L'Autre Agneau

Despite its spellbinding cinematography, thoughtful imagery, and captivating performances from Raffey Cassidy and Michiel Huisman, 'The Other Lamb' strays pretty far from being an engaging presentation due to the lacks of tension and stakes needed on its story to make this film as fascinating as it had the potential to be.

This is the story of a christianesqe cult of all women and their one master living out in the woods. For the life of me I don't see why this is touted as a horror movie, marketing gambit? It is these women's pleasure to serve their shepherd hand and foot...and booty. It's the very slow, long, drawn out story of one of his daughters finally opening her eyes to his real "ideology" and his real treatment of these women. Plus, it didn't hurt that his own arrogance finally got the better of him. As slow as this is, and as NOT a horror story as this is, I was somehow held by the story. I found myself drawn - maybe by the lush cinematography.

Not sure about the comparisons to Midsommar, The VVitch, The Village and certainly not The Wicker Man. There's far less going on (literally) in this than in any of them. I didn't hate it, but I was certainly bored, and empathised more with the bemused policemen than anyone else. Nice sheep though.

I saw this film at TIFF 2019. I didn't know what to expect going in, having never seen any of Malgorzata Szumowska's films. While I can understand that this film won't be everyone's cup of tea, I was mesmerized by the stunning visuals, the dreamlike atmosphere, and the slow-burn storytelling, all of which culminate in a violent but ultimately satisfying climax. Raffey Cassidy is excellent as the female lead, and Michiel Huisman, who I'm usually lukewarm on, does a surprisingly good job at playing a villain you love to hate. Over time, I can see The Other Lamb becoming a cult classic of sorts. And the film's final shot is one for the ages!

Polish filmmaker Malgorzata Szumowska, together with writer C.S. McMuller, presents a visually stunning, excellently performed, unsubtle and ideologically rich look at the cult/messiah phenomena, gendered power, narcissism and emotional imprisonment. It's a smart slow-burner with a touch too slight on some of the presented themes & threatens to be style>substance throughout, but it's a journey worth taking.

"The Other Lamb" is a revenge/female empowerment fable, a story about a Shepherd and his flock, or, in other words, a self-proclaimed narcissistic Messiah (played by Michiel Huisman) who's been devoting his life to creating a cult where he can be the only man, with multiple wives and daughters. The movie puts us in the mind of Selah (portrayed compellingly by Raffey Cassidy) as we go through her journey from being an utter devotee to the cult's 'cause' to the inevitable table-turn and revenge. Szumowska's direction and Cassidy's powerful and relatable performance grants a success at putting the viewer where it wishes to. "The Other Lamb", as compared to other movies about cults, doesn't explore the evil, abuse or psychology behind it all on a satisfactory level, meaning we don't get any real closure. However, it redeems some of the flaws with being visually captivating, the cinematography's patient, environments are scarily beautiful, coloring is eye-pleasing, and it's all presented in a somewhat rare, full 1920*1080 aspect ratio. Without a doubt, a lot in "The Other Lamb" relies on atmosphere of isolation, both physical and mental, and this shot the director does not miss. Despite the subjective substance flaws, at the end of it all "The Other Lamb" still has a strong perspective on actual issues, showed through a prism of cult politics and gender inequality.

It's no "Midsommar" or "The Wicker Man", holds back in the department of violence and shock, but, as far as horror movies go, "The Other Lamb" is a fairly great addition to the slow-burn, atmospheric, visually beautiful shelf of horror movies. Also, even though set in this century, it very much feels like a folk horror. My rating: 7/10.