Veteran documentarian Louis Theroux is no stranger to covering toxic subcultures, previously profiling American neo-nazis, the Westboro Baptist Church and Scientology. But a new Netflix special is his most urgent work yet.

“Louis Theroux: Inside The Manosphere” examines the network of social media influencers and podcasters who speak directly to disenfranchised males, often introducing extremely homophobic and sexist messaging into their motivational words, financial advice and workout-based content. Because a tenet of this subculture is distrusting traditional media sources, Theroux is able to negotiate some incredible access to these blowhard men, who often walk back their worldviews when questioned about them directly, or when discussing them next to the women in their lives.

The documentary, which was released March 11, is also eye-opening in that these once-fringe viewpoints are now in the mainstream, with loyal fanbases.

Here, we recount five of the wildest moments from the doc.

Behavior only a mother could love

Theroux spends time with Harrison Sullivan, a 23-year-old best known as HSTikkyTokky, throughout the film. Sullivan’s words are frequently inflammatory — saying he’d disown his son if he were gay, referring to a female friend as his “dishwasher” and saying “Fuck the Jews” in order to “clipfarm” — and he noted that his mother would reject how he speaks.

“My mom would be disappointed that I said that,” he said. “She hates racism, she hates homophobia, she hates sexism.”

When we meet his mother later in the film, it seems like she’s quick to dispute her son’s extreme beliefs. But she soon starts criticizing Theroux’s line of questioning, saying, “You’ve done it just to get a reaction, so please don’t.” Whether his mother’s change in attitude was a parent doing anything to protect her son, or a dependent worried about her meal ticket, remains to be seen.

Holding all the cards in a relationship

Justin Waller, a colleague of fellow Manosphere influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate, flaunts his wealthy lifestyle and says his marriage has “one-way monogamy,” allowing him to date and be with other women. When Theroux interviews his wife, Kristen, we learn that they have two children and a third on the way. She describes their set-up as “lanes,” where her lane is raising the kids and housework and his lane is providing (or as he lovingly sums up parenthood, “I don’t do baths or diapers or anything like that.”) But the most shocking moment is when Theroux realizes that the couple isn’t married in the eyes of the state because of the “financial side.”

“It does seem more risky for me, but I don’t feel like I’m at risk,” Kristen said, and Waller changed the subject before she could think for too long about how screwed she would be if Waller ever left her.

Things get uncomfortable when women can speak freely

Theroux spends a significant amount of time with Amrou Fudl, better known as Myron Gaines, an extremely controversial podcaster who loves to slam women’s looks, says they shouldn’t vote or be in the military, and claims he also has a “one-way monogamy” relationship with his girlfriend, Angie — with the intention of having multiple wives in the future. Fudl is all bluster on his podcast, but the minute Theroux throws some softball questions at Angie, Fudl gets very uncomfortable before sending her away.

Asked about the potential of having multiple wives, Angie says, “I dunno. He has said that in the past. I’ll see when it happens. I don’t know how that would work,” and Fudl backtracks, saying, “That’s a bridge we’ll cross when we get there.”

Theroux says that the brief interview with Angie made Fudl “unhappy.” Later, while Theroux waited in the studio to record a segment for Fudl’s podcast, he struck up a casual conversation with a female booker named Icy. Fudl saw her talking with the filmmaker out of the corner of his eye while recording, and immediately texted Icy to stop talking to Theroux, which created another awkward moment as he tried to control the narrative.

A breath away from the White House

One troubling element is how many of these influencers are admired by the Trump family. Nicolas Kenn De Balinthazy, best known as Sneako, frequently puts out sentiments like “We should not let women vote” and the idea that society is secretly controlled by Satanists. He’s also a MAGA superfan who was at Trump’s inauguration and celebratory ball and says that Barron watches his content.

Waller shares that he’s been at Mar-a-Lago five or six times, and has been photographed with both Barron and Donald Trump. Coupled with the fact that his associates, the Tate brothers, have acquired plenty of goodwill with the right, it’s clear that the Trumps are tuned into the Manosphere.

Even worse, these influencers have scores of real-life fans

It’s one thing to have digital followers, but several times during the film, Sneako, Waller and Sullivan are approached by fans on the street who beg for pictures and are happy to justify their dark speech and praise them as thought leaders inspiring young men. It’s bleak!

Watch the “Manosphere” trailer below.