THE PATH

"The Path" is a slow but steady new drama from Hulu about a family in Upstate New York that is deeply enmeshed in a self-help movement called the Meyerists, a commune with all the telltale signs of being a scary cult. But "The Path" comes on gently rather than sensationally, as subtle as a ring at your doorbell and the offer of an informational pamphlet.

So what does "The Path" reveal? Created by Jessica Goldberg, "The Path" works best as an intense psychological study of an extended family whose members equate faith and loyalty with happiness. Beneath the veneer as a Pleasantville, viewers soon figure out that the Meyerists have a dangerous megalomaniac in their midst, Cal Roberts, a struggling alcoholic, convinced that he's the heir to the movement. Dancy flares his nostrils and mines his character's most menacing qualities as he bends Sarah to his will and turns her against Eddie, but his scenes can also veer a little too much toward the ridiculously tormented. 

True, it seems as if these people are all looney-tunes, but the pain they inflict on one another is a fascinating approach to the age-old story of relationships.