PLATFORM: DVD, DIGITAL DOWNLOAD | RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 26TH, OCTOBER 16TH (MUBI)
The shadow of Charles Manson looms ominously over this, the latest feature from Polish director Malgorzata Szumowska. It’s evident from the off that something isn’t quite right about the all-female community living in the woods. Living under the supervision of a man known only as The Messiah, these women and girls attend to their daily duties while singing the praises of their long-haired and bearded man. Selah (Raffey Cassidy) has never known any different, but even she realises that something might be amiss here. As the Flock goes on the move after being banished by local law enforcement, Selah sets upon the long and difficult road to liberation.
No sleazy exploitation picture this, Szumowska’s slow-and-steady coming-of-age tale is a chilly thriller with more in common with the work of Yorgos Lanthimos than Tarantino. Eagle-eyed viewers will notice that the film even shares a lead in actress Raffey Cassidy; magnetic as the conflicted young Selah. What the film lacks in pacing, it makes up for its gorgeous cinematography, making the most of its remote woodland setting and icy colour palette (filmed in Ireland, pretending to be America). Visually, it’s The Handmaid’s Tale crossed with Shyamalan’s The Village. Tonally, it’s not far off either.
Viewers expecting the thrills and spills of your traditional horror film about woodland cultists may be disappointed – The Other Lamb is a slow, torturous battle for emancipation. Its story is not especially original and the storytelling is muddled at times, but that doesn’t make this film any less powerful. This is provocative, disturbing, and deeply unsettling cinema… and all without a single jump scare or flamethrower in sight.
