Deep in the Central Valley of California, there is a farm run by the Sisters of the Valley. They’re an extremely unique bunch, with the goal of protecting the sovereignty of women in a spiritual, very cannabis-friendly way. They grow their own weed and use it as a sacred medicine. The organization is so striking that director Paul Thomas Anderson was inspired to put them into his Best Picture-winning film, One Battle After Another.
Based on the novel Vineland by Thomas Pynchon, albeit very loosely, PTA slowly wrote the screenplay over a decade and took bits of the book that spoke to him and synthesized it with parts of his own life. So when he came across the Sisters of the Valley while scouting, it felt like a natural fit for the film.
The name changed to Sisters of the Brave Beaver, but everything else about the chapter was the same, including actual members who filled out the screen as background actors.
The cannabis also made it to screen, and the presence of it is felt during this stretch of the film. PTA is no stranger to hazed out filmmaking (think Inherent Vice, or parts of The Master) and this experience certainly fleshed out the Brave Beaver moments.
The sisters themselves were happy with the representation, telling High Times that what they appreciated was “how Paul Thomas Anderson weaves the presence of cannabis into the story organically. Not as a gimmick, but with the same reverence with which we relate to it, as part of a living ecosystem and community.”
If you haven’t seen One Battle After Another yet, what are you doing with your life? Watch it on HBOMax.
And read the original story at High Times.
