Hulu’s original documentary series “Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence,” based on a true crime and released on February 9, recounts the iconic persuasion that happened with the students of Sarah Lawrence for a decade. They fell victim to a classmate’s dad, Lawrance (Larry) Ray, who mistreated, brutalized, and smuggled them for his gratification and wealth. The three-part documentary features media appearances with Larry Ray’s survivors to reveal the tale of his murky involvement with a group of youngsters for 10 years, along with footage and audio clips. Trigger warning: “Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence” is filled with traumatic and disturbing elements that might slit the ray of hope you have.
Spoilers Ahead
The Demonic Conspiracy Of Lawrence
The first episode of “Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence” opens with Max, Dan, Santos, Raven, Gabe, and Juli Anna narrating their favorite moments from their college days. During the fall of 2009, the students of liberal arts joined the prestigious institution of Sarah Lawrence College in New York. Their friendship became stronger over time; from reciting Shakespeare to dressing up absurdly, from climbing trees to not sleeping all night to watch the sunrise, they became like birds of a feather flocking together. The coolest nine babies were living their lives to the fullest in the Slonim Woods until Talia’s father, Lawrance Ray, kicked in after being paroled from prison. Everybody who met Talia Ray during her freshman year overheard her chat about how her father is a square shooter who’s been suppressed by a group of influential and revengeful men.
Soon enough, Larry, the ex-cop who claims to work for the CIA and NATO, becomes a friendly mentor to the students. Where the hostel offered peanut butter and toast, he used to present steaks and pizza for the buddies. Beginning with Talia’s friend Isabella Pollok, and Santos Rosario (Talia’s boyfriend), Larry appeared to take control of all the friends of his daughter within a few months. He not only listened to their problems, but he also kept the team engrossed in abstract ideas like truth, life, and justice. No matter how much negativity the students had in their minds, a single meetup with Larry would solve it all with all his positive power and energy, as it happened with Dan and his doubtful masculinity.
By 2011, during the summer vacation, five of them shifted to an apartment on East 93rd Street (Manhattan), where they were supposed to follow a disciplined routine like exercising, playing motivational music, maintaining cleanliness, and so on. Larry traced his fingers on Isabella to demonstrate to Dan a full-course tutorial on sexual activities; sometimes, he used to watch; otherwise, he was involved. The holidays went well for all as they themselves considered how it was a huge accomplishment to turn into confident human beings. Life in the residence hall was not dissimilar from surviving in a dorm room. There were dinner parties, sleepovers, movie screenings, and a community spirit that initiated long arguments that could last all night.
In their sophomore year, Yalitza also joined the gang, but most of them started losing their senses and became directionless. Larry slandered Santos for damaging equipment like cabinets, scrapers, mattresses, cookware, closet doors, etc., and asked him to compensate for all of it, which cost millions. Santos will be seen accepting his mistakes and asking for money from his parents and, later, from his friends.
In the meantime, Claudia mails the dean of Sarah Lawrence, taking the blame on herself for spreading rumors about Larry being an abusive, attention-seeking, manipulative, and sexually deviant man, declaring that Larry’s ex-wife had conned her to fabricate such things. But Raven, in the interview, confirms that Claudia had never made such allegations; rather, it is Larry who is safeguarding himself from the various crimes he had committed. As Julianna mentions, everyone sharing the room with Larry was pretty fragile in their thoughts. From waking up to doing regular chores, Larry had complete oversight of their lives.
Dinkum Oil Triumphs Over Whoppers
Lawrence Grecco forged the surname of his stepfather and became popular among the students as Lawrence Ray. In the second episode, the truth of Larry will unfold of how he not only stuck to party leaders, hoteliers, highest generals officials, and entrepreneurs but also teetered his personal and professional life to a foggy end, risking the future of the pupils. Back in the 1990s, Larry came across a talented detective named Bernie Kerik who had given his best to save Larry’s face, but it ended up in revenge.
While Isabella was trying to be the support system in Lary’s life, Felicia, the sister of Santos, a brilliant psychiatrist from LA with an amazing academic record, emerged on the scene. The love between Felicia and Larry kept growing over texts, phone calls, and dates. When Felicia got attacked by Larry’s enemies, he assured her that it was all done by her parents. It didn’t stop there, as she was misinformed that her father had tried to abuse her since childhood. How can a man be so pathetic that he manipulated fresh minds, risking their whole future! Dan, on the other hand, after being physically tortured, left the apartment to start from scratch.
Larry, the camouflager, discovered private details about the victim’s lives, struggles, and insecurities – then forced them to admit the things that they had no clue of (like poisoning with mercury). He asked Claudia to pay him back through prostitution. Larry’s sadistic exploitation took every piece of Felicia, Isabella, Claudia, and others, leaving them with nothing. A few of them, including Daniel and Yalitza, were able to flee from Larry’s violence by 2016, whereas others were shackled until his arrest in 2020.
Larryland Evacuated
The first two episodes give an idea of how the father figure turned into a full-grown zombie, which is absolutely nerve-racking. The parents believed that their children are good at heart; it was Larry who drove them crazy to the extent that he knocked down all their relationships in a second. The last episode starts with Isabella and Felicia sharing a flat, taking therapies, and trying their best to embrace the positive sides of life.
The trio siblings – Yalitza, Santos, and Felicia haven’t reunited in the past few years or been in contact. Isabella is said to have endorsed Ray’s anguish and helped him all the way, saying that she doesn’t regret anything as she never settled for less. The victims of the hunter confess every act of physical, mental, and sexual harassment that they had been bearing with for years. The prayer of the mother is finally answered as Felicia calls her up and eventually patches up. Larry’s crimes were detailed in an article written in 2019 that included statements from victims’ families. He was detained by the FBI in February 2020. Lawrence was found guilty of a number of charges in April 2022, including wire fraud, forced labor, sex trafficking, and corruption, and was finally sentenced to 60 years behind bars in January 2023.
It’s disturbing how an encounter with a human can set off a series of happenings that can entirely thwart your existence. The director, Zachary Heinzerling, ended up getting the interview, and how he proposed the culpability of capturing people at such a sensitive time is much appreciated in order to disclose the identity of the cult monster. It’s not simply a docuseries; it’s a perceptive societal research study of how our brain cells can be easily triggered into believing in a completely fictional reality.