Film Review: The Other Lamb (2020)
Borrowing formal bits from Tarkovsky, Polanski, and Lynch, Maลgorzata Szumowskaโs The Other Lamb is a surreal and cerebral exploration of internalized patriarchal subservience and systematic abuse. Itโs a heavy load to bear, and it sometimes gets away from the filmmaker, but the filmโs haunting beauty and righteous anger manage to reign in most shortcomings. Excellently acted and shot, The Other Lamb supposes the fury capable in women when pushed to the brink, and makes no apologies for it.ย
In the isolation of an unnamed wilderness lives an enigmatic leader and his harem of wives and daughters. The two groups are differentiated by the colors they wear – the wives in dour plum-colored dresses and the daughters in teal-blue ones. The women all wear their hair in tight braids atop their heads and perform all the physical tasks required to keep their little camp running.ย
Their patriarch and only male member of the community (Michiel Huisman) is known only as Shepherd. To us, heโs clearly a huckster, but to the women – especially the daughters, who, presumably, were all born there – heโs a messianic figure who doles out โblessingsโ like safely-guarded candy. Heโs a creep, and from the outset, itโs hard not to want to see him get whatโs coming to him.
We witness this bleak lifestyle through the eyes of Selah (Raffey Cassidy), a devout daughter who begins to see the manipulation for what it is, even if she canโt exactly articulate it or understand what to do about it. In what could be premonitions, dreams, or collective memory, Selahโs worldview is altered as she comes to terms with notions of freedom and choice, and itโs in these moments that the film falters to an extent.ย
It isnโt that these surreal and often nightmarish sequences are poorly executed – they unnerve as they should – itโs that they are typical, even rote. Rotting animal carcasses and silent screams have become such staples of โatmospheric horrorโ that theyโve lost all luster. Thankfully, Szumowska doesnโt go overboard and manages to pepper in some truly unique visuals (the dream/memory moments of Selah in the back of the car is among my favorites of the film) on top of the filmโs unmistakable biblical allegory, microcosmic politics, and rally against stigma.ย
Often, The Other Lamb tries too hard to compete with The Witch (2015) in atmosphere and tone, and while it doesnโt wholly fail at achieving its own sense of foreboding desperation, it canโt sustain the pressure. The final release is satisfying enough, but after the hardships endured I wanted more deliverance than whatโs given. Thatโs not to say that the journey isnโt worthwhile – because it is – but the finale may leave more to the imagination that some may prefer, especially considering the undertaking weโve just undergone.
