Wild Wild Country Is the Sex Cult Documentary You Didn't Know Netflix Needed

Uncovering an insane piece of forgotten U.S. history.

In 1981, the followers of Indian spiritual guru—and alleged “sex cult” leader—Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh purchased a 64,000 acre ranch in the middle of Oregon. Soon, thousands of followers dressed in red were swarming into the state and constructing an entire town with everything from a pizza parlor to an airport, placing sex ads in the local newspaper, and cheering as the Bhagwan was driven around in his literal fleet of Rolls Royces. And then things got weird.

The story of the Rajneeshpuram—which begins with the construction of a utopian commune and ends with vote rigging, a cross-country airplane chase, and the largest bioterrorism attack in the history of the United States—is the the most fascinating, twist-filled, and compelling documentary on Netflix in a while. The six-part documentary series, which was produced by the Duplass brothers and directed by Maclain and Chapman Way, is an expert mix of talking head interviews, news footage, and unearthed home movie footage. But you feel that almost any documentary about this forgotten but very strange affair would be fascinating. This is a documentary where, when someone says, “[they] poured the blended beavers into the water supply,” you barely blink.

The tale of the Oregon compound begins with Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh in India, where he daily preached his philosophy of the “new man” and dynamic meditation (basically, meditation plus crazy dancing). He instructed his followers to wear the orange robes of Hindu ascetics—although this is later expanded to maroon and red—but also embraced capitalism, thus the Rolls Royce fleet. Rajneesh’s radical views, which promoted sexual liberation and attacked the institutions of marriage, religion, and ideology, won him thousands of followers and anger from conservative Hindus in India. He decides to move to the United States at the same time as he undertakes a vow of silence that would last for over three years. He also makes that fatal mistake of leaving his personal secretary, Ma Anand Sheela, in charge.

Sheela becomes the center of Wild Wild Country, as she runs everything in Oregon while the Rajneesh sits in silence. She’s an utterly compelling character, but a clearly power-hungry figure who leads what at first seems like a happy if bizarre cult into dark territory. At the start of the documentary, she brushes off suggestions of attempted murder with “normally I succeed in what I do… that is a joke.” As the townspeople and authorities attacked the Rajneeshee through legal and illegal venues, Sheela began arming the compound, attacking her enemies on TV, and even drugging and wiretapping her fellow members.

Wild Wild Country doesn’t hold back on the crimes of the Rajneesh, but it presents their movement from enough angles that you are left to decide for yourself if it was a New Age utopia destroyed by corruption or a brainwashed cult that operated as a massive criminal enterprise. At the same time, it’s hard to feel much sympathy for the residents of the nearby towns who appear openly bigoted in both the archival footage and present day interviews. Long before Sheela’s crimes, the conservative Christian residents threatened them with guns and hung posters that said “Not Wanted Dead or Alive.” A Rajneeshee hotel was also bombed by an American with alleged ties to Jamaat ul-Fuqra. You’re left feeling like it was a strange, sad affair all around.