'Gwen Shamblin: Starving for Salvation': Release date and all you need to know about Lifetime movie
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: It's time for a "hallelujah" as the much-awaited trailer has dropped. Lifetime has released the trailer for the movie 'Gwen Shamblin: Starving for Salvation', which centers around the fitness guru and cult leader who changed the course of time through her Christian Diet Program, The Weigh Down Workshop, and founded the Remnant Fellowship. This isn't the first time Shamblin's life appears on screen as she was the subject of the 2021 HBO Max docuseries, 'The Way Down: God, Greed, and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin'. The upcoming movie will be led by Jennifer Grey, who is known for her phenomenal role as Jeanie Bueller in 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' and Frances 'Baby' Houseman in 'Dirty Dancing'.
Gwen Shamblin is known for her iconic hairstyle that's often described using the adage 'The higher the hair the closer to God' - an idiomatic expression referring to hairstyles from the 1960s, when the “beehive” hairdo was the ruling fad. However, in Gwen's case, the maxim was true in a more literal sense.
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Known for her harsh diets, Gwen Shamblin made money and fame after founding the Remnant Fellowship Church in 1999. Advertising her well-known Christian diet program, Shamblin wrote several books including 'The Weigh Down Diet and Rise Above'.
Who was Gwen Shamblin?
Often called a prophet by her Remnant Fellowship followers, Gwen Shamblin was known for her unique hairdo and unusual perspective on weight loss, which rested on the idea that it isn't food you need, but God. She rose to fame when she introduced her weight-drop workshop, which soon turned into a quasi-religion with a mass following, transforming her into something like a cult leader.
What is 'Gwen Shamblin: Starving for Salvation' all about?
The trailer that was released on Jan 9, 2023 on Lifetime's YouTube channel quickly grabbed eyeballs thanks to Jennifer Grey, who was seen with an uncanny resemblance to Gwen Shamblin. Based on a true story, the film revolves around the controversial religious cult leader and God-led diet creator who exhorted about the virtues of being thin. Shamblin’s story came to a catastrophic end in May 2021, when a plane crash killed her and her husband Joe Lara, their son-in-law, and four other Church leaders.
When will 'Gwen Shamblin: Starving for Salvation' release?
Directed by John L'Ecuyer and co-written by Richard Blaney and Gregory Small, the film will premiere on February 4, 2023 on Lifetime. Add it to your watchlist, if you haven't already.