A 26-year-old filmmaker has revealed the devastating moment she discovered one of America's most notorious serial ki**ers was her biological grandfather.
Sophia Maddox learned after a DNA test in 2022 that her father, Daniel Arguelles, was the previously unknown son of cult leader Charles Manson.
The shocking discovery has now become the focus of Hulu's documentary My Grandfather Charles Manson, where she also examines the "eerie" parallels between Manson and her own father.
Highlights
- A DNA test in 2022 revealed Charles Manson was filmmaker Sophia Maddox's biological grandfather.
- Her new documentary uncovers “eerie” parallels between Manson and the father who raised her.
- Sophia adopted Manson's mother's maiden name instead of his own to acknowledge her biological heritage.
One viewer reacted, "Finding out something like this about your own family history must be incredibly difficult to process."
Filmmaker Sophia Maddox discovered through a DNA test in 2022 that Charles Manson was her grandfather
Image credits: sophiawph
Sophia Maddox’s father, Daniel Arguelles, had spent decades wondering about the identity of the man who had abandoned him before he was born, often telling his daughter that he wished he could meet his biological father one day.
That lifelong mystery was finally solved in 2022 when Daniel submitted a home DNA test through Ancestry.com.
The results linked him to Michael Brunner, one of Charles Manson's publicly known sons, prompting further investigation that eventually confirmed that the infamous cult leader was Daniel's biological father.
The revelation forced Maddox to confront a reality she never imagined.
Image credits: Sahm Doherty/Getty Images
"I come from a m***erer. Who the f**k would accept me?" she says in the opening moments of My Grandfather Charles Manson.
Speaking about the emotional weight of the discovery, Sophia later explained that storytelling had always been her way of making sense of the world around her.
"I grew up kind of lonely, and when you grow up pretty isolated and lonely, you want to be heard and seen."
She added, "I think it nurtures you to want to tell people and shout from the rooftops who you are and what your story is."
"That's just how I was built and raised, to be a storyteller, and maybe hopefully this allows someone else to feel a little less lonely."
The 26-year-old uncovered "eerie" similarities between her father and Manson over the years
Image credits: Hulu
As production on the documentary progressed, the filmmaker reportedly discovered uncomfortable similarities between Charles and her father, despite the two having never met.
"I'm doing some research now, and the similarities between my dad and Charles are kind of eerie from birth," Maddox says in the documentary.
One of the most striking connections, she explained, was their shared struggle with identity and belonging.
Like Manson, Daniel grew up without knowing his biological father, spending much of his childhood feeling isolated and searching for a sense of purpose.
Image credits: Hulu
Moreover, both men pursued creative careers, with Daniel building a life as a writer, filmmaker, actor, and singer, while Charles famously chased unfulfilled dreams of becoming a musician before his life descended into crime.
Sophia also began recognizing recurring patterns of loneliness and mental health struggles throughout her family tree.
The most significant difference, however, was that Daniel consciously set out to become the father he never had.
Maddox recalls growing up surrounded by affection, as her father was determined to give her the stable childhood he himself had been denied.
Reportedly, Sophia legally adopted Manson's mother's maiden name instead of his surname to acknowledge her biological heritage
Image credits: Hulu
Although the documentary began as an attempt to understand her family's past, the filmmaking process ultimately fractured Maddox's relationship with her own father.
According to her, Daniel struggled immensely after learning he was Charles’s biological son.
The discovery forced him to question his own identity, while the documentary required him to repeatedly revisit painful memories.
As the production moved forward, Daniel reportedly worried that publicly revisiting the family's connection to Manson would only deepen his daughter's emotional burden, while Maddox believed confronting the truth was the only way either of them could move forward.
The disagreements eventually culminated in a confrontation captured on camera, after which the pair stopped speaking altogether.
Despite the estrangement, the 26-year-old insists she has never stopped loving her father.
"He raised me with so much love. We still haven't spoken, but my door is always open," she said in a clip.
"My processing time is going to be different than his. I've come to accept that, love him from afar, and be grateful for what he gave me."
Today, the two remain estranged, but Sophia hopes her father will eventually watch the completed documentary and realize that, despite everything, he succeeded in being a loving father to her.
Maddox hopes the new documentary will help others like her confront generational trauma
Image credits: Hulu
While the documentary delves into one of America's darkest family legacies, Maddox says the film was never intended to glorify the cult leader or sensationalize his crimes.
Instead, she hopes it encourages conversations about inherited trauma, mental health, and the fear of being defined by the actions of previous generations.
The project also prompted another deeply personal decision.
Born Sophia Arguelles, using the surname her father had inherited from his stepfather, she legally changed her last name to Maddox during the making of the documentary.
Rather than adopting the infamous Manson surname, she chose Maddox, the maiden name of Charles’s mother, Kathleen Maddox, as a way to acknowledge her biological ancestry without embracing the stigma attached to her grandfather's name.
Image credits: Hulu
The choice quickly caught the attention of viewers online, with one person commenting, "Where does her last name come from? Charlie's mother's name was Maddox."
Others expressed, "Isn’t it kinda weird that Mansons mother’s last name was also Maddox, same as the granddaughter even though she knew nothing of her."
By the end of the project, rather than allowing Manson's name to define her family, Sophia believes that understanding the past has given her the freedom to move on.
Released on Wednesday, July 22, the documentary is available to stream on Hulu and Disney+ in select countries.
“Children are not responsible for the sins of their fathers. May she find peace through faith in her own goodness,” wrote one netizen
