Twisted Yoga, a new docuseries coming to Apple TV on March 13th as part of the 2026 TV schedule, looks disturbing and crazy. In the trailer, I couldn’t help but get creepy NXIVM vibes from it, or something like a cross between NXIVM and Netflix’s Wild, Wild Country from a few years ago. I can’t say that I’m excited about watching this documentary, but I will be watching it.
Twisted Yoga Is A True Story
It probably doesn’t need to be said, but Twisted Yoga tells a true story. It is about a truly horrifying man, Romanian tantric yoga instructor Gregorian Bivolaru. Based on his criminal record, Bivolaru sounds like a real monster. He’s been charged (and convicted at times) with human trafficking and sex crimes all over Europe over the last 20 years, but has somehow mostly managed to stay out of jail this whole time. At present, he is under lock and key in France, awaiting yet another trial.
Bivolaru’s story, before he started getting into the horrifying crimes this documentary will certainly (and rightfully) focus on, sounds fascinating on the surface. He was born under the communist regime in Romania in the 1950s and began practicing yoga in the 1970s. It was an illegal practice under the brutal regime, and he was arrested multiple times before the Eastern Bloc collapsed in 1989.
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He eventually founded the Movement for Spiritual Integration into the Absolute in the wake of the fall of the Berlin Wall, which, according to its website, operates in 34 countries, including Bivolaru's native Romania. According to multiple sources, the guru has been charged with dozens of crimes connected with the organization, including charges for tax evasion, sexual exploitation and human trafficking, among other crimes. He’s been convicted of some of those crimes, but has basically led a life on the run from them.
From The Trailer, It Looks Like Some Other Powerful Docuseries
Given the subject matter and the style of the trailer, I immediately got the same vibes as a few recent docuseries that have captivated me. The first is Wild, Wild Country, which is about a sex cult called the Rajneesh movement. The series, which is still available with a Netflix subscription, is, as the title suggests, a wild ride. Like Twisted Yoga, it highlighted the use of Indian tradition and religion to form the basis of the cult and the crimes that came out of it.
The second docuseries to come to mind is The Vow, which is available with an HBO Max subscription. That told the story of another organization that turned into a sex cult for the benefit of its leader, Keith Raniere. That story involved celebrities and a multilevel marketing scheme, but any time the leader of a business or a supposed non-profit organization turns something into something that seemingly only exists to satisfy the leader’s sexual appetites, I can’t help but be reminded of The Vow.
It’s also worth noting that Twisted Yoga is sure to draw comparisons to Netflix’s Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator, from 2018. It’s going to be a disturbing watch with my Apple TV subscription, just as these others were. They obviously remain popular subjects, and I don’t know what that says about us (and me).
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