The phrase “drinking the Kool-Aid” has long been a metaphor for buying into something that defies common sense. It was first inspired, however, by the horrifyingly literal events that took place at Jonestown on 18 November 1978, when the cult leader served cyanide-laced beverages to more than 900 members of his apocalyptic Peoples Temple.

In a bid to better understand how so many people fell under Jones’s thrall, the three-part docuseries deftly blends never-before-seen footage and recordings with eyewitness accounts from former members of the cult, including Thom Bogue, Leslie Wagner Wilson and Yulanda Williams.

Interviews with congress members and reporters who attended the scene are also included, and Special Ops Air Force Sgt. David Netterville (one of the first people to enter Jonestown in the immediate aftermath of the mass murder-suicide) shares his own story for the very first time.

The result? An “impressive example of investigative filmmaking – which promises to bring a new perspective to a chilling moment in recent American history, not to mention grant Jones’ victims a voice for the first time”.

You can stream Cult Massacre: One Day In Jonestown via Disney Plus from Monday 17 June.

Cult Massacre: One Day In Jonestown explores the largest mass murder-suicide in American history