In Netflix's Trust Me: The False Prophet, undercover documentary film-makers helped bring down a polygamous Mormon cult leader who is now serving a 50-year prison sentence. The four-part series follows Christine Marie and her husband Tolga Katas, who posed as film-makers to infiltrate the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS) community in Utah. They gained the trust of Samuel Bateman, a self-proclaimed prophet who had 20 'wives', many of them underage.
The incriminating footage captured by Marie and Katas, along with witnesses they helped turn, were crucial to the FBI's case against Bateman. The documentary, directed by Rachel Dretzin, includes this footage and interviews with victims. Dretzin, who previously worked on the FLDS-focused docuseries Keep Sweet: Prey and Obey, described the material as having 'the elements of a thriller'.
Bateman is depicted in the footage as a bumbling and narcissistic figure, who once hatched a plan to lure the Queen of England into becoming one of his wives. Dretzin noted the 'comic relief' of Bateman's absurdity, while acknowledging the seriousness of his crimes. The documentary also shows the manipulated young 'wives' who defended their abuser due to heavy indoctrination.
The film-makers could not make the documentary themselves as they were too central to the story. Instead, they led a 'documentary within a documentary', staging shoots and interviews under the pretence of making a film that would flatter the FLDS cause. Dretzin praised the duo's trust in her, given her familiarity with FLDS culture and sensitivity towards victims.
