Writer Varity Lopez tells the story of her six years inside Sukyo Mahikari, a religious group from Japan with all kinds of red flags. This feature is about finding belief in strange places and how something as small as a headache can lead to indoctrination. This is a stunning first person account of going inside and finding your way out something that comes to control your life.

#igotout is the best cult story we’ve heard all year. In this interview with the founders we discuss how the movement came to be and where we’d like to see it go from here.