18
FILM Rated 3 out of 5 stars
OUT 16 OCT CINEMAS, MUBI 26 OCT DVD
In the harsh, craggy American wilderness, a cold, wolfish cult leader known simply as the Shepherd (Michiel Huisman) presides over an all-female flock split, pointedly, into wives and daughters. Selah (Vox Lux’s Raffey Cassidy) increasingly yearns to break away, as the leader’s cruelty comes more sharply into focus. Polish director Ma¡gorzata Szumowska (Mug, Elles) crafts an opaque story that’s at once grimly fascinating and visually arresting, but lacking in narrative purpose: almost intentionally unreadable, the film’s evasive allegories keep genuine investment at bay.