The fashion world knows how to make almost anything look beautiful, which is part of what makes the story behind HBO’s “Bring Me The Beauties: A Model Cult” so chilling. The new docuseries comes from Chris Smith (“American Movie,” “Fyre,” “Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond”), who turns his attention to Eternal Values, the late-’80s and ’90s cult that drew models and other high-profile figures into the orbit of Frederick von Mierers.
HBO’s own pitch is intriguing: “Supermodels, secrets, and a cult hiding in plain sight.” The series centers on Hoyt Richards, a former male supermodel who became involved with Eternal Values and later escaped with the help of his friend and fellow model Fabio Lanzoni.
Richards’ story is the way in. Through interviews and archival footage, “Bring Me The Beauties” traces how von Mierers built a world around beauty, status, spiritual promises, and control, pulling in people who were already living inside an industry built on attention and insecurity. The series also features former member and supermodel Jacki Adams, who contributed to Marie Brenner’s Vanity Fair feature “East Side Alien” and helped expose the group’s misconduct.
Smith has spent much of his career following an obsession until the sales pitch cracks. “American Movie” found comedy and heartbreak in no-budget ambition; “Fyre” watched influencer fantasy collapse into fraud; “Jim & Andy” pushed into the strange blur between performance and identity. With “Bring Me The Beauties,” the setting is more polished. Still, the rot underneath is familiar: people chasing transformation, a leader promising access to something higher, and a private world that kept looking glamorous from the outside long after it had become something else inside.
“Bring Me The Beauties: A Model Cult” premieres June 1 on HBO Max and airs weekly thereafter. Watch the trailer below.
