In 1921 in Sale, a woman named Evelyn Edwards was born. In 2023, more than one hundred years later, the very first Australian show produced for Disney+ is a psychological thriller series largely based on the life of this woman, who had changed her name to Anne Hamilton-Byrne and was the leader of an infamous doomsday cult called The Family.
The Clearing is an eight-part series which aired its finale this month, and is an adaptation of the novel In the Clearing by J. P. Pomare, which was released just months after Hamilton-Byrne’s death in 2019 at the age of 98. This won’t be an easy watch for some, as it deals with crimes against children and draws inspiration from real events.
The story follows Freya, played by Teresa Palmer, who must confront her own past with ‘The Kindred’, the show’s stand-in of The Family. Freya in the present may be out of the cult, but The Kindred was her family, so they’re never far away, and trauma is always there. The series also takes place in the past and follows the kids’ experience in the cult.
Miranda Otto also stars as Adrienne, a fictional version of Hamilton-Byrne. Ms Otto and the creative team have clearly studied the real-life cult, as the Adrienne you see in the show and the real woman you see in the documentaries have incredible similarities, such as how they harbour uncomfortable strength over their loyal disciples. You hope everything turns out okay for Freya and the kids in the past, and feel dread when Adrienne shows up.
Adrienne, like Hamilton-Byrne, id capable of showing incredible warmth, but they will take advantage of that to make you do what they require. And Ms Otto certainly looks the part too, so props to the wardrobe and make-up team. Just like the real cult, Adrienne and her followers drug people with LSD, and raise children in isolation.
Adrienne causes direct and indirect destruction everywhere. She has Guy Pearce’s character under her charm and control, and his loyalty to her knows no limit. He’s a very smart, university-educated man, but even he can fall for her tricks.
Ms Palmer brings a haunting darkness to Freya. You know from the start that she’s had a very tough upbringing, and the series gradually reveals what she’s been through. A special shout out must go to all the child actors who played the kids in the cult. The group of young ones are fearful of their family, but also love and care for them. It can’t have been easy for them to perform these roles.
The show feels very grounded in reality. It doesn’t go for full-on horror or supernatural where black magic and demons show up; The Clearing knows that real life can be scarier than fiction. It’s obvious which characters and scenes are based on real people and real events. Location is also a very important part of each episode. There’s many wide shots of the lakes and forests in Victoria where the series was filmed, and the dreary look of each scene is masterful.
The show wraps up in a nice little bow, so every reveal feels earned and there are no unanswered questions. Eight episodes is an easy binge, and it doesn’t overstay its welcome, unlike its cruel cult leader. All episodes are available on Disney+.
Who were The Family?
Anne Hamilton-Byrne was a yoga teacher and headed The Family, also known as the Santiniketan Park Association or Great White Brotherhood, and was most active from the 1960s to the 1990s.
The doomsday sect’s followers believed Hamilton-Byrne was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, with the religion a combination of Christian and Eastern philosophies.
Hamilton-Byrne was the eldest of seven children and spent time in orphanages after her mother was sent to an asylum. She’s believed to have grown up in Sale and Melbourne and her father had abandoned the family.
As written in the Gippsland Times in 2019, Hamilton-Byrne’s mother was reportedly known in Sale as the lady who set fire to her hair in the street and claimed to be a medium who could speak to the dead.
She changed her name from Evelyn Edwards to Anne Hamilton and she married a man who was the father of her only biological child.
Her husband died in a vehicle accident, and she was married for a short time again in 1965. In 1978, she married Bill Byrne, who had businesses in Traralgon. He died in 2001.
In the late 1960s and 70s, Hamilton-Byrne took care of 14 babies and children – that number grew to 28. The kids, who were isolated from society, were the offspring of cult members or had been adopted through dodgy means thanks to lawyers, doctors and social workers within the group.
Scam birth certificates allowed the childrens’ identities to be changed, and the kids themselves were told she was their mother. The cult was accused of brainwashing, beating the kids and giving them LSD.
If you want to know more about The Family, there’s a documentary on Binge, simply called The Family, directed by Rosie Jones. This documentary was expanded into a three-episode mini-series for the ABC and available to watch on Netflix, titled The Cult of the Family.
If this story has affected you, help is available at the following organisations.
Lifeline: 13 11 14
Kids Helpline: 1800 551 800
Beyond Blue: 1300 224 636
