murders fully reflects the truth.
O’Neill comments that the narrative surrounding the Manson story "was managed and manipulated," suggesting discrepancies in the accepted account. He further contends in the trailer, "Manson became exactly what the CIA was trying to create."
The full trailer provides further details into the documentary’s exploration of this historical event. CHAOS: The Manson Murders is scheduled to premiere on Netflix on March 7.
