Overview
- The four-part Netflix series is climbing the platform’s charts as it traces a splinter FLDS sect after Warren Jeffs and shows how Sam Bateman took power.
- Bateman, who called himself a prophet, pleaded guilty to transporting a minor for sexual activity and to a kidnapping conspiracy and is serving a 50-year federal sentence.
- The film outlines how he took underage “spiritual” wives, moved girls across state lines, and later had followers abduct eight minors from foster care before police found them.
- Embedded researchers Christine Marie and Tolga Katas filmed Bateman for years, turned their recordings over to law enforcement, and Marie later worked as an FBI informant.
- Director Rachel Dretzin says prison phone access lets Bateman call his adult wives daily, which keeps most loyal and shows how coercive control can endure after a conviction.