Hard to swallow thriller succeeds in style and falls in substance - The Other Lamb REVIEW
A sinister thriller starring Raffey Cassidy that follows a Shepherd and his numerous wives and daughters living on the outskirts of society.
It’s difficult to critique a film when artistically it shows itself to be bold, innovative and really clean. For most filmmakers, the edgy camera angles and ultra vibrant set design is both an addition to the story and the inspiration for it, with both elements driving and helping the story to reveal itself. Indie filmmaking has always pushed films both beautiful as stories and visual masterpieces. However, and this is a big however, it’s very easy for a film’s story and central themes to get drowned out by the artistic execution. We can agree that certain production choices influence the story, but that should be it; an influence, artistic choices should affect a film, not necessarily create it. It’s okay to think of the colour curtains you want in a room before the scene itself, however we need that scene at the end of the day in order for the story to be told.
The Other Lamb is set up in the middle of the woods. Selah (Raffey Cassidy) lives amongst two sets of women dressed in blue and red to distinguish their positions; daughters and wives. They live pretty simply, skinning and eating sheep and sleeping together in plain wood cabins. It starts off slow and uncertain as to how and why these women came to be here on the outskirts of society and living in a hub led by womanhood. Or so it seemed, when the true face behind this community is shown painted on the outside of one of their cabins; the man they call “The Shepherd” (Michiel Huisman). Selah seems to have this infatuation with the Shepherd that goes beyond him being her father. She truly idolises him, along with all his wives and daughters who hang onto his every word as if he were Jesus and they, his disciples. This sort of context makes sense, seeing as Jesus was known as a Shepherd and the women in this community are labelled as “a flock”. I don’t know about anyone else, but to stay in this hub wouldn’t be the first desire of mine in life. However, these women have been brainwashed into thinking the world outside of them is something to be feared and that depending on the Shepherd is their only fulfilment in life.
Selah is up one night when she sees The Shepherd in a conversation with a policeman, confirmation for us as audiences that the outside world still exists. After that night, The Shepherd announces that they have to leave their home, without explanation. The other women, like always, go along with what the Shepherd announces, believing his decisions to be the best for all of them. Selah is unsure and thus their journey begins to a new home, with Selah at the forefront and forced to be exposed to the Shepherd’s true colours, as a controlling individual without a caring bone in his body.
This journey starts at the halfway point of the film and usually in a film, there’s a moment screenwriters like to call the “inciting incident” where the true story kicks off post expositional visuals. This is when the clock starts ticking and the protagonist's journey towards a goal commences. This would be when Rose and Jack meet in James Cameron’s Titanic or when Ladybird starts Catholic School in Greta Gerwig’s Ladybird. Everything before that is known as the set up, it explores the world around the film and the people we’ll get to know later on. Though you might not be aware of it, this segment lasts between 10-15 minutes before we’re told the real reason why we tuned in on this film; the inciting incident. What The Other Lamb failed to do was give us that reason sooner.
It took a veeeery long time before we were told why we were watching this film; the journey to a new home reveals the Shepherd’s true colours. Beforehand was filled with BE-AU-TI-FUL shots and some great filmmaking techniques that were meant to create this entire unfathomable world. However, a lot of these shots were hard to understand and interpret their relationship to the story, almost like an experimental film. Maybe The Other Lamb falls into this category, but I would’ve liked that verification before watching the film.
As mentioned, the real start of the story was played way too late into the film and we as an audience were sort of left on a whim as to what this story is really about. In fact, the entire structure of this film went AWOL and the ending came quicker than expected. The film’s concept, camera work, acting and production design were flawless and enviable, however they don’t mean much against a poorly structured story. The idea fell through the weak structure and had the screenwriter spent a little more time developing their characters and implementing a stronger arc, this film would have been excellent. Screenwriting and filmmaking techniques are principles, not rules. They provide basic anecdotes into creating great movies and those who go beyond those structures become revolutionary in their art form. Go too far and you lose the audience completely and stick to them too much, you risk creating a mundane, before seen film. It’s a true filmmaker who can balance their own imagination with the principles that help sell most films and an understanding of both can really skyrocket their creativity.
