The Liberation review
Toronto film festival: Director Guy Nattiv draws on personal experience for an 80s-set tale of a woman abandoning her family for a creepy commune
TL;DR
- "The Liberation" is a fictionalized drama directed by Guy Nattiv, inspired by his personal experience with his grandmother joining a cult.
- The film stars Carrie Coon as Rita, a wife and mother in early 80s New Jersey who is seduced into joining a female-led cult.
- The narrative alternates between Rita's gradual grooming by charismatic leader Ricky (Lily James) and her daughters' search for her at a remote compound.
- The cult's ideology focuses on nature, spirituality, and rejection of modern excess, with echoes of contemporary influencer culture.
- Despite Lily James's sinister performance, the film ultimately adopts standard cult movie tropes, including a conventional race-against-time finale.
- Carrie Coon delivers a compelling performance, showcasing fragility and haunting the audience with her character's actions.
- The film is screening at the Toronto film festival and will be released later this year.