Malgorzata Szumowska's The Other Lamb is a well crafted, but unsatisfying psychological horror film. C.S. McMullen's screenplay is the chief culprit, lacking enough dramatic conflict, character development and tonal variety to fill out a feature length film. All the film has to offer it displays within its first twenty minutes. Szumowska, a veteran Polish director, has a gift for arresting images. Szumowska and her longtime cinematographer, Michal Englert, suffuse the film with an almost Pre-Raphaelite beauty, with nods to such cinematic forebears as Carl Theodor Dryer and Lard von Trier. However, they cannot make up for the limitations of the scenario.
The film tells of an all female cult helmed by a messianic figure named the Shepherd. He divides his flock between wives and daughters, grooming the junior members to be his concubines. Selah (Raffey Cassidy), who has lived in the cult her whole life, begins to question his teachings and, after much wailing and gnashing of teeth, eventually leads a rebellion against their master. Michiel Huisman, as the Shepherd, is unable to radiate enough charisma to be a believable cult figure. Cassidy and Denise Gough, as a disaffected wife, are both able to sketch out some shades of characterization, but it is ultimately for naught.
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