Spin Wars [Tribeca Festival Review]

by Mike McGranaghan

One mark of a good documentary is that it draws you into a subject you may otherwise have no interest in. I’ve never gone to a SoulCycle or Flywheel class, and I don’t own a Peloton, yet I was thoroughly captivated by Spin Wars. Philip Byron’s film had its world premiere at the 2026 Tribeca Festival. It’s a juicy tale of betrayal and revenge, told by people who are ready to spill all the tea.

The central figure here is Ruth Zukerman, a leader in the spin cycling form of exercise. She had the misfortune of getting into business with Julie Rice and Elizabeth Cutler. Together, they created SoulCycle, the ultra-trendy gyms where hot trainers would lead participants through exhausting bike exercises in candlelit rooms with pulsating music. So popular was SoulCycle that it took on almost cult-like dimensions - a quality they actively leaned into. Zukerman was responsible for designing the routines. Rice and Cutler took her work then cut her out of ownership. The company went on to become a national phenomenon and an almost literal goldmine.

Zukerman is interviewed and has no trouble expressing how infuriating the situation was, especially after her former partners convinced her to stay on as a trainer despite stabbing her in the back. She also discusses getting even by eventually creating a cutting-edge competitor, Flywheel, that took a considerable amount of wind out of SoulCycle’s sails. Until Peloton came along, that is. Her insights speak to the cutthroat nature of business, where friendship only goes a short distance.

Former SoulCycle employees are also here to talk openly about the many scandals that overtook the company, most notably an incentivization for trainers to have inappropriate relationships with clients. “By the end of class, they should either want to be you or fuck you,” one woman was shockingly told about her students. Trainers became like rock stars within the community, leading their egos to take on frightening dimensions. Particularly fascinating is a recounting of how one notorious trainer slept with the girlfriend of Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, who then made a concerted effort to destroy the company.

Spin Wars is filled with salacious stories and gossipy details. Consequently, there isn’t a boring moment in the movie’s 89-minute running time. But Byron also tells a timely tale about a business that built an entire mythology around itself, making its customers believe they were part of an elite experience that made them cooler and hipper than everyone else. That hubris proved to be SoulCycle’s ultimate downfall, as this illuminating and entertaining documentary makes crystal clear.

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