Every once in a while, we need the kind of visual entertainment that can shock us to the core and keep our eyes fixated on the screen throughout. It’s even better when it has elements of reality to spark our interest further and nothing beats a good dose of realism than a documentary with a gripping reality that forces you to look at the world with a completely fresh perspective.
© Netflix
‘Wild Wild Country’, the newest documentary on Netflix, is giving our visual senses a much needed kick of excitement it truly deserves with its intense storyline and a slight tinge of darkness. I must warn you though, this documentary is not for the faint hearted. So if you and bae have made plans to watch something super romantic, you might want to save this one for another day…perhaps a rainy day, where everything is dark, a bit horrific and gloomy, just like this film BUT in a good way! But if you’re evenly experimental in your relationships, this movie could also be a good ice-breaker. Conversationally, I mean. If your girl is interested in some heavy ‘sex cult’ and ‘bio-terrorism’ talks, then certainly watch this with her.
The documentary is the untangling of a violent and dark piece of history which was rightfully forgotten, till it sparked a debate again, a few years ago. The reign of the Osho or Bhagawan Shree Rajneesh in India was admirable to a few and debatable to the rest. Osho was mostly referred to as the trail-blazer of a sex cult, whose idea to bestow the concept of ‘free love’ upon his people was through mystic cultísh practices in a state-of-the-art resort in Pune and in other parts of the country as well. If you’ve ever followed the readings of Osho, the man did make a lot of sense, and apart from the fact that he is still referred to as the ‘sex guru’, his teachings go way beyond that, if you really delve into them.
© Netflix
But this documentary is not about his sojourn in India, with his followers. Before he set up his establishment in India, he was based out of North-Western United States, in Oregon and was often referred to as the ‘rich-mans Guru’. Osho, attempted to build a brand new empire there, and acquired a 64,000 acre ranch in the deserts of Oregon in Antelope, while preaching ‘free love’, intermittently, during the hardcore meditation sessions. The little county had a local population, that was not very pleased with the activities the cult propagated or the mannerism the cult supporters displayed. Soon the cult supporters in the town outnumbered Antelope’s local inhabitants and renamed the town as ‘Rajneeshpuram’, in honour of their leader. The borders of the land were constantly protected with armed guards who carried AK-47 with them.
The cult in #WildWildCountry look like their militia was styled by Wes Anderson.
— Francine Toon (@FrancineElena) 18 March 2018
Me when I find out there’s a new cult documentary. #WildWildCountry #Netflix pic.twitter.com/QS6Riz5hS8
— rebecca’s complete lack of surprise (@R_CartR) 17 March 2018
The cult obviously believed in having copious amounts of sex to achieve any and every sort of spiritual freedom, as they believed repressing sexual appetite was a dangerous practice. Rajneesh, aka, Osho almost always bragged about the amount of sex he’d had with a number of women, earning him the title of the ‘sex guru’ in the media. Reports also indicated that he had about 90, top quality Rolls Royce cars, all bought by the money that was ‘donated’ by his rich followers.
© Netflix
Obviously the local residents were not very happy with the ongoing cult practices and the deliberate discrepancies that were displayed inside his ashram, which fell into the realms of the ‘unknown’. Most locals could hear moaning and sex sounds from the ranch and were obviously not very happy with the lusty antics going on there.
The six-part series talks about the dissemination of one of the biggest cult practices in the world and how the cult tried to take over the entire county of Antelope, while terrorising it’s local residents. Well, I am not going to give away the real juice here, but you have to know this-you don’t have to be a scientist to propagate acts of bio-terrorism! Well, it was evident Rajneesh and his cult wanted to create an entire city, but do you know what stopped them? Well. You have to watch this masterpiece to really know how it all ended.
My god! #WildWildCountry on @netflix is one of the best documentaries I’ve ever seen. It is an amazing story about a religious group (labeled a Cult) moving from India to a small town in USA thinking that the constitution would protect their rights. Boy were they wrong! #Riveting
— James McDougall (@ActorJamesMcD) 19 March 2018
#WildWildCountry is amazing, lives up to the hype. Makes you empathize with both sides, sometimes simultaneously.
— Jonathon Norcross (@JonNorcross) 17 March 2018
I’m only 12 minutes into #WildWildCountry and I’ve already said ‘holy shit’ twice
— Meg Moo (@CuriousClock) 17 March 2018
I wonder if the Rajneesh documentary on Netflix will finally make people stop sharing “inspirational quotes” from cult leader Osho on social media #WildWildCountry
— Joanna (@napkinpoem) 16 March 2018
As far as I know viewers are raving about the documentary all over social media and it has a 100% from Rotten Tomatoes too. But I must warn you; this series really doesn’t give us all the answers and leaves most things to our perception to judge the good from the evil!
So, if you’re doing nothing this weekend, give this one a watch. Click here for the trailer.