Orgasm Inc: The Story of OneTaste

Ah, this is yet another addition to the list of documentaries that highlight the ugly side of consumerist America and a cult that tries to capitalize on something that easily sells - SEX. The interviews focus on people who worked for and with Nicole Daedone, the founder and cult-like leader of OneTaste, a company that wanted to improve sexual wellness (especially, for women). The piece swerves between the fantastic yet dangerously coercive nature of Daedone and folks who've had to undergo multiple levels of bodily and psychological trauma as a result of being part of her "closely knit" team. The upper management apparently was in full favor of letting your inner beast loose in the act of sex, which enabled and condoned predatorial behavior.

What begins as a gleefully progressive way of giving women better orgasms, slowly evolves into something exploitative and traumatic. It comes as no surprise, as listening to Daedone speaking about rape and child molestation for a couple of minutes is sufficient for you to go WTF! To think such a company made millions of dollars over the years of its existence is a typical "American" thing to believe. OneTaste seems like another company that's targeting people's weaknesses, making you feel bad for everything you've been through in life (sexually or otherwise), and then asking you to pay big amounts on courses that are supposed to make everything better.

It's quite similar to a ponzi scheme; the difference being that you're exposing your mind, body, and financial status to possible harm. While much of the documentary revolves around the (mal)practices within the company and several interview snippets of Daedone's, the most impactful story comes at the end when a former employee speaks out, using her sister as a mouthpiece. Does it shock you that there are currently no ongoing litigations against Daedone or her company? Naah.

I was in OneTaste and it absolutely messed me up. People who harassed and violated me were welcomed in the community without even a pause. We were encouraged to always be friends and "stay connected". Imagine being told that after someones literally violated you. I heard of it happening often within the community. The leader cares more about money and herself than anything else and publicly condoned this behavior. It took me a lot of therapy to start having healthy relationships after I left. And yet, she still has a strong following. I think this is an important doc for anyone who'd like to be aware of cults, cult leaders and those in the sex positive space in general.

What happened here? A compelling story about a sex cult that teaches women and men about increasing orgasmic pleasure goes soft when it comes time to deliver. Even from a technical standpoint the film is poorly executed and rife with cliches. I feel for the people who were victims of Onetaste but the majority of the film actually celebrates the cult instead of exposing the predatory nature of the leader Nicole and her close followers. The extremely cliche b-roll shots of people laying in bed "thinking" and staring out a window with tears welling up are almost comical at times. With that said, it's interesting enough to learn that something like this existed and thrived with celebrities and the tech elite of Silicon Valley. Give it a watch if you are looking for some cheap entertainment (or to listen to in the background). HOWEVER.... what you won't find here is the savvy documentary style that Netflix has nailed so many times before. Shame.

As with many Netflix documentaries of late, the biggest flaw with this one is creating it too early. There are no conclusions at the end, no satisfying ending, simply "this is still ongoing." At least with The Tinder Swindler, the guy becomes destitute (although not for long before he's at it again) but at least it was something.

They do a good job in describing how the woman who created it ended up taking ideas from L Ron Hubbard and other people who created successful cults - I think the biggest difference is she after more than money; she was the epitome of "blame the victim" when it came to sex.

The line I found the most interesting (paraphrasing): "I don't know why people always say if women ran the world everything would be great, just look at OneTaste."

This documentary about Nicole Daedon and her OneTaste Company is interesting but completely misses the mark on its attempt to portray Daedon as a scammer and con artist. While there is clearly a cultish aspect of the personality and the work of Daedon it is not veiled. She is person that promotes female sexual empowerment and enlightenment through female orgasm. She also charges a lot of money for her programs. So what? The people that joined did so of their free will and were free to leave any time. Furthermore, it seems that the program was transparent in its focus on sexuality as a vehicle for self awareness. People's buyer's remorse or embarrassment over paying upwards of $30,000 doesn't;t make this a story of corruption or fraud. I thought the story is interesting but I felt like the documentarian was trying to manipulate the story.