The Family (2016): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 2016, The Family is a documentary film directed by Rosie Jones, running about 98 minutes. “Inside one of Australia's most notorious cults” — that tagline sets the tone.

What it’s about. 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.

Who’s in it. The Family stars Jordan Fraser-Trumble as Detective Lex De Man (young), Anne Hamilton-Byrne as Herself (archive footage), Bill Hamilton-Byrne as Himself (archive footage) and Lex De Man as Himself (interview).

How it landed. With an audience score of 7.5/10, The Family has been warmly received by audiences.

Where to watch. In AU you can stream it on DocPlay, Beamafilm, DocPlay Amazon Channel and Rialto Amazon Channel and rent or buy it from Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube and Beamafilm. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch The Family page.

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