Somewhat recently, the phrase “Both things can be true” has entered the cultural lexicon, typically used by someone to describe a pair of relatively innocuous topics that seem to be in contrast with one another. Obviously, it’s an easy line to understand. Still, its usage can extend beyond its original meaning, and in the case of a new HBO docuseries, “Bring Me The Beauties: A Model Cult,” the topics profiled mix in a manner perfectly befitting such a descriptor. What more can be said about the supermodel scene of the 1980s and a Scientology-esque cult with supposed connections to interstellar space and a prophecy of catastrophic global conflict? Could there be more? Could all of this indeed be true?
Director Chris Smith, now with a filmography occupied with the likes of acclaimed documentaries as diverse as, “American Movie,” “Fyre,” and “Wham!,” has set his camera lens on a series of events frequently unsettling and increasingly bizarre as this three-part profile of a sect known as Eternal Values and its leader Frederick von Mierers flies along at a pace somehow remaining easy to follow even as the narrative progressively spirals further and further out of control. It’s far from fiction, even if at times it seems as if no other explanation could exist, but to quote Ryan Gosling in “The Big Short,” “This happened.” Though the series tends to save much of the spotlight for model/member Hoyt Richards, various members contribute to the story throughout, and even without the participation of von Mierers (who passed away in 1990) or his right-hand John Andreadis, having such a well-spoken group, each equipped with an avalanche of memories still as vivid as if it only just happened, makes Smith’s job a breeze.
That’s not to say said memories are anything less than perplexing, as much as it’s clear how not every interviewee sits on the same page as the next. Hoyt, the arguable centerpiece, describes a childhood as one of six children, born as John Richards Hoyt and raised by parents, including a mother who rarely offered a compliment. Summers spent in Nantucket would lead Richards to von Mierers, a local figurehead and New York socialite naturally gifted at endearing himself to those around him, and in the process leaving a sizeable impression on a young Richards. His path eventually took him to the halls of Princeton, where football was presumed to set the course for his post-collegiate career, a series of events would lead Richards to the world of modeling, where his strikingly good looks and on-camera charisma quickly laid the foundation for an unexpected life he nevertheless welcomed. Von Mierers, meanwhile, had continued to maintain contact with his young companion, with trips to Studio 54 planting the seeds for a potential business revolving around health, fitness and the recruitment of additional models to help assist in growing such an endeavor to fruition; it was no surprise that one look at von Mierers himself was enough to see how the leader equally possessed the chiseled and sculpted jawline of those in his employ.
It wouldn’t be long before things began to turn. The organization, now known as Eternal Values, soon came to be defined by its beliefs: not only was a cataclysmic event on the horizon, one that could spell the end of civilization while ushering in a vague promise of rebirth, but that the members of Eternal Values were, in reality, extraterrestrials known as “Walk-Ins” who had, quite literally, walked into their human vessels and now saw fit to spread the gospel of Eternal Values through such mediums as talk shows and videotaped sermons, in which several members of the group took center stage as they communicated what they believed to be the truth of it all. Meanwhile, Richards’ attempts to reconcile his modeling success, which had quickly grown as the ’80s progressed, with his life inside Eternal Values seemingly stood in direct opposition, yet as Richards himself would recollect, alongside such colleagues as none other than Fabio, nothing seemed to stand in the way and, if nothing else, could be something of a platform from which to expound the virtues of his newfound family.
His real family, meanwhile, couldn’t help but see what was happening, trying even to instigate an intervention in an effort to extract Richards from what they saw as an undeniable cult, to no avail, forced to watch from afar as the years passed and a gulf between their presumedly brainwashed son and the world he supported grew even larger. Furthermore, Eternal Values wasn’t solely limited to men, with former member Jacki Adams herself discussing in detail, as her own modeling career would take a similar path to Eternal Values’ doorstep, one which even included an infamous block of NYC-based apartments essentially acting as their base of operations before moving to a larger facility in North Carolina.
Adams would go on to describe the relationship she formed with Andreadis, as well as the recollection amongst the group that, if such unions were to occur, they should only happen between one Eternal Values member and another, something Richards himself recalled as feeling akin to being with a sister. Through it all, the personal history of von Mierers never came into question, with a supposedly tragic childhood involving the early deaths of his parents that may or may not be even remotely true, nor the legitimacy of the gem business, which largely funded Eternal Value’s efforts as they prepared for Doomsday.
Could the talk show circuit help boost their profile? As seen during various appearances, in which von Mierers’ ancestry as having derived from the star Arcturus and the ensuing holes poked vigorously into his various otherworldly claims soon saw Richards’ modeling career take an immediate nosedive, little could be done to elevate Eternal Values from being little more than a widely-regarded laughingstock, both throughout the locals living in proximity to their North Carolina headquarters and on a widespread level further boosted by a particularly damning Vanity Fair article around this time. It’s a wild ride, to say the least.
What Smith has done over the course of three episodes is present easily one of the more compelling journeys into the complicated world of a particular cult, not unlike countless others, one in which, by allowing former Eternal Values members to speak both in support as well as opposition of what von Mierers did to each, offers a harrowing tale nonetheless uniquely unbiased when it needs to be.
Hearing Richards describe the parental role of von Mierers, even as he’s just as quick to disparage the time he spent within Eternal Values as nothing short of painful, or those who were proudly at von Mierers’ bedside as he took his final breath, clearly shows the influence he once possessed, still looming decades later. Well-placed footage of many an Eternal Values promotional video, most of which utilize shots of von Mierer’s head-on as he speaks endlessly into the camera, his unwavering confidence and complete devotion to the words escaping his mouth never in question. It’s a dark, unnerving watch, but much like those who blindly followed the man at the center, it is impossible to look away.
It’s another triumph for Smith, shedding light on an overstuffed topic he’s able to unpack in a manner as easy to digest as the rest of his work has shown thus far. Though many of the traditional documentary hallmarks exist throughout, his hand guides the story to a conclusion both as somewhat satisfying as it is tragic in its own right; as those who came together pointed out, unspoken as those words may be, no true winners would emerge in the wake, except the truth, as harrowing as it may be. [A]
