Original subtitles

(Gentle electronic m

♪

Female voice: BNT.

Your Network.

(Reel rattles)

- (Laughing, dishes crash)

(Women holler)

(Guests chatter, scream)

- (Laughing)

- Are we live?

(All laughing, shouting)

- Oh! Oh! What the hell is in this?

- (Laughing)

- (Retching)

- Pack up, pack up, pack up, pack up, pack up.

Grace: (Hiccups) Whoops.

Katherine: I mean, there was a lot more to it than that.

♪ Evil grows in the dark ♪

♪ Where the sun it never shines ♪

Interviewer: Had you heard of New Eden

before the incident at the fair?

- Oh, no.

I don't think anybody had.

- The incident you're talking about...

- The "incident."

- was definitely significant in putting us on the map.

No question.

But that is not how New Eden started.

- So maybe deeper, just a little... deeper.

- Okay. Dirty.

- Yeah!

- We had achieved that months before.

- Right, yes. People were already into it.

Us, for sure.

- Sage...

(All coughing)

- (Retches) It's too much!

(Coughing)

- I would say that it was a success from day one.

- Okay, and here we go! - No, no, no, no, no, no!

No, no! No! - Why? Why?

- That's not-that can't be how you do that.

Katherine: I mean, what we were doing

was a really appealing concept.

So people were interested long before the uh...

- Incident. - yeah.

Sharon: At the very beginning, it was a slow start.

I'd say it was the opposite of a success story.

Yeah. (Chuckles)

Before the thing at the fair, if I'm being honest,

I would've given it a month.

Interviewer: So who was there initially?

- Well, there was myself, of course.

And Grace. - Guilty.

- And ah, my Aunt Agnes,

because she wouldn't uh, uh, couldn't leave.

- Yeah, she was not on board at any point.

So it turned out to be kind of a blessing

when she went ahead and dropped dead.

- Okay, that's...

uh, ultimately my-my priority with starting New Eden

was to create a space where women could come,

and-and be,

and-and do.

And I did, and they did.

So...

- Yeah.

- Uh well, I've known Katherine since university.

She's always been quite... desperate.

She's definitely someone who demanded

a lot of attention,

but couldn't always command it,

on account of...

her personality.

- Why don't I just... - Okay. You know what?

If you're-okay, I that- that-you can just do it.

What? I've gotta go inside.

- Hey, you could-you-you...

- Someone called. No. Someone called me.

No, that's not-that's a fold we don't need!

Sharon: Needless to say, I was quite surprised

when she told me she was starting

a free love commune for women.

But she still did it in her own Katherine way. (Chuckles)

Katherine: I put out this ad in the local paper.

(reads) "Seeking like-minded, open minded women

of all backgrounds,

whose quest for enlightenment has left them yearning

for a non-judgmental, non-male experience

founded on the principles of sisterhood,

clean living, and conscious cohabitation,

that focuses on a spirit of diversity,

and self actualization."

- Hm! I still can't believe that didn't work.

- Huh... what do you mean?

- What do I mean?

What do you mean?

'Cause I'm fascinated by your ideas.

Yeah. - Thank you.

- It's like jazz.

- I was with a group at the time near Montreal,

and I was already starting to feel

like my spiritual growth there had run its course.

Naturally, when I got this frantic letter

from Katherine begging me to come check out

her communal concept, I...

well, I felt like my anthropological eye

could be a real asset.

- I mean, we had dedicated members from the start.

- Mhmm. - You know, of course we did.

But I wanted to cast a wider net.

- Yeah. - A wider net for women.

- See, Katherine was always talking about how

she wanted to create more buzz about New Eden,

you know, so naturally, that made me think...

bees.

Sharon: I-I still don't know where

Grace got all those bees.

or how she learned to make artisanal honey.

But then again, Grace always had unexpected uh...

I mean, well, talents feels strong.

Skills, I guess you could say.

Interviewer: How did you acquire an apiary?

Grace: Well, like anything, I guess.

One pant leg at a time.

But make sure you check those pant legs for bees first,

because they do not like to be cornered.

I learned that one the hard way.

They hurt.

Interviewer: What exactly was in that infamous first batch?

- A little bit of this...

a bit too much of that.

♪♪♪

- Hi, Jim, I'm reporting from the Fall Fair

in the town of Halworth, where local farmers

and artisans have come to share their wares.

Let's have a look, shall we?

(Audience applauds and cheers)

As you can see, everyone's having a lot of fun

at the fair today.

So, who is this fella?

- This is our prize cock, Reggie.

- Fantastic. Oh! No, no.

(Laughs)

This year, the fair welcomes some newcomers

to its vibrant community. Hi, ladies.

Uh, can I get your names, please?

- Of course, it's Katherine. - Great, and?

- It's Grace Lee. Har-Hardware.

- Great. Well, tell me a little bit about

what you have here.

- Oh, we've just got some of our New Eden Farms

organic honey here,

with ah, some spices of my own concoction.

Why don't you go ahead and give it a try?

- Fantastic. Oh! Okay. - You're gonna love it.

I think you're just gonna love it.

- Okay, here we go.

- Just give you a big ole' spoonful.

- Right, um... - Right down the hatch.

- Give that a swallow, atta girl, atta girl.

- Mhmm? Mhmm! Mm. Um, what an unusual flavour.

- Because bees made this. All of this.

Bees.

- Fun. Well uh, New Eden Farms honey

is just one of the many sweet treats--

- We are not only selling honey,

we are selling a way of life. We are looking for like-minded,

open-minded women of all backgrounds,

- Okay, okay. - whose quest for enlightenment

has left them yearning for a non-judgmental, non-

- Okay! Okay! - Thank you so much.

- Thank you. Um, as you can see,

a lot of enthusiasm here at the fair.

Do my lips taste funny to you?

Camera Operator: What? - What?

(News music sting)

- Dozens are being treated after ingesting

what paramedics deduced was a hallucinogenic agent

in honey sold by New Eden Farms,

resulting in thousands of dollars of property damage,

and the destruction of a record-setting pumpkin.

With me now is local Staff Sergeant Hank Neston,

who's leading the investigation.

Staff Sergeant, is this being treated as food poisoning,

a terrorist act,

or simply a bizarre prank gone wrong?

- No charges have been laid at this time,

but we're not ruling anything out.

The honey is being tested as we speak,

and the toxicity reports should give us some more answers.

- (Laughing)

- Hey! Ma'am- Ma'am! Ma'am!

- It seems like this "funny honey"

is no laughing matter.

Sharon: To be fair, Grace did perfect the recipe

over the years.

Oh, honestly, I still don't know what was in it,

but... it was good.

Made acid feel like...

antacid.

That first batch though, was bad.

Very bad at the fair.

We thought, this is it, it's only a matter of time.

This is the end of New Eden.

But of course, it was just the beginning.

- (Chuckles) Oh, Neston wanted to slap us with a drug charge.

Couldn't wait to.

Except the thing was-- - No, the thing-the thing...

was that technically, we didn't do anything wrong.

Okay? Because-because the plant-based hallucinogen

or whatever it was that was in the honey

actually was not on any federal list of restricted substances.

So... joke's on them,

because it-it didn't count.

Not illegal.

- Yep.

Just a lucky coincidence, I guess.

Imagine that.

- Do you have to pee? - No.

- Magically...

things always just worked out in their favour.

I mean...

whether that was deliberate...

no. (Laughs) No.

Katherine: What happened at the fair was unfortunate.

Of course it was, but in the end,

it did succeed in bringing more women to New Eden.

- By any "bees" necessary.

- Uh, well, ultimately, we did need to find a way

of sharing our message with the world.

Interviewer: So you did deliberately drug

a member of the press on live TV,

to draw attention to your cause?

- Of course not, no.

No, no, not-well, not uh--

in a-in-in-in-in a way, it's-- yeah.

- Let's just say that sometimes,

the ends justify the "bees."

- (Sighs)

- And it worked like a son of a bee... bitch.

♪ Nobody is gonna sing my song ♪

♪ Nobody is gonna sing alone ♪

Grace: Got some live ones! Woo!

- Aaah! Ha ha! - Woo!

- Yeah! Let me take your bag!

Gimme that bag there, let me take that.

Ah, come on, come on in. Come on, guys.

Katherine: Can I get your name?

Full Christian name. - Max.

- Max. - Max Solomin.

- No, sorry, my pen's-wait, my pen is just not...

- Yeah, thanks. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!

- Thank you. - Yeah, thank you so much.

- Hi, Okay, does anyone have a pen?

This is not working.

- Here you go. - Hey, there we go.

I'm good, I'm good.

I'm good. Oh! I'm good.

- Okay, we're gonna just pause. Who has a pen?

I just need to get the names and ages down.

- Hey, I'm Raz. Just Raz.

I'm here to dismantle the patriarchy,

and fight the power!

- Hey, I'm Donna, and I'm from Winnipeg.

Go, Bombers!

And I'm excited to be a part of...

whatever this is.

- Fight the power! Fight it!

- Hello. My name is uh...

Trinity, and I am here...

well, because... I am excited about change.

- New Eden! Hah! Aaah!

- Hey, I'm Max. It's nice-uh, yeah,

that's stupid to shake the hands 'cause you're filming.

Camera Operator: No worries. - It's nice to meet you.

- (Laughs) Hi. - Hey, you.

- Hi. what are you, like, a little ball?

- When I heard about what these women were doing,

I knew that they were about action.

- (Laughs) Hi!

(Speaking Spanish)

- I don't understand what they're saying.

So, maybe English.

- What society really needs right now

is a political agenda. - Hello?

Hi! Hi. Hi. - Hi.

- Oh! - Oh, hi.

- I'm just-I am so happy to have you here.

You know, sister.

- Yes. Yes, thank you. Thank you.

- Oh well, I'm Katherine. - Hi, Katherine.

- And this is New Eden.

- Wow. - Yeah.

- I'm very excited to be here. - Oh God, yeah.

- So are you from New York? - Ah, no.

(Women yelling, howling)

(Howls)

♪♪♪

(Coughing)

- (Sighs)

My women of New Eden,

you've all come here because you heard our message,

and you said, I wanna be a part of that.

We want to take our power back!

NE Women: Yes! Yes! Yes! Yeah! Alright!

(Applause)

- But like, how? How?!

- Yes. How? - How? How?

- How? - Yes.

- How?

Max: So many of us had come to New Eden,

because we were already involved in the movement.

It seemed like the ideal place to transform our ideas

into action, like finally,

we had this productive conduit for all our female rage,

and disillusionment, and we were ready to unite

behind whoever could make that happen.

Interviewer: And that person was Katherine?

- Oh! (Laughs) No.

Ha! Oh, no. - Uh well, pffff!

You know who-um, that's...

Grace, Grace, you can talk about that more.

What we were creating with New Eden

was revolutionary.

So as soon as they came,

those women were just chomping at the bit

to find out who we were, and what we were about.

- Oh, right. Yeah.

Well, here's the thing about... it,

is that you know what we are?

We're a group of women,

and there's nothing more powerful

than when women get to-gether.

So in conclusion, uh...

that's what...

this is all about.

So that's good.

Well, I-actually, I think in the beginning,

it was-it was Trinity who--

- Yeah, no, I think that uh, that I said...

that...

that-well, the thing, of course,

the thing with the-with the with the honey was like,

uh... uh...

- It was a statement, right?

- Um, uh... - It-it said...

It said we will not be controlled.

Women: Yes!

- Yes.

We will not be docile.

NE Women: No! Right!

- And if you wanna keep us in those spaces,

well, we are gonna poison the well!

To open your mind!

All: Yeah! (Applause)

- Yeah? Right? - Wow, she was good.

Katherine: Yes. - All right.

- Yes. Yes.

I hear you... that.

That is exactly what I uh, we were saying.

Exactly what we were saying.

And what that is, really, when you listen to it,

the right way is...

we're going to take our power back!

Wyatt: Despite all the media attention they received,

we felt like there had to be more to their story.

I mean, here was this radical feminist group

in the middle of Nowhere, B.C.

Who, in a matter of months,

drugged a whole town. - Right down the hatch.

- Made enemies with the local PD,

and visibly tripled their numbers.

Hannah wanted to go.

You know, this was gonna be her career-making story.

Hannah was a junior reporter on my staff.

I was something of a mentor to her.

You know, so we got her a camera,

and came up with a backstory,

and prepped her to go in as a film school dropout,

who is eager to be on their front lines.

And Hannah was able to just slide on in,

and make herself at home.

♪♪♪

- Hi.

- (Laughs)

- It's for your period.

Grace: Jesus, Tabitha, are you eatin' a raw potato?

- It's delicious.

- It-it can't be.

Wyatt: They all seemed happy to have Hannah

and her camera around.

- Are you filming me? - Uh, yes.

Wyatt: And there was so much going on there,

that no one suspected a thing.

- You know what? You know what, why don't you get in there?

You get in there, you're gonna taste test.

I'll take that, oh, here we go.

Hannah, she's our uh, master chronicler.

- Sorry. - Well, do you like it?

- Well yeah, we're gonna want to remember all of this. So...

Grace: Hey, what does this doohickey do?

- Yeah, you know, actually, I'm just gonna...

- There's a lot of buttons.

♪♪♪

- So who was the mastermind behind it all?

No, who was the one planning the next big move?

It turns out it wasn't immediately clear.

To anyone.

- While I appreciate that everyone's taking care

of their personal hygiene, The... (sighs)

okay, Sharon.

The plumbing cannot handle it.

- Katherine meant well in her own way.

She just didn't have the social fluidity

to exercise her authority

over the consciousness of others.

- I'm not pointing any fingers, but I-I would like us

to go through this clump of hair,

and just determine whose fault it mostly is.

- Um, yeah.

- And Grace was more folksy.

- So... - Also, you know, never forget--

Well, I'm Officer Neston. Heh! Heh! Heh!

I hate women! Ha! Ha! Ha!

Grump! Grump! Grump! (Women laugh)

Grump! Grump! Grump! That's what's he's like!

- But they seemed to balance each other out somehow.

Sometimes.

- You're gonna do one, okay. - I'll do one.

- She's gonna do one. - Here we go.

Okay, here we go. I want women to die.

- Holy shit.

Okay, well, that was... - Okay, let's wrap it up.

That's-okay. And I need a piece of everyone's hair.

- Yep. No. - Here.

- You know, that's voluntary.

Amy: I think at that time,

Truthmother and Starmother were still waiting

for Gaion to show them the way.

- It was like I was being oppressed for who I was.

And it's like,

if this is what society thinks,

is okay, I don't want any part of it.

- So you're...

comparing your sweet 16 to--

- The entire Civil Rights Movement.

Yes, that is what happened right there.

Katherine: Thank you.

- Here's a wacky idea.

Who wants wine? Sharon: Oh! Oh, yeah.

Let's do that. - Come on!

- I'm just going to sit in it for a bit,

and then I'll come out.

- Katherine was someone who needed a lot of attention,

and when she didn't get the attention

she thought she deserved, she could become very

manipulative, and quite punitive.

- So are we all ready? NE Women: Yes!

- Are we agreed? NE Women: Yes!

- We will have a unified method!

- Yes! Yes! - You know what I mean?

- Nope! Shit.

Shh! Shut it up! Katherine: Hi, guys.

What are we all talking about here?

Taking our power back? - Not without you.

- Yes. Actually, we were...

discussing ways that we could get our message across clearly,

and objectively. - Yes, that's good.

That's good, because I was having just--

I was having the very same thought, actually.

So I'm happy that-that you were talking about that.

When I look around, you know what I see?

A group of brave women,

who've all been degraded,

and rejected,

and by whom?

By men, mostly.

But why? Hmm?

Because we were too different?

Maybe because we were too old.

Too weird.

Too plain.

Not smart.

Or maybe, we weren't interested in men to begin with.

- Huh?

- Well, see, we were thinking...

that the Royal Fair in--

- Too talkative, that's another one, isn't it, Trinity?

That's a big one.

- the perfect place to have our major demonstration--

- And we will take our power back!

- at the at the opening of the Commonwealth Games!

- In our way! And we will-- - Right?

- No, I think let's put a pin in that for now,

because the idea seems...

not formed...

to me.

- (Chuckles) Oh, I remember when Trinity left.

She was the one who was trying to rescue our politics

from oh, you know, not having any.

Definitely makes you wonder what would've happened

if she'd stayed.

Interviewer: Do you know where she is now?

- No idea. Do you?

(Phone rings)

(Workers chatter quietly)

- How can I help you, gentlemen?

Interviewer: Um, you were a member of the Canadian

women's group, New Eden, from the spring of 1978 until--

- You know, I'm not sure I know what you're talking about.

First of all,

let me make it very clear,

I was long gone before any of their legal troubles.

The only reason I was at New Eden in the first place

was because at that time in my life,

I wanted a space to be political.

I wanted a space where I could explore my values

as a woman, and as a woman of colour.

I wanted to fight the fight.

I wanted to further the feminist agenda,

which is also why I left almost immediately.

♪♪♪

♪ Which way you goin', Billy ♪

♪ Can I go too ♪

♪ Which way you goin', Billy ♪

♪ Can I go with you ♪

- Of course I remember Trinity.

Yeah, I was so surprised when she...

abandoned us.

Yeah, I always thought that we had...

really connected.

- Absolutely I thought about leaving

in those first few months, a lot of us did.

Interviewer: What made you stay?

- Here, your turn. - It's really good.

- Yes, there she is. - Mhmm!

- Smile for the camera.

- Because we needed it to work.

No one had created anything quite like New Eden before.

So the stakes were a lot higher

than anyone wanted to acknowledge.

We needed to prove that as a group of women,

we could make this work,

even when it felt...

hard.

- Gorgeous out.

Sharon: We're mad because last night was crazy.

Max: Oh my God, last night was a fucking joke!

- Okay, okay. Bye.

Max: If she tells me to take my fucking power back

one more fucking time... Sharon: I know, like,

what does she even mean when she says that, you know?

She's said it a lot! But she didn't expand on it!

- What are we talking about, y'all?

- Nothing. Nothing.

- (Sighs) It's... it's Katherine, man.

We're tired of her bullshit, Grace.

She says nothing, and yet she never shuts up.

- I feel bad for her. I do.

But she's ruining the vibe around here,

and we hate it. - Mhmm.

- Okay, sure, all right. You know, look.

I know Katherine can be a bit um... (Ahem)

intense, okay?

But she is our leader. Raz: Why, though? Hmm?

Max: She doesn't know anything about political action

or radical feminism.

Grace, you should take over.

Honestly, I don't even know if Katherine would notice.

She's pretty oblivious.

- And she still doesn't even know everyone's fucking name!

- She still calls us Big Hair, and Bigger Hair.

- (Sighs)

- Here's the thing you gotta understand, though.

You know, Katherine, she's not always

on the physical plane, she's a bit preoccupied

because she got-she's got ideas, you know what I mean?

She's the idea man, and uh, she's got a plan.

There's a plan brewing for all of us, you know,

and you just gotta trust me on that.

- We do trust you. It's her we don't.

- Okay, just you know...

give her some time.

- Okay. Well, she better not take too much time,

'cause we're not gonna stick around forever.

- Uh-uh.

- Okay, alright, well, you know, I hear you.

Okay? Understood.

I'm gonna take care of it. Okay?

- Okay. - I'm gonna take care of it.

- (Sighs)

- Ole' Grace is on the case.

You know? That rhymes.

- I admit that there were moments

in those early days where I...

failed to steer the ship, as it were.

- Yeah, but, but, but a long time ago,

women weren't even allowed on ships,

because of bad luck. So.

- (Sighs) There was a lot going on, okay?

There were nearly 30 women there.

What do they eat? Okay?

Where do they sleep?

And all they wanted to know was, was, why are we here?

Okay? What is this all about?

As if I didn't have a plan! I mean, of course I had a plan.

- Yeah, tell him.

- Yeah, we were gonna...

take our power back!

- Take it right on back!

- After watching the early footage,

two things became immediately clear to me.

One.

Everyone thought that Katherine was a shit leader,

and two, Anges was becoming a real liability.

- Tell me more about Agnes.

- Well, Agnes was old, and unapologetically senile.

(All yelling)

- No! That's enough!

- (Laughs wildly)

- She was extremely intolerant.

- We are grateful. We are one.

All are welcome to share in Mother Earth's great bounty.

Agnes: Psst!

- That bounty will give us strength.

- No! What?! What the fuck?!

Did you hear what she just said to me?!

- Oh, okay, okay. - I'm talking like, old world,

hill person intolerant.

(Splats) - Ugh!

Aaah!

- Fuckin' lesbos.

Interviewer: Was she ever violent?

- Uh-huh.

- So if I say, you know, Big Hair, that's you,

look around, and-- (Gunshot booms)

(All screaming, Agnes cackles)

- Give me that! Gimme!

- It's okay! Everything's fine.

Katherine: Okay, all right. All right. All right.

Hannah. Let's not film this. Okay?

Wyatt: Yeah, by the summer of '78,

it was clear that a lot of those women

were ready to leave.

- I guess there's just so many of them.

They're gonna have to be fine on the carpet.

It's filthy, of course.

Okay. (Sighs)

(Sighs)

Oh, Hannah, good, good.

But um, can you go get...

uh, all the women um...

that'd be good, and...

um, I just, I have something that I need to say.

And I'd appreciate it if you didn't film it.

You may all think that I don't know

what goes on behind my back.

That I'm...

what was the word?

Oblivious.

But I'll have you know,

that these walls have ears.

And those ears,

they tell me what they hear.

Hannah: Should we wait for Grace?

- Yeah, where is Grace?

- This has nothing to do with Grace, all right?

- I'm not sure Katherine ever took into account

that running a large-scale living community

meant that other people were gonna be there.

- Okay, sweetie,

obviously we all support you.

It's just that... some of us,

not me, but some of us feel

like maybe you don't get our whole philosophy.

- Oh, what do you know, Sharon?!

You let the entire varsity curling team

finger you for beer money!

- It wasn't the whole team.

Of course, things did change that night.

- You complain, and you complain.

I fed you, I put a roof over your heads.

I am sick and tired of bending over backwards

for you pathetic freaks!

- Including Katherine's role, obviously.

- I'm done!

(Loud scream)

- What is it? Max: Everybody stay calm!

- No! - Oh my God!

- Stay calm! - Oh my God!

- Aah! - Is she dead?

- (Gasps)

- That's okay, this is okay. - What do we do?

- Everybody just stay calm.

- Is she dead? - Everybody stay calm.

(All shouting at once) - What do we do?

- Honestly, I don't know, I don't know!

What do we do?

We can't just leave her down here!

(All screaming) - Stop! Let me think!

Just let me think!

Grace?

- Everybody stay calm.

Okay?

- That night...

well, it was the night New Eden truly became what it was.

- My sisters of New Eden,

my daughters of Eve.

Tonight we are gathered not to mourn.

But to rejoice,

because tonight, finally,

our true purpose can be revealed.

Katherine, our leader,

our knower has seen something,

that each one of us missed.

- Yeah--

- And she has revealed that truth to me

to share with you tonight.

Agnes, a mother to all,

of sorts,

has succumbed to her intense anger.

Yes, she was bitter.

Yes, she was...

mad with age.

Yes, she was incontinent by choice.

But what made her that way?

Who twisted her into this gnarled body

of bitterness and hatred?

Did women do this to Agnes? Mm-mm!

This is the work of men.

We can see it riddled all over her face.

And I bet those slats have been laid against

each and every woman in this room.

And that is why this is her great sacrifice,

because her death will not divide this group of women.

No. This is finally the sign we needed

to bind us together!

And tonight,

we will bury her body.

And with it, we will bury our anger,

and we will emerge tomorrow onto a new path,

into a new dawn,

into a new New Eden.

One that will enlighten us all to our true cause.

(Humming)

(Bugs buzz)

- Fuck.

It felt real.

I don't know what to tell you, it felt real.

(Bugs buzz)

- Oh...

(Buzzes, stops)

(All gasp)

- Is this the sign you spoke of?

- Mhmm. - Good.

Then it's time.

But first...

let's pass around the honey.

♪ Ow! ♪

♪♪♪

♪ Ow! ♪

♪♪♪

♪ The killer bees ♪

♪ Are after me ♪

♪ Doctor tells me it's all in my mind ♪

♪ He must be deaf ♪

♪ Or he must be blind ♪

♪ If he doesn't see ♪

♪ The killer bees! ♪