Louis Theroux is back with his documentary take on the growing conversation around a community and concept you may have heard of: the manosphere.
So, in short, the documentary is a lot. It involves watching Theroux meet and observe the lives and philosophies of numerous male influencers and entrepreneurs who embody the manosphere, a space of the Internet that is reportedly radicalising men into buying into a toxic form of masculinity that is harmful to all.
After the cultural impact of Adolescence – which explored the ways in which young boys are being radicalised into misogynistic violence against women online – and the popularity of influencers such as Andrew Tate, this documentary could not be more compelling or, truthfully, frightening.
So far, so controversial, and after all Theroux is no stranger to controversy. Just recently he has received criticism for his BBC documentary following violent ultra-Zionist settlers in Israel and others have argued he didn’t press musician Bobby Vylan further in an interview with him after Vylan called for the “death of every single IDF soldier”. Now, he turns his analysis to the manosphere.
Here are Glamour‘s 5 top disturbing takeaways from Louis Theroux’s Manosphere documentary.
“One-way” monogamy is gaining traction as a concept
A number of manosphere influencers talk about “one-way” monogamy with their female partners, something that they say has been agreed upon between themselves and their girlfriends. Essentially, in this heterosexual dynamic, the men are allowed to sleep with whoever they want, while the women remains faithful.
“I do whatever the f**k I want to do and she’s loyal to me. It’s monogamous on her end, open on my end,” vlogger Myron Gaines, one of Theroux’s interview subject, says. He adds that his partner Angie also packs his condoms for him when he goes away on trips. Another interview subject, podcaster Justin Waller, is also in a “one-way monogamous” relationship, and is defensive about this decision, referencing criticism and anger he has received for this. When Theroux visits and interviews his partner about her arguably trad wife life (Justin states that he doesn’t do nappies or other domestic work to help raise his children) she responds that “we don’t cross into each others lanes, it works for us”.
Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2026
Not many women are successfully interviewed for the documentary, for rather dark reasons
When Theroux talks to Myron’s partner Angie about his suggestion that he will eventually have “multiple wives”, things get uncomfortable fast. She looks extremely unimpressed at the prospect, responding “I’ll see when it happens”. When Theroux flags her discomfort, he brushes it off and asks Angie to clean the room up in front of them.