The Cult of the Family

2019
5.0
2 reviews
Eligible
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Season 1 episodes (3)

1 Part 1: Unseen, Unheard, Unknown
3/12/19
Season-only
In 1987 a teenage girl escapes from a remote lakeside compound. She triggers police and community services to raid the property and rescue her brothers and sisters - a group of bleached-blond children - from their isolation. Who are these children? What is this cult called The Family?
2 Part 2: Question of Identity
3/19/19
Season-only
A total of 28 children were brought up by the Hamilton-Byrnes, hidden from the outside world at their property on picturesque Lake Eildon, 240km north east of Melbourne. The children rescued from the cult struggle to establish a 'normal' life. They discover they have been lied to about the identity of their biological parents. It's a difficult investigation to match DNA and discover the truth behind forged birth records.
3 Part 3: In Search of Justice
3/26/19
Season-only
The cult's solicitor reveals enough evidence for a warrant to be issued for Anne's arrest and extradition back to Australia. With the assistance of Interpol and the FBI, Operation Forest tracks Anne and her husband Bill down to their isolated retreat in the Catskill Mountains, upstate New York and arrests them. Anne pleads a heart condition but when one of Bill's cellmates is murdered he persuades Anne to return to Australia to face justice.

About this show

The series spans over half a century, digging deep into the cult of The Family and its duplicitous, alluring leader. At the heart of her cult was a dark and terrible secret - a bizarre experiment to raise a 'master race' of children who would save the world after Armageddon.

Ratings and reviews

5.0
2 reviews
Serena Catilova
February 2, 2020
I was gifted Dr. Sarah's book by the publisher. As a child in Vic., I recall snippets of this story as it happened. Watching this makes me sick at what the Govt and society put unmarried mothers through - the consequences all suffered - sexual assaults, beating and drugging. Anne was such a pretty mother - no wonder people have a turmoil of emotions. Vulnerable and alone in this family, but they all have the same cultured voices and high intelligence. Poor cops and poor kids - made me cry a lot