Sometimes practised far away from the world and sometimes in the full glare of hostile media, there are thousands of new religions. With examples, such as the Moonies, Scientology, the Missionary Church of Kopimism, Paganism and the doomsday cult Heaven’s Gate, this film identifies some of the characteristics of these new religious movements and how some scholars see their rise as an example of a major cultural shift in contemporary societies where increasing numbers of people are losing faith in large institutions.