Wild Wild Country follows the relocation of a hippie cult from India to Oregon in 1981. You haven’t heard of Wasco Country? Nor had anybody else back then. This ghost town with a handful of god-fearing inhabitants, soon became Rajneeshpuram, the cult’s new homestead, home to a thousand disciples, and the subject of nationwide media attention. Spoiler: the town’s old residents did not think much of it.
Will there be debaucherous orgies, long-haired drop-outs, preaching and chanting? Yes. But, through historical footage and interviews with contemporaries, including Ma Anand Sheela, the power-hungry secretary of the orange-clad guru, you will also be absorbed by chemical weapons and attempted murder, one of the biggest immigration fraud case in US history, and, of course, the mysterious and not-so-mysterious ways that a charismatic cult attracts and manipulates its followers. Across six one-hour episodes, this Netflix miniseries by brothers Maclain and Chapman Way gives a captivating, exhaustive, and powerful account of one of the stranger moments in American media history.
"It's a twisty story that goes to very shocking and unexpected places."
— Brian Moylan
"It takes the time to dwell in every conceivable emotion, and your opinions of certain individuals may shift repeatedly throughout the six episodes."
— Ben Travers
When a controversial cult leader builds a utopian city in the Oregon desert, conflict with the locals escalates into a national scandal.
Sundance
1 nomination
Incredible. It’s more thrilling than most thrillers, and yet it has the added value of a true sociological / historical study. The Duplass brothers are geniuses.