A movie script about the Greens’ disastrous campaign for last year’s Batman byelection might be rejected as just too far-fetched.

Helen Gaynor (left) has made a documentary about Alex Bhathal's eventful campaign for the Batman by-election in 2018. Credit:Paul Jeffers

But the “stranger than fiction” saga is heading for the big screen as a documentary that could reopen painful wounds for the Victorian Greens, according to the woman at the centre of the drama.

The Candidate, which premieres at the Melbourne International Documentary Festival this month, follows Greens hopeful Alex Bhathal through the final stages of her ill-fated tilt at the inner-north Melbourne electorate.

The film documents Ms Bhathal’s growing desperation and distress as her campaign is pulled apart by a campaign of sabotage from her internal Greens enemies and if you like psychological drama with an emotional wrench, it’s well worth a look.