CULTURED Curates an Incel Media Canon from Film, Literature, and Music
CULTURED magazine has compiled a curriculum of films, novels, albums, and documentaries that explore the incel (involuntarily celibate) subculture and its mainstreaming. The list includes Curry Barker's 2026 blockbuster 'Obsession,' whose protagonist Bear embodies male entitlement; Craig Gillespie's 'Lars and the Real Girl' (2007) as a pre-radicalization portrait; Car Seat Headrest's 2018 album 'Twin Fantasy' about obsessive infatuation; Olivia Wilde's 'Don't Worry Darling' (2022) critiquing trad-wife fantasies; Tony Tulathimutte's 2024 novel 'Rejection,' dubbed the first incel novel; Stephen Graham's Emmy-winning 2025 Netflix series 'Adolescence' on manosphere indoctrination of boys; Lydia Millet's 2025 story collection 'Atavists' showing incel diversity; Drew Hancock's 2025 film 'Companion' about a robot girlfriend; Japanese Breakfast's 2025 song 'Mega Circuit' examining toxic masculinity; Paula Bomer's 2025 novel 'The Stalker,' a darkly comic incel update of 'American Psycho'; and Louis Theroux's 2026 Netflix documentary 'Inside the Manosphere' featuring influencers like HSTikkyTokky and Myron Gaines. The article traces the incel archetype from Bret Easton Ellis's 'American Psycho' and Sam Mendes's 'American Beauty' to contemporary works, highlighting how social media algorithms fuel misogyny and self-hatred among young men.
Key facts
- Curry Barker's 2026 film 'Obsession' features an incel protagonist named Bear.
- 'Lars and the Real Girl' (2007) depicts a pre-radicalized incel with a sex doll.
- Car Seat Headrest's 'Twin Fantasy' album (2018) explores obsessive infatuation.
- Olivia Wilde's 'Don't Worry Darling' (2022) critiques trad-wife and incel fantasies.
- Tony Tulathimutte's 'Rejection' (2024) is called the first incel novel.
- Stephen Graham's 'Adolescence' (2025) shows how manosphere rhetoric indoctrinates boys.
- Lydia Millet's 'Atavists' (2025) features diverse incel subgenres including a bodybuilder.
- Drew Hancock's 'Companion' (2025) involves an AI sex robot used for murder.
- Japanese Breakfast's 'Mega Circuit' (2025) examines toxic masculinity's impact.
- Paula Bomer's 'The Stalker' (2025) is a satirical incel novel set in 1990s New York.
- Louis Theroux's 'Inside the Manosphere' (2026) documents online manosphere influencers.
- The article traces incel media roots to 'American Psycho' and 'American Beauty.'
Entities
Artists
- Curry Barker
- Craig Gillespie
- Ryan Gosling
- Paul Schneider
- Will Toledo
- Car Seat Headrest
- Olivia Wilde
- Florence Pugh
- Harry Styles
- Tony Tulathimutte
- Stephen Graham
- Owen Cooper
- Erin Doherty
- Lydia Millet
- Drew Hancock
- Jack Quaid
- Sophie Thatcher
- Michelle Zauner
- Japanese Breakfast
- Paula Bomer
- Louis Theroux
- Harrison Sullivan (HSTikkyTokky)
- Myron Gaines
- Bret Easton Ellis
- Sam Mendes
- Andrew Tate
- Jordan Peterson
Institutions
- CULTURED
- Netflix
- Warner Bros.
- MGM
- Dead Oceans
- Soho Press
- William Morrow
- W. W. Norton & Company
- HarperCollins
- Penguin Random House
- Bandcamp
Locations
- New York
- United States
- California