Summary
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The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping
delves deep into the disturbing true story of the Academy at Ivy Ridge’s abuse and manipulation. - This hard-to-watch documentary stands out by focusing on the emotional journey of former students seeking redemption and facing their past.
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The Program
pushes boundaries with its intense storytelling, shedding light on the exploitation of parents and the horrors of systematic abuse.
Netflix has dedicated much of its original programming to true crime, with the platform boasting multiple docuseries covering all manner of famous cases and exposes, shedding light on the darker side of humanity. Undeniably, it has become a hub for true-crime fans to explore all manner of subjects, but not all series are made equal, and some end up resonating with or shocking viewers more so than others.
The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping has captured true-crime fans’ attention in more than one way, marking the first look into the Academy at Ivy Ridge and the almost decade of abuse the school was able to get away with. The content in the documentary has proved difficult for some viewers, and we will look at why The Program may be the hardest one to watch yet on the platform.
What Is The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping?
The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping, or The Program, is one of the newest Netflix docuseries focusing on crime and culture. The documentary revolves around the true story of the troubled youth program Academy at Ivy Ridge. In operation from 2001 to 2009, the school focused on reforming teens by using a series of controversial methods adapted from defunct programs, extreme cruelty (solitary confinement, physical restraint/abuse, a broken points system for reward/punishment), and creating a cult-like atmosphere that roped in both parents and students into false narratives, using ‘help’ as a means to make its owners rich in the process.
Leading the documentary are several students who were ‘enrolled’ in the school through their parents forcefully placing them there or being misled about the program. This includes and focuses heavily on Katherine Kubler and her friend Janja Lalich. Katherine Kubler, also the director of the docuseries, leads the investigation on the Academy at Ivy Ridge while exploring her strained relationship with her father. Much of the documentary is told through Kubler, who was enrolled for over a year at the Academy of Ivy Ridge facility when she was 15.
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How The Program Differs From Other Netflix Documentaries
Given Netflix’s continued focus on the true-crime genre, many touch on themes similar to those seen in The Program. This includes exploring subjects of child abuse in series like Scouts Honor: The Secret Files of the Boy Scouts of America and Take Care of Maya and investigating cults as seen in Wild Wild Country and The Cult of the Family. The docuseries also follows the same high-production standards fans have come to expect from the streaming platform in the true crime genre.
While not being unique in telling a story that melds corruption, abuse, and cult brainwashing (the three often go hand-in-hand), The Program differentiates itself by putting a sole focus on the students trying to find redemption both through investigating the school and facing the past and coming to terms with the extent of cruelty they were forced to adhere too to escape the school. The documentary also does a fantastic job of balancing the emotional elements of its storytelling with facts and the true story; this is not something that all Netflix docuseries seem to find the right balance, with sensationalism often over-emphasized.
This balance of real-life accounts and emotional exploration, combined with touching on various subjects stemming from the abuse seen at Ivy Ridge, makes The Program a unique and refreshing (in execution) Netflix docuseries. However, another undeniable factor that makes The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping stand out is that it is one of the most difficult Netflix documentaries to watch because of its content.
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What Makes The Program Hard to Watch
Several elements make The Progam difficult to watch over other Netflix documentaries, with some subjective and others objective. For certain, anyone with young children will find systematic abuse and the exploitation of parents’ emotions entirely unfathomable in its scope of planning and execution.
Getting these kids to tell their stories firsthand, and sometimes with accompanying footage taken from security cameras, will be difficult for any parent to approach. Yet, what is arguably the most resonating element of The Program is how well intertwined the personal accounts are into the story. While it will be most difficult for parents, it touches on many fundamentals of the teenage experience, and seeing that ripped away can be equally harrowing for anyone who can relate to struggling through that period.
There is also a degree of scope that pushes anger and frustration toward such institutions being allowed to operate and flourish, with the series even touching on the wilderness retreats for teens that have conned parents in Netflix’s Hell Camp: Teen Nightmare. Profiting off of child suffering is a harsh reality for any audience to face, and seeing actual abuse victims confront their abusers adds to the intensity and realism of the situation. This is most highlighted in a phone call with Tom Nichols, who tries to paint himself as a victim despite his work as Ivy Ridge’s public relations coordinator, tricking hundreds of parents into believing their children were in ‘good hands.’
Of course, many other elements feed into how the series is hard to watch. One of the more extreme examples is seeing a man, Quentin, recount what was done to him while sitting in the same room where the abuse took place. This is contrasted with footage of the type of ‘discipline’ the kids could face for anything as simple as smiling or looking out a window.
Comparatively, the juxtaposition of childhood innocence and wonder seen in Katherine Kubler’s early home movies compared to how she acted after finally leaving Ivy Academy can be equally unsettling. Still, it is a combination of emotional storytelling, images of happy children dirtied by the school’s systematic manipulation/abuse, and the exposure of those profiting off it all that makes The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping one of the hardest documentaries on Netflix to watch.
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Where to Watch The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping
The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping is available to stream exclusively on Netflix. The movie marks the first expose of Ivy Academy and its horrendous actions. For those who are interested in learning more about systematic abuse in the reform school system, the events portrayed in The Program sadly echo the extreme and infamous case of the Dozier School for Boys in Florida, which you can learn about by streaming Boys School on Tubi.
