The Other Lamb-- My take on the movie with spoilers!

Plot Summary: A girl who was born in a cult, begins to suspect her leader's intentions aren't what everyone believes them to be. 

 In moments that break us, we all search for help, be it spiritual or otherwise. Sometimes we receive the kindness of strangers, the once in a blue moon miracle that cements our faith in whatever medium that has helped us.

More often than not, we are left alone to suffer and must find our own path to survive. And sometimes during this desperate search, we find a path that is so wrong that we barely see it at first. And when we do, it is too late.

I’ve always wondered how cults have formed. What is that one thing that directs people to become a part of something that requires complete devotion?

Misery. Being broken.

Feeling alone in the world and wanting to be a part of something.

Those are probably the reasons that lead several women to become “wives” to a man who claims to lead them to Eden. He promises to take the woman away from all the modern worldly problems and give them a sense of belonging.

That is pretty much the premise of The Other Lamb. Everything should go swimmingly well considering the Shepherd, as the leader of the cult prefers to be called, has successfully cut all the women from the outside world.

So it’s a wonder how Selah, one of the girls born in the cult, seems to doubt the Shepherd’s intentions.

Throughout the movie, she seems to be looking at him and doesn't wish for his grace all the time.

THE OTHER LAMB Movie Plot 

The Other Lamb tells the story of around twenty women living in the middle of nowhere and dependent solely on one man they call the Shepherd.

They must do everything for the Shepherd, not tell stories to each other because only the Shepherd can do so every morning. They must all be divided into groups: the older women are the wives and must wear red dresses; the teenagers and kids must wear blue dresses and sleep away from their mothers.

The girls get to play and have their hair braided by the mothers.

Selah is the only one whose hair seems to be coming loose, an indication that soon she will be the one to break the rules.

My only thought was how early must everyone awake to make those braids.

The cult has a flock of sheep and lives near rivers, that’s how they get their sustenance. The wool they shear is used for bedding. The money comes from...the admission fee from joining the cult?

The women all seem to have jackets and backpacks. All of them don’t appear to be made from wool.

Everything seems to be going fine for this cult, but Selah is unlike the others. She’s a burgeoning teenager and is a little jealous when the shepherd picks a “wife” every night to sleep with. She knows it will be her turn soon.

She is moody and has visions. She goes to the cliff to sleep and keeps seeing blood coming out of her, ravens with maggots and sheep giving birth to lambs without skin.

It is unclear whether this truly happened but Selah uses her dagger to kill the abomination that has come out of the sheep.

She seems to develop an unhealthy observation with the Shepherd as she keeps watching him. She’s there every morning after he lets his wives out of his shack. She watches him every night.

And perhaps, on one of her walks, she’s seen something of the modern world, because she realizes they can do everything but leave.

This thought provokes the others who punish her by asking her to serve food to the one woman in the cult who is treated like a Pariah.

She has scars, has her hair cut and wears bandages around her body when Selah meets her.

Soon the woman gets under Selah’s skin when she keeps telling her she looks like her mother and that she doesn’t deserve this fate.

Selah has her doubts about the Shepherd too but has been taught to obey.

Outside, she goes and kicks a stone.

Perhaps the other women too have noticed the Shepherd looking at Selah because a pregnant woman keeps glaring at her while touching her belly.

Then one night, while Selah is looking out the window, she sees a police car and the Shepherd talking to him.

The next morning the Shepherd announces that they must all go in search of another Eden. The women cheer but Selah is a bit disturbed even as the Shepherd touches her neck, a gesture he makes when he is interested in someone.

The cult makes the journey on foot, stopping every now and then to rest and eat. When they find abandoned houses in their path and Selah asks why they cannot simply stay in one of these houses, the Shepherd replies that the houses were built by broken people.

Or maybe he saw how much repairing was needed and wanted to discourage everyone from living in a proper house.

They take a rest again, and two of the wives wistfully watch the Shepherd with two other women in his arms. They reminisce about the time they had all of the Shepherd’s grace. A younger wife promptly answers that he isn’t interested anymore because she’s old. The younger woman is rewarded with a tight slap.

The Shepherd probably knew how to keep all the women in line by generating a sense of envy. He tells them he’s offered them sisterhood but what he’s actually done is turn the women against each other as they vie for his attention, the only male. Too eager to receive his grace, the women have forgotten to think for themselves and it is how the Shepherd has managed to keep his leadership status as the women are concerned with outdoing each other.

The Other Lamb Ending Explained 

It isn’t long before Selah starts to menstruate and is told she is impure. Perhaps the Shepherd has put this in everyone’s mind so that he can know which woman is ready to beat him children and which woman he can take t bed at night.

Selah is made to walk with the Pariah who tells her how her mother didn’t die giving birth to Selah but from infection. She tells him the shepherd refused to take her to the hospital. She and Selah’s mother has joined the cult at the same time and were in competition for the Shepherd’s attention, but then Selah’s mother died. When Selah asks why she didn’t simply leave, she tells her it is because she doesn’t know the world outside anymore, but that there was a time when she stood by the waterfall, naked and felt liberated.

Selah’s menstruation gets over and she has developed a slight hatred towards the shepherd for letting her mother die.

It isn’t long before the pregnant wife gets her contractions. She dies while giving birth and the pariah accuses the Shepherd for it. She even calls him by his real name: Michael.

The woman is set on a pyre and the others sing a farewell song for the woman. The baby is given to the pariah to take away because he “isn’t right.” Selah finds he’s not right because he’s a male and there can only be one in the cult.

Selah has already had her ceremony to purify and be ready for the shepherd, but now she has come to grow doubtful of her loyalty toward him. She keeps seeing herself in a car, in modern clothes, asking herself what she’s doing.

She sees herself in white flowing gowns, drowning in red water.

Her vision comes true, but not for herself.

They all arrive at a new place where there are mountains and rivers.

The first thing they do is hang clothes.

Selah is called to the Shepherd’s tent and she is advised by the others not to go. They’ve all come to despise the shepherd for letting his pregnant wife die. Selah still goes because she’s been told for a long time that she must.

He puts two fingers in her mouth so she can’t scream and takes her.

Selah lies afterwards, staring up and trying to understand what she’s doing here.

The next morning, the women in blue approach the river to see the red dresses near the bank.

The Shepherd makes up a story about how the river took them and now they will live forever. The children cry for their mothers.

Selah approaches the shepherd who has decided he wants all young wives now. He asks Selah to become his wife and promises all of his grace.

She answers with a no and is promptly slapped.

Her response is the same as the vision she had wherein all the women attack him and she takes a rock to bash his head.

Later, the police arrive at the place where the bodies of the old wives have washed away. They follow the trail and find paintings of the shepherd and signs that people lived there. Then they see the Shepherd tied to a tree, very much dead.

He has horns placed on his head.

The women have decided that he wasn’t their true shepherd but a demon in disguise.

The women are shown to stand near the waterfall. Apparently, it’s the same waterfall from the first scene. Did they walk all the way back?

Selah has a Lamb in her arms that bleats.

This Lamb is definitely different because she’s left her hair open to signify she is no longer bound by the cult’s rules.

An interesting story, beautiful landscapes and the appropriate thrills make this movie an interesting watch.

Scare scale: 3.5/5