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The Family

The Family

Inside one of Australia's most notorious cults

Genres

Documentary

OverView

Anne Hamilton-Byrne was beautiful, charismatic and delusional. She was also incredibly dangerous. Convinced she was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, Hamilton-Byrne headed an apocalyptic sect called The Family, which was prominent in Melbourne from the 1960s through to the 1990s. With her husband Bill, she acquired numerous children – some through adoption scams, some born to cult members – and raised them as her own. Isolated from the outside world, the children were dressed in matching outfits, had identical dyed blonde hair, and were allegedly beaten, starved and injected with LSD. Taught that Hamilton-Byrne was both their mother and the messiah, the children were eventually rescued during a police raid in 1987, but their trauma had only just begun.

Others

Budget

$--

Revenue

$--

Status

Released

Original Language

English

Runtime

98 mins

Rating

7.5/10

Release Date

30 July 2016

Country

Australia

Cast

Jordan Fraser-Trumble

Jordan Fraser-Trumble

Detective Lex De Man (young)

Anne Hamilton-Byrne

Anne Hamilton-Byrne

Herself (archive footage)

Bill Hamilton-Byrne

Bill Hamilton-Byrne

Himself (archive footage)

Lex De Man

Lex De Man

Himself (interview)

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