Guy Nattiv’s unsettling film “The Liberation” is a chilling reminder that cults rarely start off looking like cults, but instead offer something people desperately need, be it purpose, belonging, understanding, or a way out. His film shows how something that initially seems harmless can eventually tear a loving family completely apart.
Loosely inspired by the story of Nattiv’s own grandmother, the film follows Rita Cooper (Carrie Coon), a quietly depressed bank manager, wife, and mother of two. A Holocaust survivor, Rita is carrying decades of grief and trauma that she has never really confronted. With her daughters approaching adulthood and her ordinary routines no longer providing much comfort, she is increasingly desperate for something to make her feel visible again.
That’s when Ricki (Lily James) walks into her bank.
Ricki is immediately compelling. She’s charismatic, warm, and seemingly intuitive about what other people need to hear. She recognizes Rita’s loneliness almost instantly and offers her exactly the kind of language she has been searching for, the promise of purpose, sisterhood, freedom, and renewal. Rita accepts the invitation and her life is changed. She becomes increasingly immersed in the group, eventually leaving her family behind to help Ricki establish a rural, all-woman commune. The progression is disturbing precisely because it feels believable, especially because Rita is so vulnerable, isolated, and carrying wounds that have never healed.
Coon is terrific as Rita, and she balances the line of tremendous strength with real vulnerability (which prevents her character from simply becoming a victim). Coon makes you understand why Rita would be drawn to this new world even as you watch it destroying the one she already has. James is equally good, balancing Ricki’s charm with an undercurrent of calculation. She doesn’t behave like an obvious villain, but knows how to read a room as well as the people in it. That makes her frightening on a different level.
Rita’s two daughters (Bella Ramsey and Odessa Young) bring another dimension to the story. As they try to understand where their mother has gone and head to the commune to try to convince her to return home, they become caught up in the same world that has consumed her.
What I found most effective is the film’s treatment of Rita’s trauma. Nattiv doesn’t judge her or reduce her choices to simple explanations. Instead, he shows how unresolved grief can create an opening for someone else to step in and provide an answer. The cult offers empowerment and sisterhood, but those ideas are gradually turned into tools of control. The promise is autonomy when the reality is the surrender of it.
If you’ve seen a lot of cult movies, you’ll probably recognize where much of this is headed. The basic trajectory isn’t particularly surprising, and the film eventually settles into some familiar territory. What keeps it interesting is the emotional specificity of Rita’s story and the effective performances.
The pacing can be an issue as well. I wouldn’t call the movie slow, but it does feel overextended in the middle, and a good chunk of story could easily been cut without losing anything important. Oddly enough, after taking so much time to develop the narrative, the ending feels rushed. The final sequence moves way too quickly, and the film ultimately relies on text on the screen to explain the tragic real-life fate that inspired it. That information is important, but I wished the movie had found a more satisfying and dramatic way to bring Rita’s story to a close.
“The Liberation” is a film that’s disturbing because it accurately captures how easily someone who feels unseen can be persuaded that another person has finally understood her, and how quickly that feeling of being understood can become a mechanism for control.
By: Louisa Moore
