With all of the podcasts dedicated to sensationalizing them, it’s easy to forget how truly disturbing cults really are. Audiences become invested in the path of one demented group when they hear about it in a YouTube video or on a Netflix series, but to see the real impacts of this kind of abuse, to watch the lengths individuals will go to for their perceived God? It’s a twisted aspect of society that many horror films draw from, with few doing this as disturbingly well as Małgorzata Szumowska’s The Other Lamb.
Following a young girl who has spent her life in a patriarchal polygamist cult, the film is an unnerving portrayal of what it’s like to not only live in one of these twisted communities, but to be born into them. Through its unique viewpoint, it helps audiences understand the many ways cult members are manipulated to believe the constant abuse they witness is for the greater good. It turns the cult experience into a shockingly resonant one with viewers not only having to watch the torment onscreen but, through our protagonist, understand why people would let it be done to those closest to them. It’s a portrayal of cults like the genre has never seen because it shows how so many people are influenced into accepting this kind of cruelty — and, in its finale, the often disturbing lengths they’re pushed to in order to escape.

Image via Rumble Films

While there are many horror movies about cults, few utilize the unique plot element that makes The Other Lamb so hauntingly effective: its protagonist is a teenage girl. Through the initially innocent eyes of Selah (Raffey Cassidy), viewers learn about the cult that is her home; they live isolated in the forest and are led by ‘the Shepherd’ (Michiel Huisman), their lone male member who takes each of them as wives once they come of age (something he dictates). The film portrays the horrors of Selah’s daily life through the glossy lens her uninformed youth entails, with scenes like the Shepherd’s physical abuse, and menstruating women being forced into a dank hut, being everyday sights for the child. She and the other ‘Sisters’ — terms for the young girls of their group — are happy because this is the only life they’ve ever known, with the Shepherd’s words about his ultimate power being the gospel they’ve been taught to obey since birth. It’s a cringe-inducing experience for audiences to watch as they see her and her ‘family’ celebrate this abuse, yet through Selah’s twisted viewpoint, they can unfortunately understand why she would think it all is. It’s a disquieting experience, yet it makes it all the more gratifying when the cult is forced to move, and she begins to understand just how wrong her world really is.
Many horror films attempt to explore the terrors of cults, with movies like The Sacrament painting visceral pictures of how one persuasive person can lead hundreds to their doom. Yet these movies often begin with a recognition of these “communities” as bad, with our protagonist often standing in opposition to them with their sole goal being to take them down. The Other Lamb takes another approach by grounding us in the experience of Selah, a choice that forces viewers to understand the scary experience of people who’ve bought completely into their group’s teachings. Just like our main character, they’ve been exploited enough to see the atrocities of their daily lives as worth it to serve some “higher power,” an utterly human horror that would be lost in a story that doesn’t actually take us into the mind of a cult member. Through Selah, the film portrays this experience, showing in uncomfortable detail how things like violent misogyny and sexual assault can be viewed as a necessary part of life by people in these groups — and, through Selah’s eventual bloody rebellion, the intensity someone feels once they realize they need to escape.
‘The Other Lamb’ Is Hard to Watch – That’s a Good Thing

While The Other Lamb certainly excels with its uniquely pervasive look into cults, that doesn’t mean more typical horror stories don’t do the same. While situating our protagonist against cults doesn’t offer the experience of those actually living this experience, these plots still help viewers understand just how disturbing these groups can be. Yet while it’s common knowledge that cults are bad, it’s much harder for your average person to understand the haunting, shockingly attractive experience that leads people like Selah to commit to theirs for so long. The Other Lamb is so terrifying because it shows the very real ways that people are persuaded to let horrific toxicities like those of the Shepherd lead their lives. It’s by focusing on this outlook — one that may seem horrific to those who haven’t experienced it, yet is so common with cults themselves — that the film becomes not only a scary horror film, but a disturbing look into the mindsets that allow these to exist today.

The Other Lamb is a psychological horror film directed by Małgorzata Szumowska. It follows Selah, a young girl born into a cult led by a charismatic leader known as Shepherd. As she grows older, she begins to question his teachings and the oppressive environment of their secluded community. The film explores themes of power, control, and female empowerment within a closed-off religious sect.

Release Date

April 3, 2020

Director

Malgorzata Szumowska

Runtime

96 Minutes

Main Genre

Mystery

The Other Lamb is Available to Stream on AMC+ in the U.S.
WATCH ON AMC+