An attractive young woman in billowing white linen enters the room and takes a seat on the floor cushion, arranging her body in lotus position. Her eyes flutter closed and she takes a deep breath, then fixes her gaze ahead. “Hello, everybody,” she says at last, her voice simultaneously beseeching and solemn. She is not here to lead a yoga class. The woman before us is Rachel Lee, the heretofore unheard from mastermind of the Bling Ring, the infamous band of boys and girls who made headlines and inspired a Sofia Coppola film when they broke into the homes of Hollywood stars and took off with millions of dollars worth of spoils.
Lee, who was sentenced to four years in prison and set free after 16 months, has maintained an enigmatic and anonymous persona since her release from prison 10 years ago. She is coming forth in The Ringleader: The Case of the Bling Ring, Erin Lee Carr’s taut and textured documentary. The portrait pierces through the glamorous amorality tale without letting one of its chief perpetrators off the hook. “It took about a year to get her onboard,” the director said. “And it took a very, very, very long time for her to actually tell me things that were the truth.”
