The Vow (2020) s01e09 Episode Script
The Fall
1
So, abuse is a made up human construct.
Bonnie: As much as I thought
this was a curriculum for growth,
it's really just a weapon.
Mark: Everything was designed
to protect him.
Anthony: I got played,
and I helped this guy build
whatever he was building around him.
And I was a part of that.
We didn't join a cult!
Nobody joins a cult.
Nobody!
Keith Raniere: How we illustrate
human nobility is to get rid of
the concept of victim like that.
Catherine: They may be assigning
an FBI taskforce.
They wanna speak to witnesses
immediately.
Sarah: I just had my meeting
with the FBI today.
I gave them all my evidence.
Man: Tell the truth.
Keith: Good people do bad things
all the time.
- Mark Vicente: Yeah, you're right.
- Cameraman: Oh, move the camera?
Vicente: Yeah,
move the camera, just a little bit.
- So, you want me to
- Vicente: Yeah.
Okay, I, I wrote a fable once,
that started that
there was a mighty king
that took over, uh, a culture,
and this king used torture and fear
to create obedience.
And over time,
people found that if they just
obeyed what the king said,
there was peace across the land.
But what they sacrificed
for that was their traditions,
their customs,
and all of their identity.
So they just became a group of slaves,
almost like cattle,
that were used by the king.
The threat of violence
was enough to keep social order.
But if the king went
and killed everyone,
then he would have to do all the work.
So, the people who are being victimized
have a certain power.
And they can stand against the king.
And even though the king has all
sorts of weapons that they don't have,
and all sorts of violence
that they don't have,
ultimately, they would likely prevail.
("Dream state" by son Lux playing)
Days we were young ♪
we took photographs of
everything we could see ♪
we had to run from it ♪
priest and prophetess ♪
we were nothing
we would defy ♪
oh, invisible skin ♪
where is the world within ♪
invincible skin ♪
it's how we all begin ♪
(Phone ringing)
Frank.
Okay.
Yeah.
♪
Toni Zarattini:
As of, uh, right now,
our beloved Vanguard was in Monterrey.
And I have a picture coming
with confirmation, so wait for it.
He's on the run.
Bonnie Piesse: Show us the
picture. Can you hold it up?
Uh, yeah.
So, the picture.
That's Keith Raniere right there.
And that was today,
in Mexico.
Then I'd like to call the FBI
and the police and tell them,
"this is what we've heard's happening.
"So, if you guys are serious
about any of this,
"you're about to lose your shot,
because there's thousands
of loyal ESP-ians in Mexico."
The children of very
influential families
are running the center down there.
You know, like, Emiliano Salinas.
He is the son of one
of the ex-presidents.
He's sort of like
the JFK Jr. of Mexico.
And so Keith had a lot
of political clout there.
(Car alarm chirps)
- (Dog barking)
- Catherine Oxenberg: Greg?
Hi, little pup. Aw!
Vicente: I mean, he's got a lot
of power around him down there.
Oxenberg: And they've moved
all their classes to Mexico?
So, we're in a tricky spot, because
law enforcement has said, "stop. Don't
do any more shit." And we're like
It's a, it's a waiting game.
Greg Hannley: So didn't
he have houses and offices
and stuff like that in, um, Albany?
Vicente: Yeah. All in
other people's names.
- Yeah.
- Vicente: Many of them are
The houses are quiet and shuttered now.
- Hannley: So, all of that got disrupted.
- Yeah.
Piesse:
There's still some diehards there.
Hannley: Like India? Is she one
of the diehards that are over there?
Vicente: Yeah.
She's here.
I'm seeing her this afternoon.
Hannley: But she's not
here recruiting people.
We don't know.
She's meeting with me
today at three o'clock.
Hannley:
Well, and, and right now,
she's got such blinders on that,
she's not questioning
anything except for you.
Oxenberg: Correct. Shit.
What do I do if she's going
If she goes to Mexico?
Hannley:
You just continually
It's the same way. It's kind
of like a reverse brainwash.
You just continually play
the message over to her,
till one day maybe she hears it.
And the message is?
Well, tell her to stop
doing weird shit.
Oxenberg:
Okay.
- (All chuckling)
- Hannley: You know?
"Stop doing"
Hannley: Yeah. If you're doing weird
shit, people want to hear about it.
Well, you ask questions that
she would have to think about now.
Why is he in Mexico?
Why are the houses shuttered?
- Piesse: Yeah.
- Why is the FBI investigating him?
Doesn't it seem a little odd
that a guy who's
on the up-and-up
and doing good business
and helping people
and doing the right thing
has to move to Mexico?
So, 2000 and
I think nine, was when
A number of the Mexicans
spoke to him at v week
and said, you know,
"we are under enormous,
"uh, fear in our country.
"You know, we're being kidnapped,
kidnapping is a business. You know,
we don't know what to do."
And Keith said,
"I can solve this."
Keith called all the Mexicans
together and sat and spoke to them,
and I recorded all those conversations.
(Indistinct chatter)
Good to see you.
- Marquitos.
- Vicente: Yes!
(Woman speaking Spanish)
It's interesting, because
when I was express kidnapped,
I asked a lot of questions,
and I had a conversation with these guys.
Uh, and for them at least,
my impression was,
that they go into their business, like,
like they tell their wives,
you know, "I'm going to work."
Vicente: NXIVM Mexico, I mean,
it just, it basically seemed like
they lived in some kind of
rarefied air.
A lot of money.
And even in the mission statement,
it talks about reaching the most
influential, powerful, you know,
wealthiest people, blah, blah,
in the world because
If you go and try
and give this education
to the people that have zero influence,
the lowest laborers,
they have no influence
over society at all.
The only sustainable way
to change a society
is the wealthiest, most powerful people
needed this education.
And that would trickle down
to everything else.
Keith Raniere:
I think part of the problem here
is that you guys are numb
to your own condition.
Class neutrality is one of the
biggest problems in Mexico.
It's one of the things that's
generating a lot of fear, if you will.
The entitlement of the poor
to take from the rich,
and the fear of the poor that they're,
they're nothing. Oblivion.
And the fear of the rich that they've
gotten their riches for no reason
and really, they don't
deserve them, either.
I want you to imagine a $10 bill.
Do you know what that $10 bill means?
Some person in Mexico is
probably willing to work, what, a day?
They're willing to go and sweat,
and spend a whole day,
just to get that little piece of paper.
You hold the life of
a whole family in your hand
when you hold that $10 bill.
And you go out and spend
that $10 bill on what?
Drinks at a bar?
That's what I think of your family.
That's what I think of your efforts.
That's what I think
of a whole day of your work.
I just piss it off.
I piss on your family.
So why am I saying all of this?
'Cause you have to understand
the nature of it,
and you have to understand
the nature of what you do.
And do the wealthy people
have to change? Yeah.
You have to respect
the wealth that you have,
and what it represents in the world.
Vicente: Keith said to me,
"you know, it would be cool
if you could continue
documenting this." I said, "I'd love to."
So I followed them
down to Mexico to see
what would they do with these,
this information in these meetings.
Raniere:
This thing will not work
if you do not resolve
your class struggle.
You have to be visible, day after day,
location after location,
on the radio, in the news.
Yes, I am.
Although I don't know how
to implement this.
I, I don't know how to
organize people like that.
Well, start small.
(Newscaster speaking Spanish)
In lak'ech translates to
"you are my other me."
(Speaking Spanish)
Raniere: So there's two aspects.
There's the economic aspect,
which is the creation
of affluence, so to speak.
And then the other hand is
peaceful drills and tools of peace.
Vicente:
Every Sunday at 3:00 P.M.,
3,000 to 5,000 people would stand
all over Mexico and basically say this
particular pledge that he had written.
Raniere: All violence
is a mistaken identity.
All violence traces back to a, a fear.
(Speaking Spanish)
So what is the nature of compassion?
To get to the root of the violence,
to transform the violence.
(Emiliano Salinas speaking Spanish)
Vicente: I decided to make a
film about the movement.
I named it
"encender El corazón."
"Ignite the heart."
I was like, I'm gonna fucking
make this film a wakeup call.
And so I found great stories.
And great people.
(Indistinct chatter)
I met Toni Zarattini in ESP,
probably in 2005.
And Toni was kidnapped,
um, many years before.
And for ransom from his family,
they cut off his ears,
and they cut off one of his fingers.
(Speaking Spanish)
Vicente: Toni and I had known
each other for a long time,
and I considered him a hero.
He tried to escape once
from his kidnappers.
They beat the shit out of him,
put him back in,
and eventually he tried again,
and, and got away.
Toni's a great man.
He was a coach in NXIVM,
until he discovered that one of his
dear friends was involved in dos,
and had been branded,
and he was horrified.
And so his battle with the entire
Mexican ESP community began.
One of the reasons I got out
is when I learned that Mark
had gotten out.
It was like,
"what? He got out?
"Mark Vicente got out?
"He's like, like what?
How? He's a green.
"He's on the board.
What do you what
What do you mean he's out?"
And they said, "no, well,
he wanted to go make movies."
Didn't make any sense.
(Line ringing)
This is my friend.
Hola.
Vicente:
Um, do you have any updates?
Vicente: I hope so, Toni,
because if it doesn't,
they're gonna hunt us forever.
Vicente: Yeah.
Right.
Yeah.
Vicente: There's been a
certain level of uncertainty
because of, like,
law enforcement getting more involved.
And I don't know if
they have a case or not.
Everything we did before was,
we need to get this exposed.
We need to get this out there.
We had a certain amount of
control over what we were doing.
And it feels like it's less
in our hands now.
When I first saw her, like, oh,
my god. I love this child so much.
Just being able to, like,
kiss her and hug her.
(Sighs) And
I feel so many mixed emotions,
I can't tell you.
On one hand,
I did I planted a lot of stuff,
but I swear to god,
I felt like I was planting seeds
In (Sighs)
Granite.
Well, there's no getting through to her
that what she's doing
is super fucked up.
And I did say what Greg said.
Like, I said, you know,
"this is very weird." She said,
"so what if it's weird?"
I mean, what do you say to somebody?
I'm like, "well, the world
thinks it's weird."
And I said, "not okay weird.
Like fuck
Like, creepy weird."
But it doesn't seem to be
a problem for her.
And I can just see how, um,
like, how her morality has been bent.
So I was saying, "well,
what if people are going to jail?
And what if people
have broken the law?"
And she said, "well,
I don't think that I've done anything,
personally, to break the law."
I said, "I believe that you would
never break the law knowingly."
I said, "but what if you were guided
to break the law by people who knew?
Why do you think Keith fled?"
"Well" her response is, "cause there's
a lot of people who don't like him."
And I'm like, "well,
why do you think they don't like him?"
And
Again, she couldn't really come up
She couldn't come up with an answer.
(Sighs)
She really thinks that Mark
and Bonnie are the masterminds
of this whole operation,
and that I'm being used
by Mark and Bonnie.
Uh, Sarah and Nippy are being used,
like, everybody's being used.
If there's hope
It's not in any of the words
that were communicated.
It's in it's in here.
You know?
What we're up against is such darkness.
Such incredible darkness.
(Sobbing)
I don't have any evidence at all,
but I feel like we're
gonna get her back.
But I don't have any evidence at all.
(Indistinct)
(Baby babbling)
(Sign dings)
Electronic voice:
To prepare for landing,
please close your tray table,
and put away carry-on items.
Place your seat in the original
Piesse: When Mark and I left,
we put everything in storage
Electronic voice: Any items
you wish to discard
Piesse:
It's years and years of our lives.
Electronic voice:
We'll be landing soon.
♪
(Indistinct announcement over PA)
Now that Keith's gone,
we finally feel okay to go back.
Vicente:
I can see why we like LA.
Piesse:
This is, like, gray and dead.
- Vicente: Disgusting.
- Piesse: Yeah.
But being back here just reminds me
of the heartache of, like,
how much we've lost, you know?
We have lost a lot of friends.
Piesse:
You want to go first or you want me?
(Dog barking)
(Doorbell rings)
It's a puppy.
- (Door lock clicks)
- It's a puppy.
- It's a puppy. It's a puppy.
- Hi.
Hi.
- Hi, puppy.
- Oh, you're so are you cold?
Come in here.
Oh, no, I'm all right.
I actually kind of like it.
- Hi!
- Hi.
- Hey.
- Piesse: How's it going?
Something I never thought
I'd see standing in my doorway.
- Vicente: Really?
- Piesse: Yeah.
Yeah. You.
Where do you wanna sit?
Actually, I'll sit here, boo.
- Yeah. Okay.
- And you sit here.
Toni, thank you so much for
opening up your house to us.
Oh, and, listen,
thank you so much for opening your eyes.
- Vicente: (Laughs) It took a while.
- Like, that's just
- Piesse: It took a while.
- Hey, I don't care
when anyone wakes up,
how they wake up,
as long as they wake up.
- Is that right? How did that work?
- Vicente: Well
- I don't let me think.
- Piesse: I never felt like enemies.
- Vicente: I never felt
- I felt like you were enemies.
- (Laughter)
- No, I, I understand,
- and you should have, absolutely.
- Toni Natalie: I'm sorry.
- Yeah.
- No, no. You should have.
- Not anymore!
- Natalie: Right.
It's good.
It had to be very difficult for him
to not be able to split you
guys up. So how hard did he try?
Piesse: Pretty trying.
Pretty hard after I left, yeah.
Yeah. To me, you
You both leaving was a big deal.
Because someone
that close to him leaving,
is a crack in his plate.
When he loses that control,
he loses his mind.
I have something for you.
I'm looking for the letter
that I sent to Mark in 2010.
- 2010?
- Mm-hmm.
- (Keys clicking)
- Piesse: Right when I came in.
- Yeah.
- Piesse: Wow.
Vicente: But I,
I never received it back then.
So that was like eight years ago.
Natalie:
Mm-hmm.
- Is that the one?
- Natalie: Yeah, yeah. That's it.
Um, it was in response to a Ted talk
that Mark did.
My name is Mark Vicente.
I'm a filmmaker from the
apartheid era South Africa.
I have as my mentor
an American scientist
and philosopher by the
name of Keith Raniere.
He asked me a question,
and the question he asked me was,
"what is bravery?"
What is it?
Nobody's ever seen this letter.
Natalie:
No. No. I just sent it to you.
It says, "Mark,
"I think it's very important
that you temper
"how much of your good deeds
you attribute to Keith Raniere.
"By attributing your goodness
to Raniere, you give him credit.
"And worse yet, credibility,
where none is due.
"Just look at how he cons people
"into believing that
they are doing good deeds,
"when in fact,
all they're doing is helping to make
"his sordid lifestyle possible.
"If only you and others
would be brave enough
"to truly look at his past
and his present,
"and objectively,
you would see that you've been conned.
"Keith destroys people's lives
and will continue to do so
"until people like yourself
are brave enough
"to really look at what he does.
"And if you choose not to,
then you must ask yourself why."
You did, though.
- Mm-hmm. Finally.
- You did wake up.
Yeah, but you know what?
- It doesn't matter.
- Seven years later.
It doesn't matter, Mark.
It's that you woke up.
Vicente:
Yeah, I wish I got it.
Natalie:
You weren't ready.
Vicente:
I wasn't ready.
Fuckin' hell.
Aah.
(Turn signal clicking)
This, this is our old house right here.
On top of the garage, to the right,
- the receivers and transmitters.
- Piesse: See, they're watching us.
There's probably a camera there,
as well.
- They're watching us.
- They're probably watching us, yeah.
They have, like,
cameras all around
at the ESP-ians' houses.
So they're monitoring.
Someone's monitoring.
Keith could be looking
at that in Mexico.
Puts us in a little bit of danger.
If they have papers ready for us,
and they've been trying to find us,
they could come and serve us.
'Cause we've been in hiding.
This is dark right here.
Keith was trying to see
how submissive I'd be.
And he'd call me for walks
at like, 3:00 A.M.
And I just jumped
right out of bed and went,
like it was, it was an honor.
Piesse: Okay.
(Piesse crying)
♪
Piesse: At one point in
the middle of the night,
I was walking with him,
and he was doing little tests with me.
And he said, you know,
"why don't you run towards that tree?
So I started I ran towards
the tree and I stopped.
I didn't mash my face up.
And I came back and he said, "interesting
how protective of your body you are."
And I felt ashamed.
But I saw that as a limitation.
And then he said, you know,
"you're so uptight about dirt.
Go and lick that puddle. You're so
uptight about dirt. Lick the puddle."
So I went and licked the puddle.
I was trying to let down my, my guards,
and all my fears, and, you know,
to open myself up to his teaching.
I think I failed
whatever his tests were.
Raniere:
Okay, let's, let's just do a
Start it.
Let's see, here.
- (Laughter)
- Sorry. Could you just
- (Singing on computer)
- I'm a little punchy, that's all.
Don't mind me.
(Laughing)
(Emiliano Salinas speaking
Spanish on computer)
This is history of the movement, right?
(Emiliano Salinas speaking
Spanish on computer)
Who cares?
- (Snores)
- Vicente: Boring?
Not boring, but not of the
emotional tenor you need.
Raniere (over computer): The reason
why I think you should is
The thing that I say about
Mexico being an optimal time,
maybe that's something.
This is very documentary,
intellectual
Raniere:
In this situation,
I see there are four basic
philosophies for which
Great. I don't give a shit.
I don't even know the word philosophy.
I'm a typical person watching this.
(Emiliano Salinas speaking
Spanish on computer)
I mean,
I nothing against being myself.
Now, to, to put this on pause a second.
(Video stops)
So again, I have to keep in mind,
who's the typical person
that's seeing this?
If you go to all of the wealthy,
educated people
and they all see this film,
and whatever,
you're not gonna change Mexico.
It's not gonna work.
I don't do you I don't
think I need to see much more.
I think you need to
rethink this. It's essential.
I agree.
- Okay.
- Thanks.
- So I'll speak to you later.
- Yes, you will.
- Later, later.
- I gotta think.
Woman:
This is funny.
- (Laughing)
- I knew I'd mess things up.
Yeah, I knew you would, too.
Vicente: He made people feel
really shit about themselves
so that they would feel
they owed so much more
than they were giving
he really worked Emiliano
about the power and corruption
of his family,
and used that to try to convince
Emiliano that he had a lot to do
to fix what his family had done,
which is exactly what he did
with Clare and Sara, as well.
Bye-bye.
- (All chattering goodbyes)
- Bye-bye. Bye-bye.
Vicente:
You felt like shit,
and he was the only one
that could fix it.
(Shutter clicks)
Vicente:
I mean, it's a long story.
Vicente:
Um, 30-second version.
Lived here for 12 years.
Was part of an organization
that turned out to be
a very dangerous cult.
Blew the whistle on human
trafficking and sex trafficking.
Now there's a massive
federal investigation underway.
This is the first time
we're back in a year.
Man: Do you mind if I
ask what they're called?
Vicente: The umbrella
company is NXIVM. N-x-i-v-m.
- No way.
- Vicente: That's the one!
I actually had a meeting with
them one time, accidentally.
Right? Like, just that
And it's weird. I don't know.
Piesse: It starts off,
it feels like real answers.
Like, I think the experience
you had was weird.
But there are different ways
that, like
For us, we came in because
we had real, legitimate,
good experiences with people.
And it was people we trusted.
- So
- Woman: Yeah. No, I think it all starts
with someone you know,
essentially, right?
No. No.
I dragged her in.
Yeah.
Piesse: I think the
hardest thing is the shame.
It's easy to think that people
are stupid for getting involved.
And I don't think we're stupid.
I think we're sensitive,
good people, and
It's just it's hard.
- Not anymore.
- Not anymore.
(Door clattering)
Vicente:
This is our life.
Piesse:
Oh, geez. (Laughs)
It was a whole apartment.
Vicente:
Look what I found.
First one I had as a camera assistant.
- Wow.
- Piesse: That's my action figure.
I've got very long arms.
I wrote this book.
In another life.
It's a lot of shit to go through.
I mean, I've got modules, here.
"World audience."
"Pain and suffering."
Oh, shifter strategy!
- Vicente: Oh, you got "shifter" there?
- Yep.
Piesse: "The term 'shifter'
does not usually refer to a person,
"but rather to a strategy that
is an unlimited form of cheating.
"Have you ever seen a magic trick
that was so incredible that you
couldn't figure out how it was done?"
- Oh, wait. How do you do that?
- (Clapping)
(Whistling noise)
Piesse: "Maybe you wanted
to watch it again and again
"to try to figure it out.
"Then one day, you learned
how it was done
"and you couldn't believe
that you were taken in by it.
It became so obvious to you."
- Tails.
- (Slaps)
Tails.
"We do not live in a world
that plays by the rules.
If you and I are
playing a game"
And I'm cheating and you're not,
chances are, I'm gonna win.
Unless you discover my cheating.
- Hand goes faster than the quarter does.
- Oh!
- Right.
- (Slaps)
(Clattering)
Ooh, what's this?
"Suppressive: Someone with
very low self-esteem.
"Whenever this person
sees something good,
"they want to suppress it
and destroy it.
These people never have
anything nice to say about anyone."
After I left, I heard that I
was being called a suppressive.
Cause you're not allowed to ask questions
and you're not allowed to leave.
(Sighs)
In ESP, we learned that everyone
has suppressive tendencies.
We all have narcissistic traits.
But a full suppressive is someone who,
like, really has bad intent,
and wants to hurt people.
That was described in
the module "the fall."
Raniere: There's an
interesting book written, uh,
poem, actually,
"paradise lost," by Milton.
Written a while ago.
It's about the fall of Lucifer
from the garden of Eden.
At one point,
he's personifying Lucifer,
and Lucifer looks up and sees heaven,
and then sees heaven's creation,
which is man.
And you know what Lucifer's
first reaction to man is?
He is amazed by man.
He admires, even loves, man.
One can interpret that.
But then you know what his reaction is?
"That creature reminds me
of what I lost.
"The perfection of that creature
"brings such hate, such memories,
"such awful things in me.
I must destroy that.
I don't want to see heaven
embodied anywhere."
So he seeks to destroy.
♪
Piesse: So, "the fall" was described as,
like, this discovery
that a person can make.
That if their self-esteem
gets super, super low,
they actually have a ton of options
if they destroy their conscience,
and by hurting people
or by doing destructive things,
they actually can feel good.
This is what Vanguard terms
a luciferian.
It's the worst possible thing
that could ever occur,
because Luciferians look like you,
and they seem to act like you,
but they are nothing like you.
It's like an aching.
They wake up in the morning,
and they feel vengeful.
They feel bad.
And the only thing that can
relieve that gut, that pain,
is to go out and destroy
and to exercise power.
(Papers shuffling)
Piesse:
Keith did seem to have,
like, a fascination with psychopaths,
and people who were really evil,
or had, had no conscience.
If those people of what
we call anti-conscience,
the luciferic people, didn't exist,
we'd have to invent them.
They're very important for us.
- Vicente: Mm-hmm.
- Raniere: It's a real partnership.
And such a person could even argue that
genetically, they are superior.
They're not burdened by a conscience.
They're not burdened
by a system of honor.
They're machiavellian.
The sociopath, who doesn't
have the circuitry in the brain,
looks at everything like a video game.
And because they
look at things like that,
they have more degrees of freedom
than an empathy-feeling person.
The truth of the matter is,
sociopaths have made us what we were.
If it weren't for sociopaths,
we wouldn't understand compassion.
Yeah.
Piesse: I thought that that
was just because he wanted
to help people not become that way,
and know what they were looking at,
so they could avoid being
hurt by people like that.
But I think ultimately,
what he was doing was just
putting everything in plain sight.
Vicente: I had the kind of love
with Keith that was uneasy,
because I loved him
and I was afraid of him.
(Indistinct chatter)
(Sobbing)
It feels like, uh
I looked into hell
and I got stuck there.
I feel super fucked up.
I read the document on my computer.
It was just called "v.Doc."
The "v" was the nickname
for Keith Raniere, like Vanguard.
I didn't know what it was,
and I just, like,
opened it up and I read it,
and I was like, "what the fuck?"
And it's basically
It's like a story idea
That he came up with.
And, um, basically about,
like, a corporation
where there's like a,
a good guy that's running
the corporation,
and there's like this mentor character.
And the good guy kind of
realizes that there's a psychopath
That's in the system,
trying to destroy everything.
And the punchline in the end is
that he realizes that the mentor,
who he thought was a good guy,
is actually the psychopath.
And it just
I was fucking horrified,
'cause it's like, "you fucker.
"Ten years ago, you showed me
exactly what you were
gonna do to me."
And I know this is what he wanted,
'cause this is fun.
It was the best practical joke ever.
Oh, Jesus. The hair!
Now that your hair's out of the way,
it's much better.
Vicente:
Not bad.
You're not gonna do that, are you?
- (Laughing)
- You didn't do that, did you?
How would you respond to somebody
who believes that the
cause of violence is poverty?
It is poverty.
How do you define poverty?
Poverty of what?
Let me just tie that together.
- Are you rolling?
- Cameraman: I'm rolling.
Vicente: How was the exposure? Good?
- Cameraman: It was good.
- Vicente: We're still rolling, guys?
Okay. Let's go back
to that question,
which was basically,
how would you respond to somebody
who says the cause
of violence is poverty?
Well, uh, it is poverty, actually.
Uh, but a poverty of what?
You're born into a rich family.
You're not stealing anything, per se.
But you haven't earned it.
You're born into a rich family.
That means you haven't
stolen anything, per se.
But you haven't earned it, either.
But imagine a $10 bill.
Do you know what that $10 bill means?
Some person in Mexico is
probably willing to work, what?
A day?
So you hold the life
of the whole family
in your hand when you hold
That $10 bill.
And you go and spend
a $10 bill on what?
(Scoffs)
Drinks at a bar?
That's what I think of your family.
That's what I think of your efforts.
That's what I think
of a whole day of your work.
Just spend it on a drink at a bar.
I just piss it off.
I piss on your family.
I piss on your whole family.
(Indistinct chatter)
Vicente: Toni Zarattini had
to reshoot everything.
All his stuff again,
to give tribute to Raniere.
(Zarattini speaking in Spanish)
Done, done to him
for a long period of time?
Okay.
Vicente:
I was a fucking servant.
I mean, I was a
I was obedient to him.
I know.
I know he gets pleasure in this.
This is one of those things
where if you got stabbed in the soul,
and there's no way there's
nothing that's gonna make it better.
And he's done that to my friends.
He's done that to my wife.
And he knows he did.
And that was his joy.
♪
Piesse:
This is silver bay,
where v week was.
And I do have some really nice memories
of, like, walking across the grass.
Breaking down
all the crooked lines ♪
unraveling ♪
Vicente: This place in
the fall is beautiful.
I mean, the whole mountain
is just orange,
and there's a lake
and there's green grass.
Memories are falling
to the ground ♪
spiraling ♪
it's who you ♪
who you are ♪
not who you ♪
believe in ♪
it's who you ♪
who you are ♪
(Cheering and applause)
Not who you ♪
believe in ♪
(Distant birds chirping)
(Footsteps thudding)
(Phone jingling)
Hey, boo, it's Sally.
Do you want to take it?
- Piesse: I'll go outside and call her.
- Here.
Piesse: Okay.
- No. What?
- No.
- No!
- Fuck me.
Oh, my god.
Fuck.
Fuck!
- I'll tell you what, Sally.
- Put it in the thread.
Fuck me!
I don't have my phone.
My phone's in the car.
Can we pass this on
to the rest of the team?
'Cause I want to let the rebels know.
(Cheering, excited chatter)
Oh, I wanna
(Laughing excitedly)
Oh, my god. I'm so happy.
- (Excited chatter over phone)
- Please let me see your face.
Oh, my god. I'm so fucking excited
I just don't know what to do.
Catherine.
Oxenberg (over phone):
I can't even speak
I'm so excited.
Piesse: (Laughing)
Love you, Catherine!
Guys, it's in the press.
- It's in the press! It's in the press.
- It's in the press.
Zarattini: There you are,
darling. On the front page.
Alleged leader of a secret society
accused of branding women
has been arrested
just hours ago.
(Jazz music playing)
(Footsteps tapping)
(People conversing in Spanish)
Look at this picture of Keith Raniere
in the back of the cop car.
(Laughing)
He looks so unhappy.
"The defendant, Keith Raniere,
"is scheduled to appear in
the northern district of Texas
"tomorrow at 2:00 P.M.
for arraignment.
"The government respectfully
submits this letter in anticipation
"of the defendant's expected removal
to the eastern district of New York,
"and in support of the
government's request
for a permanent order
of detention."
(Laughs) I can't believe
they're doing this.
Vicente: "The defendant, who was
living in Mexico prior to his arrest,
"and has access to vast resources,
"poses a significant risk of flight.
If released, he would pose
a danger to the community."
- Piesse: They got him.
- They fuckin' got him.
- (Sniffles)
- (Sighs)
(Exhales)
Newscaster: FBI crews
raid a home in Waterford
with apparent connections
- to the alleged cult in our area.
- (Distant siren blaring)
Newscaster 2: Hey, good evening,
Camille. While FBI agents
continue to raid the home
behind me here in Waterford
on Oregon trail.
They've been here all day long,
since this morning.
Now, according to neighbors,
Nancy Raniere left the home yesterday,
after the leader of the company
she helped to start
was arrested and charged
with sex trafficking.
Newscaster 3: So there's a
lot of layers to this thing,
but first of all, they got this guy,
uh, Keith Raniere
down in Mexico and they brought
him back. He's going to be extradited.
Newscaster 4: Now, Raniere is expected
back in New York in the coming days.
He is still under the custody
of US Marshals.
Newscaster 5:
Keith Raniere is no longer
at that federal
transfer center in Oklahoma.
Right now, Raniere is on a bus
on his way back to New York.
Court clerk: Okay, so we have a
criminal cause for an arraignment.
18m132, United States
versus Keith Raniere.
Man: Good afternoon.
Judge: Good afternoon.
Good afternoon, Mr. Raniere.
Raniere:
Good afternoon.
Judge: Have you seen a
copy of the complaint
that has been filed
against you in this case?
- Raniere: Yes, your honor.
- Judge: Okay.
In light of the nature of the charges
and the, uh, evidence laid out
in the government's letter,
the court is going to issue a
permanent order of detention.
Do you understand that,
Mr. Raniere?
- Raniere: Yes, your honor.
- Judge: Okay.
Marc Agnifilo:
Good afternoon, everybody.
We just wanna say, um,
Mr. Raniere, uh, denies
these allegations.
We are looking forward
to a swift resolution.
We're not waiving
any speedy trial time.
We don't think the government
can prove these things,
and we look forward
to our day in court.
Reporter:
Some people might say that, uh,
simply by virtue of the fact
that he fled to Mexico,
if that's the right word, that's
Those are the acts of the guilty.
Keith Raniere did not flee to Mexico.
We will explain what happened
at the appropriate time.
Reporter: He's maintaining
his innocence. I mean,
to hear him say that,
I mean, what comes to mind?
He's a sociopath. Of course he's
going to maintain his innocence.
It's very hard for me
to be in this courtroom
because my, my daughter
is a victim of this man.
If you listen to what he has to say,
he claims, you know,
no one involved in this is a victim.
But, but India is, in your mind.
India they're
Ultimately, they're all victims
of, of Keith Raniere.
Ultimately.
If you could say something
to your daughter right now?
I love you. Come home.
Agnifilo: This is a case
about how grown adults
are intimate with each other,
and the choices that grown adults make,
in terms of how to live their lives.
There are well-known groups of men
that brand themselves.
It's utterly uncontroversial.
But a group of women
decide to brand themselves,
and then all of a sudden,
we assume that they're victims.
Quite frankly, I think this is something
that women very much can do
on their own,
as a matter of their own free choice.
And I, I assure you,
I've spoken to many women.
And they've given me their reasons.
This was their choice.
Newscaster: Raniere not
the only member of NXIVM
Newscaster 2: Allison
Mack's in a world of hurt.
Newscaster 3: She was
arraigned in federal court
on charges of sex
trafficking and forced labor.
Reporter 1: What do you say
about the charges against you?
Reporter 2:
Were you involved in a sex cult?
Newscaster: The alleged financial
backer of the operation,
Clare Bronfman, was also indicted today.
Newscaster 2: I have never seen
bail set as high as it was today.
Clare Bronfman could go free.
All she had to do was post
$100 million.
Reporter:
Do you have anything to say?
Newscaster 3: Arrested today,
Nancy Raniere,
the co-founder and president of NXIVM,
as well as her daughter,
Lauren Raniere.
Newscaster 4: If convicted of these,
uh, charges,
they're looking at a maximum
of 20 years.
Reporter 1: You co-founded this group,
Nancy.
Reporter 2: Any comment? Why do
you think you were misguided by Raniere?
Nancy Raniere: Now,
when Keith and I got together,
he asked me if I wanted him
to be my mentor.
And I said,
"I would do anything to be your student."
And he said to me, "not so fast.
"If you're going to work with me,
you have to work with me
for the rest of your life."
Raniere: Loyalty is good
in certain contexts,
and very bad in other contexts.
We talk about
getting lost in the movie.
We're kind of lost
in the role of our life.
What you have to do is stop
believing that that's who you are.
Then you can change your role.
♪
(Phone ringing)
- (Phone line clicks) - Electronic
voice: This call is from
Raniere:
Keith Raniere.
Electronic voice (over phone):
An inmate at a federal prison.
♪
("Dream state" by son Lux playing)
Days we were young ♪
we took photographs of ♪
everything we could be ♪
we knew we were ♪
impervious no matter
how we'd bleed ♪
we never fought for breath ♪
priest and prophetess ♪
we were nothing
we would defy ♪
oh, invincible skin ♪
it's how we all begin ♪
- oh oh oh ♪
- awake, awake ♪
- oh oh ♪
- this is a dream state ♪
oh oh oh, oh oh ♪
oh oh oh ♪
So, abuse is a made up human construct.
Bonnie: As much as I thought
this was a curriculum for growth,
it's really just a weapon.
Mark: Everything was designed
to protect him.
Anthony: I got played,
and I helped this guy build
whatever he was building around him.
And I was a part of that.
We didn't join a cult!
Nobody joins a cult.
Nobody!
Keith Raniere: How we illustrate
human nobility is to get rid of
the concept of victim like that.
Catherine: They may be assigning
an FBI taskforce.
They wanna speak to witnesses
immediately.
Sarah: I just had my meeting
with the FBI today.
I gave them all my evidence.
Man: Tell the truth.
Keith: Good people do bad things
all the time.
- Mark Vicente: Yeah, you're right.
- Cameraman: Oh, move the camera?
Vicente: Yeah,
move the camera, just a little bit.
- So, you want me to
- Vicente: Yeah.
Okay, I, I wrote a fable once,
that started that
there was a mighty king
that took over, uh, a culture,
and this king used torture and fear
to create obedience.
And over time,
people found that if they just
obeyed what the king said,
there was peace across the land.
But what they sacrificed
for that was their traditions,
their customs,
and all of their identity.
So they just became a group of slaves,
almost like cattle,
that were used by the king.
The threat of violence
was enough to keep social order.
But if the king went
and killed everyone,
then he would have to do all the work.
So, the people who are being victimized
have a certain power.
And they can stand against the king.
And even though the king has all
sorts of weapons that they don't have,
and all sorts of violence
that they don't have,
ultimately, they would likely prevail.
("Dream state" by son Lux playing)
Days we were young ♪
we took photographs of
everything we could see ♪
we had to run from it ♪
priest and prophetess ♪
we were nothing
we would defy ♪
oh, invisible skin ♪
where is the world within ♪
invincible skin ♪
it's how we all begin ♪
(Phone ringing)
Frank.
Okay.
Yeah.
♪
Toni Zarattini:
As of, uh, right now,
our beloved Vanguard was in Monterrey.
And I have a picture coming
with confirmation, so wait for it.
He's on the run.
Bonnie Piesse: Show us the
picture. Can you hold it up?
Uh, yeah.
So, the picture.
That's Keith Raniere right there.
And that was today,
in Mexico.
Then I'd like to call the FBI
and the police and tell them,
"this is what we've heard's happening.
"So, if you guys are serious
about any of this,
"you're about to lose your shot,
because there's thousands
of loyal ESP-ians in Mexico."
The children of very
influential families
are running the center down there.
You know, like, Emiliano Salinas.
He is the son of one
of the ex-presidents.
He's sort of like
the JFK Jr. of Mexico.
And so Keith had a lot
of political clout there.
(Car alarm chirps)
- (Dog barking)
- Catherine Oxenberg: Greg?
Hi, little pup. Aw!
Vicente: I mean, he's got a lot
of power around him down there.
Oxenberg: And they've moved
all their classes to Mexico?
So, we're in a tricky spot, because
law enforcement has said, "stop. Don't
do any more shit." And we're like
It's a, it's a waiting game.
Greg Hannley: So didn't
he have houses and offices
and stuff like that in, um, Albany?
Vicente: Yeah. All in
other people's names.
- Yeah.
- Vicente: Many of them are
The houses are quiet and shuttered now.
- Hannley: So, all of that got disrupted.
- Yeah.
Piesse:
There's still some diehards there.
Hannley: Like India? Is she one
of the diehards that are over there?
Vicente: Yeah.
She's here.
I'm seeing her this afternoon.
Hannley: But she's not
here recruiting people.
We don't know.
She's meeting with me
today at three o'clock.
Hannley:
Well, and, and right now,
she's got such blinders on that,
she's not questioning
anything except for you.
Oxenberg: Correct. Shit.
What do I do if she's going
If she goes to Mexico?
Hannley:
You just continually
It's the same way. It's kind
of like a reverse brainwash.
You just continually play
the message over to her,
till one day maybe she hears it.
And the message is?
Well, tell her to stop
doing weird shit.
Oxenberg:
Okay.
- (All chuckling)
- Hannley: You know?
"Stop doing"
Hannley: Yeah. If you're doing weird
shit, people want to hear about it.
Well, you ask questions that
she would have to think about now.
Why is he in Mexico?
Why are the houses shuttered?
- Piesse: Yeah.
- Why is the FBI investigating him?
Doesn't it seem a little odd
that a guy who's
on the up-and-up
and doing good business
and helping people
and doing the right thing
has to move to Mexico?
So, 2000 and
I think nine, was when
A number of the Mexicans
spoke to him at v week
and said, you know,
"we are under enormous,
"uh, fear in our country.
"You know, we're being kidnapped,
kidnapping is a business. You know,
we don't know what to do."
And Keith said,
"I can solve this."
Keith called all the Mexicans
together and sat and spoke to them,
and I recorded all those conversations.
(Indistinct chatter)
Good to see you.
- Marquitos.
- Vicente: Yes!
(Woman speaking Spanish)
It's interesting, because
when I was express kidnapped,
I asked a lot of questions,
and I had a conversation with these guys.
Uh, and for them at least,
my impression was,
that they go into their business, like,
like they tell their wives,
you know, "I'm going to work."
Vicente: NXIVM Mexico, I mean,
it just, it basically seemed like
they lived in some kind of
rarefied air.
A lot of money.
And even in the mission statement,
it talks about reaching the most
influential, powerful, you know,
wealthiest people, blah, blah,
in the world because
If you go and try
and give this education
to the people that have zero influence,
the lowest laborers,
they have no influence
over society at all.
The only sustainable way
to change a society
is the wealthiest, most powerful people
needed this education.
And that would trickle down
to everything else.
Keith Raniere:
I think part of the problem here
is that you guys are numb
to your own condition.
Class neutrality is one of the
biggest problems in Mexico.
It's one of the things that's
generating a lot of fear, if you will.
The entitlement of the poor
to take from the rich,
and the fear of the poor that they're,
they're nothing. Oblivion.
And the fear of the rich that they've
gotten their riches for no reason
and really, they don't
deserve them, either.
I want you to imagine a $10 bill.
Do you know what that $10 bill means?
Some person in Mexico is
probably willing to work, what, a day?
They're willing to go and sweat,
and spend a whole day,
just to get that little piece of paper.
You hold the life of
a whole family in your hand
when you hold that $10 bill.
And you go out and spend
that $10 bill on what?
Drinks at a bar?
That's what I think of your family.
That's what I think of your efforts.
That's what I think
of a whole day of your work.
I just piss it off.
I piss on your family.
So why am I saying all of this?
'Cause you have to understand
the nature of it,
and you have to understand
the nature of what you do.
And do the wealthy people
have to change? Yeah.
You have to respect
the wealth that you have,
and what it represents in the world.
Vicente: Keith said to me,
"you know, it would be cool
if you could continue
documenting this." I said, "I'd love to."
So I followed them
down to Mexico to see
what would they do with these,
this information in these meetings.
Raniere:
This thing will not work
if you do not resolve
your class struggle.
You have to be visible, day after day,
location after location,
on the radio, in the news.
Yes, I am.
Although I don't know how
to implement this.
I, I don't know how to
organize people like that.
Well, start small.
(Newscaster speaking Spanish)
In lak'ech translates to
"you are my other me."
(Speaking Spanish)
Raniere: So there's two aspects.
There's the economic aspect,
which is the creation
of affluence, so to speak.
And then the other hand is
peaceful drills and tools of peace.
Vicente:
Every Sunday at 3:00 P.M.,
3,000 to 5,000 people would stand
all over Mexico and basically say this
particular pledge that he had written.
Raniere: All violence
is a mistaken identity.
All violence traces back to a, a fear.
(Speaking Spanish)
So what is the nature of compassion?
To get to the root of the violence,
to transform the violence.
(Emiliano Salinas speaking Spanish)
Vicente: I decided to make a
film about the movement.
I named it
"encender El corazón."
"Ignite the heart."
I was like, I'm gonna fucking
make this film a wakeup call.
And so I found great stories.
And great people.
(Indistinct chatter)
I met Toni Zarattini in ESP,
probably in 2005.
And Toni was kidnapped,
um, many years before.
And for ransom from his family,
they cut off his ears,
and they cut off one of his fingers.
(Speaking Spanish)
Vicente: Toni and I had known
each other for a long time,
and I considered him a hero.
He tried to escape once
from his kidnappers.
They beat the shit out of him,
put him back in,
and eventually he tried again,
and, and got away.
Toni's a great man.
He was a coach in NXIVM,
until he discovered that one of his
dear friends was involved in dos,
and had been branded,
and he was horrified.
And so his battle with the entire
Mexican ESP community began.
One of the reasons I got out
is when I learned that Mark
had gotten out.
It was like,
"what? He got out?
"Mark Vicente got out?
"He's like, like what?
How? He's a green.
"He's on the board.
What do you what
What do you mean he's out?"
And they said, "no, well,
he wanted to go make movies."
Didn't make any sense.
(Line ringing)
This is my friend.
Hola.
Vicente:
Um, do you have any updates?
Vicente: I hope so, Toni,
because if it doesn't,
they're gonna hunt us forever.
Vicente: Yeah.
Right.
Yeah.
Vicente: There's been a
certain level of uncertainty
because of, like,
law enforcement getting more involved.
And I don't know if
they have a case or not.
Everything we did before was,
we need to get this exposed.
We need to get this out there.
We had a certain amount of
control over what we were doing.
And it feels like it's less
in our hands now.
When I first saw her, like, oh,
my god. I love this child so much.
Just being able to, like,
kiss her and hug her.
(Sighs) And
I feel so many mixed emotions,
I can't tell you.
On one hand,
I did I planted a lot of stuff,
but I swear to god,
I felt like I was planting seeds
In (Sighs)
Granite.
Well, there's no getting through to her
that what she's doing
is super fucked up.
And I did say what Greg said.
Like, I said, you know,
"this is very weird." She said,
"so what if it's weird?"
I mean, what do you say to somebody?
I'm like, "well, the world
thinks it's weird."
And I said, "not okay weird.
Like fuck
Like, creepy weird."
But it doesn't seem to be
a problem for her.
And I can just see how, um,
like, how her morality has been bent.
So I was saying, "well,
what if people are going to jail?
And what if people
have broken the law?"
And she said, "well,
I don't think that I've done anything,
personally, to break the law."
I said, "I believe that you would
never break the law knowingly."
I said, "but what if you were guided
to break the law by people who knew?
Why do you think Keith fled?"
"Well" her response is, "cause there's
a lot of people who don't like him."
And I'm like, "well,
why do you think they don't like him?"
And
Again, she couldn't really come up
She couldn't come up with an answer.
(Sighs)
She really thinks that Mark
and Bonnie are the masterminds
of this whole operation,
and that I'm being used
by Mark and Bonnie.
Uh, Sarah and Nippy are being used,
like, everybody's being used.
If there's hope
It's not in any of the words
that were communicated.
It's in it's in here.
You know?
What we're up against is such darkness.
Such incredible darkness.
(Sobbing)
I don't have any evidence at all,
but I feel like we're
gonna get her back.
But I don't have any evidence at all.
(Indistinct)
(Baby babbling)
(Sign dings)
Electronic voice:
To prepare for landing,
please close your tray table,
and put away carry-on items.
Place your seat in the original
Piesse: When Mark and I left,
we put everything in storage
Electronic voice: Any items
you wish to discard
Piesse:
It's years and years of our lives.
Electronic voice:
We'll be landing soon.
♪
(Indistinct announcement over PA)
Now that Keith's gone,
we finally feel okay to go back.
Vicente:
I can see why we like LA.
Piesse:
This is, like, gray and dead.
- Vicente: Disgusting.
- Piesse: Yeah.
But being back here just reminds me
of the heartache of, like,
how much we've lost, you know?
We have lost a lot of friends.
Piesse:
You want to go first or you want me?
(Dog barking)
(Doorbell rings)
It's a puppy.
- (Door lock clicks)
- It's a puppy.
- It's a puppy. It's a puppy.
- Hi.
Hi.
- Hi, puppy.
- Oh, you're so are you cold?
Come in here.
Oh, no, I'm all right.
I actually kind of like it.
- Hi!
- Hi.
- Hey.
- Piesse: How's it going?
Something I never thought
I'd see standing in my doorway.
- Vicente: Really?
- Piesse: Yeah.
Yeah. You.
Where do you wanna sit?
Actually, I'll sit here, boo.
- Yeah. Okay.
- And you sit here.
Toni, thank you so much for
opening up your house to us.
Oh, and, listen,
thank you so much for opening your eyes.
- Vicente: (Laughs) It took a while.
- Like, that's just
- Piesse: It took a while.
- Hey, I don't care
when anyone wakes up,
how they wake up,
as long as they wake up.
- Is that right? How did that work?
- Vicente: Well
- I don't let me think.
- Piesse: I never felt like enemies.
- Vicente: I never felt
- I felt like you were enemies.
- (Laughter)
- No, I, I understand,
- and you should have, absolutely.
- Toni Natalie: I'm sorry.
- Yeah.
- No, no. You should have.
- Not anymore!
- Natalie: Right.
It's good.
It had to be very difficult for him
to not be able to split you
guys up. So how hard did he try?
Piesse: Pretty trying.
Pretty hard after I left, yeah.
Yeah. To me, you
You both leaving was a big deal.
Because someone
that close to him leaving,
is a crack in his plate.
When he loses that control,
he loses his mind.
I have something for you.
I'm looking for the letter
that I sent to Mark in 2010.
- 2010?
- Mm-hmm.
- (Keys clicking)
- Piesse: Right when I came in.
- Yeah.
- Piesse: Wow.
Vicente: But I,
I never received it back then.
So that was like eight years ago.
Natalie:
Mm-hmm.
- Is that the one?
- Natalie: Yeah, yeah. That's it.
Um, it was in response to a Ted talk
that Mark did.
My name is Mark Vicente.
I'm a filmmaker from the
apartheid era South Africa.
I have as my mentor
an American scientist
and philosopher by the
name of Keith Raniere.
He asked me a question,
and the question he asked me was,
"what is bravery?"
What is it?
Nobody's ever seen this letter.
Natalie:
No. No. I just sent it to you.
It says, "Mark,
"I think it's very important
that you temper
"how much of your good deeds
you attribute to Keith Raniere.
"By attributing your goodness
to Raniere, you give him credit.
"And worse yet, credibility,
where none is due.
"Just look at how he cons people
"into believing that
they are doing good deeds,
"when in fact,
all they're doing is helping to make
"his sordid lifestyle possible.
"If only you and others
would be brave enough
"to truly look at his past
and his present,
"and objectively,
you would see that you've been conned.
"Keith destroys people's lives
and will continue to do so
"until people like yourself
are brave enough
"to really look at what he does.
"And if you choose not to,
then you must ask yourself why."
You did, though.
- Mm-hmm. Finally.
- You did wake up.
Yeah, but you know what?
- It doesn't matter.
- Seven years later.
It doesn't matter, Mark.
It's that you woke up.
Vicente:
Yeah, I wish I got it.
Natalie:
You weren't ready.
Vicente:
I wasn't ready.
Fuckin' hell.
Aah.
(Turn signal clicking)
This, this is our old house right here.
On top of the garage, to the right,
- the receivers and transmitters.
- Piesse: See, they're watching us.
There's probably a camera there,
as well.
- They're watching us.
- They're probably watching us, yeah.
They have, like,
cameras all around
at the ESP-ians' houses.
So they're monitoring.
Someone's monitoring.
Keith could be looking
at that in Mexico.
Puts us in a little bit of danger.
If they have papers ready for us,
and they've been trying to find us,
they could come and serve us.
'Cause we've been in hiding.
This is dark right here.
Keith was trying to see
how submissive I'd be.
And he'd call me for walks
at like, 3:00 A.M.
And I just jumped
right out of bed and went,
like it was, it was an honor.
Piesse: Okay.
(Piesse crying)
♪
Piesse: At one point in
the middle of the night,
I was walking with him,
and he was doing little tests with me.
And he said, you know,
"why don't you run towards that tree?
So I started I ran towards
the tree and I stopped.
I didn't mash my face up.
And I came back and he said, "interesting
how protective of your body you are."
And I felt ashamed.
But I saw that as a limitation.
And then he said, you know,
"you're so uptight about dirt.
Go and lick that puddle. You're so
uptight about dirt. Lick the puddle."
So I went and licked the puddle.
I was trying to let down my, my guards,
and all my fears, and, you know,
to open myself up to his teaching.
I think I failed
whatever his tests were.
Raniere:
Okay, let's, let's just do a
Start it.
Let's see, here.
- (Laughter)
- Sorry. Could you just
- (Singing on computer)
- I'm a little punchy, that's all.
Don't mind me.
(Laughing)
(Emiliano Salinas speaking
Spanish on computer)
This is history of the movement, right?
(Emiliano Salinas speaking
Spanish on computer)
Who cares?
- (Snores)
- Vicente: Boring?
Not boring, but not of the
emotional tenor you need.
Raniere (over computer): The reason
why I think you should is
The thing that I say about
Mexico being an optimal time,
maybe that's something.
This is very documentary,
intellectual
Raniere:
In this situation,
I see there are four basic
philosophies for which
Great. I don't give a shit.
I don't even know the word philosophy.
I'm a typical person watching this.
(Emiliano Salinas speaking
Spanish on computer)
I mean,
I nothing against being myself.
Now, to, to put this on pause a second.
(Video stops)
So again, I have to keep in mind,
who's the typical person
that's seeing this?
If you go to all of the wealthy,
educated people
and they all see this film,
and whatever,
you're not gonna change Mexico.
It's not gonna work.
I don't do you I don't
think I need to see much more.
I think you need to
rethink this. It's essential.
I agree.
- Okay.
- Thanks.
- So I'll speak to you later.
- Yes, you will.
- Later, later.
- I gotta think.
Woman:
This is funny.
- (Laughing)
- I knew I'd mess things up.
Yeah, I knew you would, too.
Vicente: He made people feel
really shit about themselves
so that they would feel
they owed so much more
than they were giving
he really worked Emiliano
about the power and corruption
of his family,
and used that to try to convince
Emiliano that he had a lot to do
to fix what his family had done,
which is exactly what he did
with Clare and Sara, as well.
Bye-bye.
- (All chattering goodbyes)
- Bye-bye. Bye-bye.
Vicente:
You felt like shit,
and he was the only one
that could fix it.
(Shutter clicks)
Vicente:
I mean, it's a long story.
Vicente:
Um, 30-second version.
Lived here for 12 years.
Was part of an organization
that turned out to be
a very dangerous cult.
Blew the whistle on human
trafficking and sex trafficking.
Now there's a massive
federal investigation underway.
This is the first time
we're back in a year.
Man: Do you mind if I
ask what they're called?
Vicente: The umbrella
company is NXIVM. N-x-i-v-m.
- No way.
- Vicente: That's the one!
I actually had a meeting with
them one time, accidentally.
Right? Like, just that
And it's weird. I don't know.
Piesse: It starts off,
it feels like real answers.
Like, I think the experience
you had was weird.
But there are different ways
that, like
For us, we came in because
we had real, legitimate,
good experiences with people.
And it was people we trusted.
- So
- Woman: Yeah. No, I think it all starts
with someone you know,
essentially, right?
No. No.
I dragged her in.
Yeah.
Piesse: I think the
hardest thing is the shame.
It's easy to think that people
are stupid for getting involved.
And I don't think we're stupid.
I think we're sensitive,
good people, and
It's just it's hard.
- Not anymore.
- Not anymore.
(Door clattering)
Vicente:
This is our life.
Piesse:
Oh, geez. (Laughs)
It was a whole apartment.
Vicente:
Look what I found.
First one I had as a camera assistant.
- Wow.
- Piesse: That's my action figure.
I've got very long arms.
I wrote this book.
In another life.
It's a lot of shit to go through.
I mean, I've got modules, here.
"World audience."
"Pain and suffering."
Oh, shifter strategy!
- Vicente: Oh, you got "shifter" there?
- Yep.
Piesse: "The term 'shifter'
does not usually refer to a person,
"but rather to a strategy that
is an unlimited form of cheating.
"Have you ever seen a magic trick
that was so incredible that you
couldn't figure out how it was done?"
- Oh, wait. How do you do that?
- (Clapping)
(Whistling noise)
Piesse: "Maybe you wanted
to watch it again and again
"to try to figure it out.
"Then one day, you learned
how it was done
"and you couldn't believe
that you were taken in by it.
It became so obvious to you."
- Tails.
- (Slaps)
Tails.
"We do not live in a world
that plays by the rules.
If you and I are
playing a game"
And I'm cheating and you're not,
chances are, I'm gonna win.
Unless you discover my cheating.
- Hand goes faster than the quarter does.
- Oh!
- Right.
- (Slaps)
(Clattering)
Ooh, what's this?
"Suppressive: Someone with
very low self-esteem.
"Whenever this person
sees something good,
"they want to suppress it
and destroy it.
These people never have
anything nice to say about anyone."
After I left, I heard that I
was being called a suppressive.
Cause you're not allowed to ask questions
and you're not allowed to leave.
(Sighs)
In ESP, we learned that everyone
has suppressive tendencies.
We all have narcissistic traits.
But a full suppressive is someone who,
like, really has bad intent,
and wants to hurt people.
That was described in
the module "the fall."
Raniere: There's an
interesting book written, uh,
poem, actually,
"paradise lost," by Milton.
Written a while ago.
It's about the fall of Lucifer
from the garden of Eden.
At one point,
he's personifying Lucifer,
and Lucifer looks up and sees heaven,
and then sees heaven's creation,
which is man.
And you know what Lucifer's
first reaction to man is?
He is amazed by man.
He admires, even loves, man.
One can interpret that.
But then you know what his reaction is?
"That creature reminds me
of what I lost.
"The perfection of that creature
"brings such hate, such memories,
"such awful things in me.
I must destroy that.
I don't want to see heaven
embodied anywhere."
So he seeks to destroy.
♪
Piesse: So, "the fall" was described as,
like, this discovery
that a person can make.
That if their self-esteem
gets super, super low,
they actually have a ton of options
if they destroy their conscience,
and by hurting people
or by doing destructive things,
they actually can feel good.
This is what Vanguard terms
a luciferian.
It's the worst possible thing
that could ever occur,
because Luciferians look like you,
and they seem to act like you,
but they are nothing like you.
It's like an aching.
They wake up in the morning,
and they feel vengeful.
They feel bad.
And the only thing that can
relieve that gut, that pain,
is to go out and destroy
and to exercise power.
(Papers shuffling)
Piesse:
Keith did seem to have,
like, a fascination with psychopaths,
and people who were really evil,
or had, had no conscience.
If those people of what
we call anti-conscience,
the luciferic people, didn't exist,
we'd have to invent them.
They're very important for us.
- Vicente: Mm-hmm.
- Raniere: It's a real partnership.
And such a person could even argue that
genetically, they are superior.
They're not burdened by a conscience.
They're not burdened
by a system of honor.
They're machiavellian.
The sociopath, who doesn't
have the circuitry in the brain,
looks at everything like a video game.
And because they
look at things like that,
they have more degrees of freedom
than an empathy-feeling person.
The truth of the matter is,
sociopaths have made us what we were.
If it weren't for sociopaths,
we wouldn't understand compassion.
Yeah.
Piesse: I thought that that
was just because he wanted
to help people not become that way,
and know what they were looking at,
so they could avoid being
hurt by people like that.
But I think ultimately,
what he was doing was just
putting everything in plain sight.
Vicente: I had the kind of love
with Keith that was uneasy,
because I loved him
and I was afraid of him.
(Indistinct chatter)
(Sobbing)
It feels like, uh
I looked into hell
and I got stuck there.
I feel super fucked up.
I read the document on my computer.
It was just called "v.Doc."
The "v" was the nickname
for Keith Raniere, like Vanguard.
I didn't know what it was,
and I just, like,
opened it up and I read it,
and I was like, "what the fuck?"
And it's basically
It's like a story idea
That he came up with.
And, um, basically about,
like, a corporation
where there's like a,
a good guy that's running
the corporation,
and there's like this mentor character.
And the good guy kind of
realizes that there's a psychopath
That's in the system,
trying to destroy everything.
And the punchline in the end is
that he realizes that the mentor,
who he thought was a good guy,
is actually the psychopath.
And it just
I was fucking horrified,
'cause it's like, "you fucker.
"Ten years ago, you showed me
exactly what you were
gonna do to me."
And I know this is what he wanted,
'cause this is fun.
It was the best practical joke ever.
Oh, Jesus. The hair!
Now that your hair's out of the way,
it's much better.
Vicente:
Not bad.
You're not gonna do that, are you?
- (Laughing)
- You didn't do that, did you?
How would you respond to somebody
who believes that the
cause of violence is poverty?
It is poverty.
How do you define poverty?
Poverty of what?
Let me just tie that together.
- Are you rolling?
- Cameraman: I'm rolling.
Vicente: How was the exposure? Good?
- Cameraman: It was good.
- Vicente: We're still rolling, guys?
Okay. Let's go back
to that question,
which was basically,
how would you respond to somebody
who says the cause
of violence is poverty?
Well, uh, it is poverty, actually.
Uh, but a poverty of what?
You're born into a rich family.
You're not stealing anything, per se.
But you haven't earned it.
You're born into a rich family.
That means you haven't
stolen anything, per se.
But you haven't earned it, either.
But imagine a $10 bill.
Do you know what that $10 bill means?
Some person in Mexico is
probably willing to work, what?
A day?
So you hold the life
of the whole family
in your hand when you hold
That $10 bill.
And you go and spend
a $10 bill on what?
(Scoffs)
Drinks at a bar?
That's what I think of your family.
That's what I think of your efforts.
That's what I think
of a whole day of your work.
Just spend it on a drink at a bar.
I just piss it off.
I piss on your family.
I piss on your whole family.
(Indistinct chatter)
Vicente: Toni Zarattini had
to reshoot everything.
All his stuff again,
to give tribute to Raniere.
(Zarattini speaking in Spanish)
Done, done to him
for a long period of time?
Okay.
Vicente:
I was a fucking servant.
I mean, I was a
I was obedient to him.
I know.
I know he gets pleasure in this.
This is one of those things
where if you got stabbed in the soul,
and there's no way there's
nothing that's gonna make it better.
And he's done that to my friends.
He's done that to my wife.
And he knows he did.
And that was his joy.
♪
Piesse:
This is silver bay,
where v week was.
And I do have some really nice memories
of, like, walking across the grass.
Breaking down
all the crooked lines ♪
unraveling ♪
Vicente: This place in
the fall is beautiful.
I mean, the whole mountain
is just orange,
and there's a lake
and there's green grass.
Memories are falling
to the ground ♪
spiraling ♪
it's who you ♪
who you are ♪
not who you ♪
believe in ♪
it's who you ♪
who you are ♪
(Cheering and applause)
Not who you ♪
believe in ♪
(Distant birds chirping)
(Footsteps thudding)
(Phone jingling)
Hey, boo, it's Sally.
Do you want to take it?
- Piesse: I'll go outside and call her.
- Here.
Piesse: Okay.
- No. What?
- No.
- No!
- Fuck me.
Oh, my god.
Fuck.
Fuck!
- I'll tell you what, Sally.
- Put it in the thread.
Fuck me!
I don't have my phone.
My phone's in the car.
Can we pass this on
to the rest of the team?
'Cause I want to let the rebels know.
(Cheering, excited chatter)
Oh, I wanna
(Laughing excitedly)
Oh, my god. I'm so happy.
- (Excited chatter over phone)
- Please let me see your face.
Oh, my god. I'm so fucking excited
I just don't know what to do.
Catherine.
Oxenberg (over phone):
I can't even speak
I'm so excited.
Piesse: (Laughing)
Love you, Catherine!
Guys, it's in the press.
- It's in the press! It's in the press.
- It's in the press.
Zarattini: There you are,
darling. On the front page.
Alleged leader of a secret society
accused of branding women
has been arrested
just hours ago.
(Jazz music playing)
(Footsteps tapping)
(People conversing in Spanish)
Look at this picture of Keith Raniere
in the back of the cop car.
(Laughing)
He looks so unhappy.
"The defendant, Keith Raniere,
"is scheduled to appear in
the northern district of Texas
"tomorrow at 2:00 P.M.
for arraignment.
"The government respectfully
submits this letter in anticipation
"of the defendant's expected removal
to the eastern district of New York,
"and in support of the
government's request
for a permanent order
of detention."
(Laughs) I can't believe
they're doing this.
Vicente: "The defendant, who was
living in Mexico prior to his arrest,
"and has access to vast resources,
"poses a significant risk of flight.
If released, he would pose
a danger to the community."
- Piesse: They got him.
- They fuckin' got him.
- (Sniffles)
- (Sighs)
(Exhales)
Newscaster: FBI crews
raid a home in Waterford
with apparent connections
- to the alleged cult in our area.
- (Distant siren blaring)
Newscaster 2: Hey, good evening,
Camille. While FBI agents
continue to raid the home
behind me here in Waterford
on Oregon trail.
They've been here all day long,
since this morning.
Now, according to neighbors,
Nancy Raniere left the home yesterday,
after the leader of the company
she helped to start
was arrested and charged
with sex trafficking.
Newscaster 3: So there's a
lot of layers to this thing,
but first of all, they got this guy,
uh, Keith Raniere
down in Mexico and they brought
him back. He's going to be extradited.
Newscaster 4: Now, Raniere is expected
back in New York in the coming days.
He is still under the custody
of US Marshals.
Newscaster 5:
Keith Raniere is no longer
at that federal
transfer center in Oklahoma.
Right now, Raniere is on a bus
on his way back to New York.
Court clerk: Okay, so we have a
criminal cause for an arraignment.
18m132, United States
versus Keith Raniere.
Man: Good afternoon.
Judge: Good afternoon.
Good afternoon, Mr. Raniere.
Raniere:
Good afternoon.
Judge: Have you seen a
copy of the complaint
that has been filed
against you in this case?
- Raniere: Yes, your honor.
- Judge: Okay.
In light of the nature of the charges
and the, uh, evidence laid out
in the government's letter,
the court is going to issue a
permanent order of detention.
Do you understand that,
Mr. Raniere?
- Raniere: Yes, your honor.
- Judge: Okay.
Marc Agnifilo:
Good afternoon, everybody.
We just wanna say, um,
Mr. Raniere, uh, denies
these allegations.
We are looking forward
to a swift resolution.
We're not waiving
any speedy trial time.
We don't think the government
can prove these things,
and we look forward
to our day in court.
Reporter:
Some people might say that, uh,
simply by virtue of the fact
that he fled to Mexico,
if that's the right word, that's
Those are the acts of the guilty.
Keith Raniere did not flee to Mexico.
We will explain what happened
at the appropriate time.
Reporter: He's maintaining
his innocence. I mean,
to hear him say that,
I mean, what comes to mind?
He's a sociopath. Of course he's
going to maintain his innocence.
It's very hard for me
to be in this courtroom
because my, my daughter
is a victim of this man.
If you listen to what he has to say,
he claims, you know,
no one involved in this is a victim.
But, but India is, in your mind.
India they're
Ultimately, they're all victims
of, of Keith Raniere.
Ultimately.
If you could say something
to your daughter right now?
I love you. Come home.
Agnifilo: This is a case
about how grown adults
are intimate with each other,
and the choices that grown adults make,
in terms of how to live their lives.
There are well-known groups of men
that brand themselves.
It's utterly uncontroversial.
But a group of women
decide to brand themselves,
and then all of a sudden,
we assume that they're victims.
Quite frankly, I think this is something
that women very much can do
on their own,
as a matter of their own free choice.
And I, I assure you,
I've spoken to many women.
And they've given me their reasons.
This was their choice.
Newscaster: Raniere not
the only member of NXIVM
Newscaster 2: Allison
Mack's in a world of hurt.
Newscaster 3: She was
arraigned in federal court
on charges of sex
trafficking and forced labor.
Reporter 1: What do you say
about the charges against you?
Reporter 2:
Were you involved in a sex cult?
Newscaster: The alleged financial
backer of the operation,
Clare Bronfman, was also indicted today.
Newscaster 2: I have never seen
bail set as high as it was today.
Clare Bronfman could go free.
All she had to do was post
$100 million.
Reporter:
Do you have anything to say?
Newscaster 3: Arrested today,
Nancy Raniere,
the co-founder and president of NXIVM,
as well as her daughter,
Lauren Raniere.
Newscaster 4: If convicted of these,
uh, charges,
they're looking at a maximum
of 20 years.
Reporter 1: You co-founded this group,
Nancy.
Reporter 2: Any comment? Why do
you think you were misguided by Raniere?
Nancy Raniere: Now,
when Keith and I got together,
he asked me if I wanted him
to be my mentor.
And I said,
"I would do anything to be your student."
And he said to me, "not so fast.
"If you're going to work with me,
you have to work with me
for the rest of your life."
Raniere: Loyalty is good
in certain contexts,
and very bad in other contexts.
We talk about
getting lost in the movie.
We're kind of lost
in the role of our life.
What you have to do is stop
believing that that's who you are.
Then you can change your role.
♪
(Phone ringing)
- (Phone line clicks) - Electronic
voice: This call is from
Raniere:
Keith Raniere.
Electronic voice (over phone):
An inmate at a federal prison.
♪
("Dream state" by son Lux playing)
Days we were young ♪
we took photographs of ♪
everything we could be ♪
we knew we were ♪
impervious no matter
how we'd bleed ♪
we never fought for breath ♪
priest and prophetess ♪
we were nothing
we would defy ♪
oh, invincible skin ♪
it's how we all begin ♪
- oh oh oh ♪
- awake, awake ♪
- oh oh ♪
- this is a dream state ♪
oh oh oh, oh oh ♪
oh oh oh ♪