It’s been less than a month since Keith Raniere, founder of NXIVM was found guilty on seven criminal charges in a sex trafficking case, but Lifetime has already announced plans for a movie about the sex cult, complete with casting for their take on not only Raniere, but Smallville star Allison Mack who previous pled guilty to related charges of sex trafficking and more.
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According to TV Line, Supergirl alum Peter Facinelli is set to play Raniere while actress Sara Fletcher, who has appeared on television series such as NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS, as well as on Days of Our Lives, is set to play Mack. The film, NXIVM Cult: A Mother’s Nightmare will focus on actress Catherine Oxenberg’s fight to rescue her daughter, India, from the group. Andrea Roth will play Oxenberg while Jasper Polish will play India.
“When Catherine Oxenberg learns about a leadership seminar from a new organization called NXIVM, she decides to take 20-year-old India to the professional development meeting. Led by the extremely enigmatic Raniere, Catherine can’t help but shake the feeling there’s more than meets the eye with the self-help organization. Despite Catherine’s best efforts, India is drawn deeper into the cult, eventually joining a secret sorority of female members who are branded with the cult leader’s initials, ordered to maintain a restricted diet, and forced to recruit other women as sex slaves,” the film’s official description reads.
Last November, a report in the New York Times brought the world’s attention to NXIVM, an organization described by former members as a cult. As the story unfolded, it was reported that Mack was deeply involved in the organization, particularly in a subsect known as DOS in which members were locked in a master-slave hierarchy, with Mack reportedly serving as Raniere’s second-in-command. Raniere was arrested in Mexico last March while Mack was arrested a month later. She faced charges of sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy, and conspiracy to commit forced labor.
“As alleged, this long-running conspiracy crossed multiple avenues of criminal activity, which included, among other things, electronic monitoring; identity theft; extortion; victim smuggling; and illegal trafficking of a victim after a period of unlawful confinement. The details of these alleged crimes become more and more grim as we continue to dig deeper into the conduct of this organization and its intended mission,” William Sweeney, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York field office said last July. “Today’s superseding indictment highlights our commitment to bringing justice to NXIVM’s many victims.”
Mack ultimately pled guilty. Raniere was convicted in June. Mack is set to be sentenced in September.
As for NXIVM Cult: A Mother’s Nightmare, the film does not yet have a debut date but is expected sometime this fall.
