Amy Beaufort, also known as Freya Haywood, is the main character in the Hulu adaptation of J. P. Pomare’s popular novel In the Clearing. The TV series, titled The Clearing, delves into Amy’s personal struggles as a young girl in a cult called “The Kindred” and later as a mother of two. The show draws significant inspiration from the real-life Australian cult known as “The Family,” which was led by Anne Hamilton-Byrne, considered one of history’s most infamous cult leaders. In “The Family,” children were made to believe they were siblings, with Anne as their biological mother. They endured physical abuse, forced drug administration, and other horrific punishments. One of these children, Sarah Moore, eventually left the cult and contacted the police, leading to an investigation in 1987. In The Clearing, Amy’s character represents Sarah Moore, who bravely alerted the authorities and played a crucial role in...
- 7/8/2023
- by Poulami Nanda
- Film Fugitives
Adrienne Beaufort, portrayed by Miranda Otto, is the main antagonist in the Australian thriller series The Clearing, which is a Hulu Original adaptation of J. P. Pomare’s renowned novel In The Clearing. The series draws inspiration from real-life cult leader Anne Hamilton-Byrne and her new age group known as “The Family.” In the show, Miranda Otto’s portrayal of Adrienne captures the essence of Hamilton-Byrne, depicting her as an incredibly heartless and cruel individual. Otto’s performance brings the character of Adrienne Beaufort to life, making her one of the most menacing villains in the history of cults.
Spoilers Ahead
How Did Ada Smith Turn Into An Enlightened Being Known As ‘Maitreya’?
Adrienne Beaufort, originally named Ada Smith and born in the 1920s, had a challenging upbringing. She was raised by her father after her mother’s struggle with mental health. Ada’s mother was eventually diagnosed with a...
Spoilers Ahead
How Did Ada Smith Turn Into An Enlightened Being Known As ‘Maitreya’?
Adrienne Beaufort, originally named Ada Smith and born in the 1920s, had a challenging upbringing. She was raised by her father after her mother’s struggle with mental health. Ada’s mother was eventually diagnosed with a...
- 7/6/2023
- by Poulami Nanda
- Film Fugitives
Based on J.P. Pomare’s novel In the Clearing, the Hulu original series The Clearing dives into a gripping story inspired by real-life events surrounding an Australian cult known as “The Family.” The show, with its first three episodes premiering on May 24th, 2023, offers a fictionalized portrayal of the cult and its charismatic leader, Adrienne, portrayed by Miranda Otto. Adrienne is a character based on the notorious cult leader Anne Hamilton-Byrne, who initially worked as a yoga teacher before ascending to the role of a self-proclaimed guru within her New Age group. In real life, Anne Hamilton-Byrne founded “The Family” during the 1960s in Australia. Although the group initially presented itself as a spiritual new-age group centered around yoga and meditation, it eventually came to light that they engaged in abusive and manipulative practices. While the Hulu series The Clearing is a work of fiction, it is heavily inspired by...
- 7/6/2023
- by Poulami Nanda
- Film Fugitives
A new mystery thriller from Hulu called The Clearing features a fictionalized version of the Family, a real-life new-age cult founded by Anne Hamilton-Byrne. Based on the book by J. P. Pomare, the television series The Clearing is about a cult that Adrienne, also known as Maitrya, is setting up, in which she coerces her followers into thinking that Adrienne is a supernatural person. However, the plot also focuses on a single mother, Freya Heywood, who seems to have a strange connection with this cult, leaving her always worried that her son would be taken away by them.
Spoilers Ahead
Who Was The Leader Of The Cult?
Episode 1 began with a young teenage girl named Amy, who had bleached white hair, reluctantly assisting two others in kidnapping a little girl named Sara. They brought Sara to a mysterious location, where many other children with bleached white hair welcomed her. Tasmin,...
Spoilers Ahead
Who Was The Leader Of The Cult?
Episode 1 began with a young teenage girl named Amy, who had bleached white hair, reluctantly assisting two others in kidnapping a little girl named Sara. They brought Sara to a mysterious location, where many other children with bleached white hair welcomed her. Tasmin,...
- 5/24/2023
- by Poulami Nanda
- Film Fugitives
The Family, also known as the Santiniketan Park Association and the Great White Brotherhood, was an Australian New Age cult led by Anne Hamilton-Byrne, one of few women to ever lead a cult. Elements of this story inspired J. P. Pomare’s novel “In the Clearing,” which in turn is the basis for the new Hulu limited series “The Clearing,” co-created by Matt Cameron (“Baron”) and Elise McCredie (“Stateless”), with additional writing from Osamah Sami (“Ali’s Wedding”).
Continue reading ‘The Clearing’ Review: Teresa Palmer & Miranda Otto Can’t Save An Underwhelming Hulu TV Drama About Cults at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘The Clearing’ Review: Teresa Palmer & Miranda Otto Can’t Save An Underwhelming Hulu TV Drama About Cults at The Playlist.
- 5/17/2023
- by Marya E. Gates
- The Playlist
Plot: An emotional and psychological thriller that follows the nightmares of a cult and a woman who’s forced to face the demons from her past in order to stop the kidnapping and coercion of innocent children in the future. The series burrows under the skin and inside the mind, blurring the lines between past and present, reality and nightmare in a truly unnerving way.
Review: We cover a lot of series here at JoBlo.com, but most are produced Stateside. With so many shows out there, it is challenging to pick and choose international productions. Occasionally, a series boasts a cast that is too impressive to pass up. The Clearing, based on a novel by J.P.Pomare and inspired by an actual cult, stars a stellar roster of Australian talent, including Teresa Palmer, Mirando Otto, Guy Pearce, Kate Mulvany, and more. While cultural elements make this series distinctly foreign,...
Review: We cover a lot of series here at JoBlo.com, but most are produced Stateside. With so many shows out there, it is challenging to pick and choose international productions. Occasionally, a series boasts a cast that is too impressive to pass up. The Clearing, based on a novel by J.P.Pomare and inspired by an actual cult, stars a stellar roster of Australian talent, including Teresa Palmer, Mirando Otto, Guy Pearce, Kate Mulvany, and more. While cultural elements make this series distinctly foreign,...
- 5/17/2023
- by Alex Maidy
- JoBlo.com
Miranda Otto, Jesse Spence and Guy Pearce are among the high-profile stars featuring on Disney+’s debut slate in Australia and New Zealand.
Announced at an event at Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art, the 2022/23 slate comprises three dramas, four documentaries and two lifestyle/general factual entertainment series. Several are for Disney+’s adult vertical Star.
On the scripted drama front, The Clearing is adapted from Jp Pomare’s novel ‘In the Clearing’ and is inspired by Australian cult The Family and its founder Anne Hamilton-Byrne, one of the few female cult leaders in history.
Teresa Palmer (A Discovery of Witches), Miranda Otto (The Usual Suspects) and Guy Pearce (Jack Irish) lead the cast, alongside the lies of Hazem Shammas (Safe Harbour), Mark Coles-Smith (Mystery Road), Tom Budge (Bloom).
Written and created by Matt Cameron (Jack Irish) and Elise McCredie (Stateless) alongside co-writer Osamah Sami (Ali’s Wedding), it comes from...
Announced at an event at Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art, the 2022/23 slate comprises three dramas, four documentaries and two lifestyle/general factual entertainment series. Several are for Disney+’s adult vertical Star.
On the scripted drama front, The Clearing is adapted from Jp Pomare’s novel ‘In the Clearing’ and is inspired by Australian cult The Family and its founder Anne Hamilton-Byrne, one of the few female cult leaders in history.
Teresa Palmer (A Discovery of Witches), Miranda Otto (The Usual Suspects) and Guy Pearce (Jack Irish) lead the cast, alongside the lies of Hazem Shammas (Safe Harbour), Mark Coles-Smith (Mystery Road), Tom Budge (Bloom).
Written and created by Matt Cameron (Jack Irish) and Elise McCredie (Stateless) alongside co-writer Osamah Sami (Ali’s Wedding), it comes from...
- 5/17/2022
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
In the 1960s, Anne Hamilton-Byrne was a glamorous and charismatic former yoga teacher when she founded “The Family” — which turned out to be a sinister cult. She believed she was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ and was the mastermind of the sect, founding it with renowned physicist Dr Raynor Johnson. Over the years they managed to acquire various children either thorough adoption scams or from other members of the cult, then brainwashed them while Anne raised them as her own. The 28 children — some brought into the sect at a very young age — would be dressed identically, and...read more...
- 12/17/2017
- by Julian Cheatle
- Monsters and Critics
From war-torn Sudan to Wagga Wagga, a tight bond between director and subject fuels this deeply humane documentary about one woman’s struggle to fit in
Does the strength of every documentary ultimately lie with its subject? A supposed truism says that yes, it does, but for a long time I’ve been in two minds about it. Extraordinary real-life stories can be explored in ordinary films (the recent The Family about Anne Hamilton-Byrne’s notorious LSD and peroxide-enhanced Australian cult comes to mind) just as profound experiences can be shaped from seemingly superficial settings, as in Gayby Baby director Maya Newell’s first doco, Richard – a touching portrait of a Chihuahua-loving toyshop owner.
But still, documentaries like the inspiring and deeply humane Constance on the Edge – about Constance Okot, a lively, compassionate but troubled Sudanese refugee – make me think twice.
Continue reading...
Does the strength of every documentary ultimately lie with its subject? A supposed truism says that yes, it does, but for a long time I’ve been in two minds about it. Extraordinary real-life stories can be explored in ordinary films (the recent The Family about Anne Hamilton-Byrne’s notorious LSD and peroxide-enhanced Australian cult comes to mind) just as profound experiences can be shaped from seemingly superficial settings, as in Gayby Baby director Maya Newell’s first doco, Richard – a touching portrait of a Chihuahua-loving toyshop owner.
But still, documentaries like the inspiring and deeply humane Constance on the Edge – about Constance Okot, a lively, compassionate but troubled Sudanese refugee – make me think twice.
Continue reading...
- 5/3/2017
- by Luke Buckmaster
- The Guardian - Film News
Cruel and charismatic, Anne Hamilton-Byrne was the Australian leader of a doomsday cult who thought she was the Messiah. Abigail Haworth on the woman behind The Family
Anne Hamilton-Byrne wore pearls and Chanel perfume. She played the harp and sang soprano. She had blonde hair, styled in waves that caught the light. As leader of The Family, the Australian doomsday cult she founded in the 1960s, she claimed to be Jesus reborn as a woman. Much of her power, say her former followers, lay in her grey-blue eyes. “In ancient times we hear about enchantresses who could enslave people with one glance,” says ex-acolyte Fran Parker. “She had eyes that looked through your soul.” Hamilton-Byrne’s ultimate tool of enslavement, however, was something she pinpointed herself in a rare radio interview after the cult’s devastating abuses were exposed. “It was love. Just love.”
I’ve been waiting for you.
Anne Hamilton-Byrne wore pearls and Chanel perfume. She played the harp and sang soprano. She had blonde hair, styled in waves that caught the light. As leader of The Family, the Australian doomsday cult she founded in the 1960s, she claimed to be Jesus reborn as a woman. Much of her power, say her former followers, lay in her grey-blue eyes. “In ancient times we hear about enchantresses who could enslave people with one glance,” says ex-acolyte Fran Parker. “She had eyes that looked through your soul.” Hamilton-Byrne’s ultimate tool of enslavement, however, was something she pinpointed herself in a rare radio interview after the cult’s devastating abuses were exposed. “It was love. Just love.”
I’ve been waiting for you.
- 11/20/2016
- by Abigail Haworth
- The Guardian - Film News
The tangled, creepy, improbable story of the cult and its charismatic leader proves too much for this higgledy-piggledy documentary
The formation of Melbourne-based cult The Family and the behaviour of its charismatic leader – a yoga teacher who claimed, as you do, to be Jesus Christ reincarnated – is a terrific story, full of incredulous events and hair-raising details.
Teaching a hodge-podge of eastern mysticism and Christianity, Anne Hamilton-Byrne was the group’s self-appointed head honcho, who sat on a literal throne and fed her home-schooled young followers LSD.
Continue reading...
The formation of Melbourne-based cult The Family and the behaviour of its charismatic leader – a yoga teacher who claimed, as you do, to be Jesus Christ reincarnated – is a terrific story, full of incredulous events and hair-raising details.
Teaching a hodge-podge of eastern mysticism and Christianity, Anne Hamilton-Byrne was the group’s self-appointed head honcho, who sat on a literal throne and fed her home-schooled young followers LSD.
Continue reading...
- 8/1/2016
- by Luke Buckmaster
- The Guardian - Film News
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