The movie is about a couple who go to a resort on a motivational retreat. The attendees become prisoners of the people who run the retreat and suffer psychological torture and brainwashing. An overweight man is literally treated like a pig, made to oink, and wallow in mud; his abuse continues until he remembers a childhood memory of catching his mother and her female friend "licking each other" then used food to block that memory. That was the tame abuse. Another man wanted to quit smoking but the treatment escalated to having some thugs threaten to rape his wife. Another couple faced the threat of a thug going to their home, while they were trapped at the retreat, to beat up their mentally retarded child. The original couple resist and fight to escape but the other attendees are manipulated to become pitted against them.

I remember seeing this movie on HBO or Showtime in the 80s. I thought Michael Ontkean was the male lead but I don't see anything like that in his IMDB listing. They would treat various behavioral problems by humiliation. There was a hispanic guy that was too much of a martyr and so they put him up on a cross and mocked him or something like that.

Circle of Power(1981)


Edited to add: the overweight guy was Walter Olkewicz, who was Jacques Renault on Twin Peaks

Nice user name

Yeah, originally my last name was going to be Just2answerthis.

Eyejoined 2day

But you didn't. Total mindfuck!!!

The Day After (1983)

Thanks!



Researching '80s made-for-TV movies brought up several I hadn't thought about in years including: The Wave, Special Bulletin, and The Girl, The Gold Watch, and Everything.

I saw this movie on VHS back in the 80's but with the nudity I didn't think it was a made for TV movie.

Just2great!!

Good movie, by the way, but not made for TV. Wish it were released on DVD, along with director Bobby Roth's earlier The Boss's Son.