0
17+
Inspired by real events, this is the story of a community that wanted to
create a new experience of brotherhood, but instead met with tragedy.
In
the state of Indiana, a group of hunters discover a ‘wild child’ living
in the woods. The trail of the monster that seemed to have accompanied
him – a creature half man, half beast – has disappeared. Years later, in
1863, that child – Emile – lives in a colony called New Fraternity,
founded by McCorman, a prosperous Scottish businessman with extremely
progressive social ideas. These ideals have inspired him to establish a
utopian village, a miniature society in which individuals have freely
chosen to combine their goods. Nonetheless, the colony is torn between
the true idealists (among them Fanny, a woman writer, Josiah Walker, an
anarchist, and McCorman himself), and those who increasingly doubt the
success of this experiment : the entomologist Sawyer and the architect
Whitechapel. The latter want to return to a more traditional social
structure, based on the values of work, community and education. The
arrival of soldiers in New Fraternity revives these tensions, and
provides a forceful reminder of the (sometimes harsh) realities of the
world outside. In fact, the American Civil War has broken out. McCorman,
seeking to protect the colony, agrees to a pact with the soldiers,
enraging his ally Josiah. After suffering Sawyer’s anger, Emile flees
into the forest, where he discovers the beast who seems to have been
waiting for him… However, it is captured by the colonists, and
imprisoned in the village. McCorman, who has fallen ill, senses that the
situation is slipping out of his control, especially when a group of
the colonists accuse the beast of bring a demon – the Devil himself!
Tragedy seems inevitable…