HBO Max Releases Spanish Docuseries 'Surviving the Jehovah's Witnesses'

A three-part documentary series about former Jehovah's Witnesses in Spain premiered on HBO Max on 20 February 2026. Released internationally as Surviving the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Spanish-language original carries the title Sobrevivir al Paraíso: Más allá de los Testigos de Jehová ("Surviving Paradise: Beyond the Jehovah's Witnesses").

The series was produced by BOXFISH for HBO Max Spain and directed by Pablo Aguinaga. It is based on the Spanish newspaper ABC's podcast Los expulsados del Paraíso: Sobrevivir a los Testigos de Jehová. Executive producers Edi Walter and Mariano Tomiozzo are credited for BOXFISH, with producers Bibiana González, Zaida Serrano-Piedecasas and María Rubio for Warner Bros. Discovery, according to HBO Max Spain's press materials.

It is a Spanish-produced, Spanish-language production centered on Jehovah's Witnesses in Spain, distributed on HBO Max's international platform. The English-language international title can be misleading: this is not a US or UK English-original documentary, and it should not be conflated with earlier English-language films on the same subject.

What the series examines

The three episodes are titled "Genesis," "Exodus," and "Apocalypse." They follow former members through an arc that runs from joining the organization, through expulsion or departure, to legal action, according to the platform's description and coverage in the Spanish outlet ReligiónDigital.

The topics addressed include reports of sexual and child abuse; the practice of confessing intimate details to congregation elders; shunning and disfellowshipping; the role of Armageddon in members' lives; restrictions on friendships and celebrations; LGBTQ+ discrimination; the refusal of blood transfusions; and the mental-health effects described by participants. HBO Max rated the series TV-14.

The series highlights a 2022 court case in the Madrid area, at the Juzgado de Primera Instancia nº 6 in Torrejón de Ardoz, in which the Association of Victims of Jehovah's Witnesses (Asociación de Víctimas de los Testigos de Jehová) defended its right to use the word "victims" in its name. Reporting on the series states that the ruling characterized the organization as a "destructive sect" ("secta destructiva") — a characterization attributed to that case, not made in this site's voice.

Participants and reception

The series features accounts from former Jehovah's Witnesses, who are not named here. Named expert participants include lawyer Carlos Bardavío, cult specialist Luis Santamaría, psychologist Miqueas Henares, and journalist José Ramón Navarro Pareja, per HBO Max Spain and the trade outlet Audiovisual451.

Reception has been mixed and, so far, thinly covered by major outlets. No reviews from major US or UK publications had been located at the time of writing; the available coverage rests on Common Sense Media, a small number of Spanish outlets, and user ratings. Common Sense Media called the series "informative, revealing" while criticizing the stylized editing as too lighthearted for the subject matter.

Director Pablo Aguinaga, describing the survivors' testimonies to ReligiónDigital, said they "were devastating; these were deeply broken people who had suffered greatly."

No public response from Jehovah's Witnesses or the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society to the series was located.