Born into a cult, the only life teenage Selah (Raffey Cassidy, “Vox Lux”) has known is in a remote forest commune founded and controlled by Shepherd (Michiel Huisman, “Game of Thrones”), a charismatic and vindictive leader who demands complete compliance from his all-female followers. A trailer has dropped for “The Other Lamb,” award-winning Polish director Małgorzata Szumowska’s English-language debut, and it sees Selah saying little but communicating plenty with her expressive face.
“My wives, you all came to me broken by the cruel world and I took every one of you in. I sacrificed my life for you. I gave you daughters, and sisterhood, and life,” Shepherd says. His followers are made to feel perfect and accepted — until they lose their “purity.” An outcast (Denise Gough, “Colette”) with visible scars warns Selah that Shepherd won’t be “so sweet” on her once she gets her period for the first time. Through conversations with this woman, visions and dreams, and observing Shepherd’s behavior, Selah begins to see her leader in another light and questions her allegiance to him.
“The film is a fucked up, crazy, and intense story about the awakening sexuality of a young girl. It’s about discovering the abusive nature of mankind, and about a falling patriarchy,” Szumowska, whose other credits include Berlinale winners “Body” and “Mug,” told us.
“The Other Lamb” hits select theaters and VOD April 3. Catherine S. McMullen penned the script.
