Twisted Yoga – Review | Apple TV Docuseries

TWISTED YOGA on Apple TV is yet another true crime documentary series about a cult. This time, it all begins with yoga, which obviously explains the title. As with any cult-focused true crime story, you may find yourself getting annoyed with the victims. However, I encourage you to try to keep an open mind. Read our full Twisted Yoga docu-series review here!

TWISTED YOGA is an Apple TV true crime docuseries in three parts. This time, we’re dealing with a yoga school that appears to effectively be a cult that has built a business on its female clients. Well, first, these female yogis will find themselves getting “initiated” by the leader. That in itself is a gross and terrible element that left me gaping at the screen as the stories are told.

Then, there’s a whole camgirl element to the yoga school. Why? Well, it’s a business thing, obviously, but “officially,” these camgirls are helping the male customers get enlightened through physical pleasure. I know, it all sounds like some sick joke, but as with any cult, they know how to pick their victims – or “members” – and have perfected their brainwashing over decades.

Continue reading our Twisted Yoga docuseries review below. Find it on Apple TV from Friday the 13th of March, 2026.

From the ashram to the guru to being a camgirl

First things first, Twisted Yoga deals with a yoga instructor turned guru, who has been investigated many times already. One of the locations in this yoga empire is located in my native Denmark. A quick Google search of the so-called guru’s name will result in cases dating back to 2009.

Also, if you look up the former leaders (none of whom are Danish, I’m pleased to report), they are listed as “actors” or directors”. Now, you may think this is because they’ve made yoga videos of some kind. However, you would be mistaken, as we’re talking adult movies.

Not what you would expect from a yoga studio, but hey, the concept of this yoga school has a lot to do with physical pleasure in the form of tantra. Also, they tend to find yoga students who are either in a vulnerable place in their life (such as having moved to a new country) or have been raised with religion as a fairly strict guideline.

Oh yeah, this particular yoga school is also very much into the Bible. Anything to keep its “students” in line, it would appear. As such, it’s eerily easy to get women from the ashram to the guru for initiation and then onto becoming a camgirl. It makes no sense when you witness this all from the sidelines, but as with any cult, they have perfected their method.

Also, everyone on the inside plays their part.

The creepy “guru” Gregorian Bivolaru

This is hardly the first time we’ve come across a cult that started with yoga. Also, I’m certain it won’t be the last. I mean, this particular yoga school (which operates under many different names) is still active. What they have in common is being under the influence of reclusive Romanian “guru” Gregorian Bivolaru.

He is the spiritual leader of these yoga studios, specializing in tantric rituals. Despite different names, the studios are all part of the same international network.

Obviously, some women managed to get out and are telling their story. As deep into this brainwashing program as they were, they did ultimately realize that this was more of a cult than a yoga studio.

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Not least as they each explain how they came to know that “Grieg” Bivolaru selected and summoned select female students to his Paris apartment. This was where the “private initiations” took place. Even hearing about the living conditions of this place makes me sick. Gregorian Bivolaru currently faces charges in France. These include human trafficking, kidnapping, and rape, so it’s very serious.

And yes, he is very creepy. Sure, maybe he had some appeal as a younger man (as shown in the pictures of him shared most often), but today, he looks more like a Josef Fritzl-type.

Watch Twisted Yoga on Apple TV

The three-part Apple TV series comes from the Academy Award and Emmy Award-winning filmmakers at Lightbox, in association with Ladywell Films. The docuseries is directed by Rowan Deacon, who previously made Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story. Eerily, that one was about a man all too similar to Bivolaru.

This true crime docuseries was produced by the two-time Academy Award-winning producer Simon Chinn (Man on Wire). Also producing are Emmy Award winner Jonathan Chinn (LA 92), Suzanne Lavery (Curse of the Chippendales), and Bernadette Higgins (The Tinder Swindler).

If you’re more into real-life horror than horror movies, then this true crime docuseries on Apple TV is a solid choice for Friday the 13th of March 2026. It’s certainly yet another example that real life is much worse (and sicker) than fiction.

Twisted Yoga premieres globally on Apple TV from March 13, 2026.