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.
Detective Lex De Man (young)
Herself (archive footage)
Himself (archive footage)
Himself (interview)
Movie / 2012
Movie / 2013
Movie / 1995
Movie / 2006
Movie / 1974
Movie / 2001
Movie / 1994
Movie / 1968
Movie / 2016
Movie / 2008
Movie / 2014
Movie / 2010
Movie / 1997
Movie / 2012
Movie / 2016
Movie / 2015
Movie / 1999
Movie / 2002
Movie / 2014
Movie / 2016
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.
Movie / 2012
Movie / 2013
Movie / 1995
Movie / 2006
Movie / 1974
Movie / 2001
Movie / 1994
Movie / 1968
Movie / 2016
Movie / 2008
Movie / 2014
Movie / 2010
Movie / 1997
Movie / 2012
Movie / 2016
Movie / 2015
Movie / 1999
Movie / 2002
Movie / 2014
Movie / 2016