After asking Bertrand to describe his experience in the coffin, the man eventually takes him to a countryside mansion, the headquarters to a cult called The Kingdom.

Although initially uncomfortable about being denied access to a phone, and unsettled by the sexual advances of a younger member, Maria (Léa Seydoux), Bertrand soon befriends a fellow member called Rachel and finds himself taking part in activities designed to bring him closer to the “pure existence” experienced by people like the Native Americans (photos of whom line the walls of the mansion).

After the group spend a long evening dancing in the woods, Bertrand watches a woman in a Venetian mask strip naked and drift into the river.

His two-week trial period with the cult complete, he returns to the city and attempts to explain what he's been through to his girlfriend, Louise, making mention of his transcendent moment with the woman in the river.

Unable to re-adjust, however, (and visited by a violent dream in which a man has his eyes gouged out with scissors), he quickly decides to drop his film and return to the cult, now more committed to its cause than ever.

Book IV – Commitment Things grow weirder as Uma introduces Bertrand to a room of sculptures resembling skinless bodies.