It was ten years ago that filmmaker Guy Nattiv felt ready to direct what he calls the "most personal movie I’ve done in my life." But it took that full decade to get it to the screen. The director, who garnered critical acclaim for his Academy Award-winning short film Skin and subsequently directed a feature-length adaptation of the same name, as well as the notable Golda Meir biopic Golda, has now turned his attention to a deeply personal narrative. His latest project, The Liberation, draws inspiration from the poignant and complex story of his grandmother, a Holocaust survivor whose later years were marked by an unexpected and profound journey into a cult. In her middle age, during the 1980s, she made the life-altering decision to leave her family in Israel and follow a charismatic female leader to the United States, where she would eventually pass away.
A Childhood Witness to the Unseen
Nattiv’s memories of his grandmother’s initial involvement with the cult are tinged with the innocence and confusion of childhood. He was young when she began participating in the group’s activities, which included lectures, seminars, and sessions of free-form dancing. Occasionally, he was brought along to these events, a child observing an adult world he didn’t fully comprehend. "I didn’t exactly understand [what was happening]," Nattiv recalls. "I remember they took me out of school for seminars to dance with other people in a hotel room and stuff like that." These fragmented recollections, steeped in a sense of disorientation, would later form the emotional bedrock of his filmmaking endeavor.
The Long Road to Emotional Readiness
Years after his grandmother’s departure for the U.S. and her subsequent death, Nattiv, by then a film school graduate, began a profound process of discovery. He delved into her diaries and letters, initiating a meticulous research into the cult she had joined. His investigation led him to travel to the site of the group’s former compound and to connect with the relatives of other former members. Despite this extensive groundwork, Nattiv felt a persistent sense of unpreparedness. "I wasn’t emotionally developed enough to dive in," he admitted. The intervening years, however, proved to be a period of significant personal and professional growth. His acquisition of an Academy Award and the establishment of his own family, including two children, provided him with a new depth of life experience and filmmaking maturity. It was with this accumulated wisdom and emotional fortitude that he finally felt equipped to confront the challenging narrative.
The Harrowing Genesis of the Screenplay
The act of translating this deeply personal story into a screenplay proved to be an intensely cathartic, yet also profoundly unsettling, experience for Nattiv. The moment he sat down to begin writing, he was overcome by a severe panic attack. "My wife had to take me to the hospital. I didn’t understand. I am like, ‘Why can I not breathe?’" he recounted. In time, he came to understand the visceral nature of his reaction. "I felt my grandmother. I felt her misery. I felt how she was torn, and the darkness of it." This overwhelming wave of empathy, a direct conduit to his grandmother’s pain and internal struggle, became the driving force behind The Liberation.
The Liberation: A "What If" Scenario Fueled by Compassion
It is this profound empathy for a woman who navigated the unimaginable trauma of the Holocaust, only to seek solace and personal salvation in what ultimately proved to be a misguided path, that animates The Liberation. The film is set to make its world premiere at the prestigious Telluride Film Festival, followed by a release from Bleecker Street in December, positioning it for potential awards consideration. Carrie Coon, who portrays Rita, the character inspired by Nattiv’s grandmother, spoke about the director’s approach. "What I felt from Guy in our initial conversations, and also in the script, was his compassion for his grandmother," Coon stated. While drawing heavily from his family history, Nattiv also exercised considerable artistic license, framing the plot as a "what if" scenario. This creative freedom allowed him to explore motivations, characters, and actions that may not have occurred in the real-life events, thereby delving deeper into the psychological and emotional dimensions of the story.
A 1980s Suburban Life on the Brink
Set against the backdrop of the 1980s, The Liberation centers on Rita, a Holocaust survivor grappling with an unfulfilling existence in suburban New Jersey. Her days are characterized by a routine job at a bank and the care of her aging father, all while raising her own young adult children. The narrative takes a significant turn when Rita divorces her husband, played by Coon’s real-life partner Tracy Letts, and separates from her children, portrayed by Bella Ramsey and Odessa Young, to join Ricki, a charismatic woman leading a new-age community. This community of women engages in practices such as fasting, the use of hallucinogens, and the severing of ties with their loved ones.
A Daughter’s Plea, a Mother’s Choice
The dramatic tension escalates when Rita’s daughters, desperate to extricate her from the cult’s influence, follow her to the compound. This confrontation forces Rita into an agonizing choice: her family or the woman she perceives as the key to her own enlightenment and happiness. This central conflict highlights the profound internal struggle of a survivor seeking a new beginning, even if that path leads her away from those who love her most.
Challenging Perceptions of Strength and Vulnerability
Nattiv is keen to challenge common misconceptions about individuals who join cults. "You see the cliché that only weak people are joining a cult. My grandmother wasn’t weak at all. Anyone who survived the Holocaust and continued life is, for me, a hero," he asserted. He describes his grandmother as the "pillar" of his family before her departure, a woman of immense strength. "I love the fact that my grandmother is depicted as a strong woman who decides to look for happiness. In the ’80s, nobody knew how to deal with Holocaust survivors, so they had to take care of themselves." This perspective reframes the narrative from one of victimhood to one of agency, even within a seemingly misguided choice.
Carrie Coon’s Deep Dive into a Complex Character
Carrie Coon, whom Nattiv has lauded as the "Gena Rowlands of our time," embraced the opportunity to embody such a multifaceted character. She found the role of Rita, a woman who has endured unspeakable tragedy and is actively seeking a more spiritually fulfilling existence than her current reality offers, to be deeply compelling. "She somehow both recovers her strength of character and also entirely sublimates herself. I just found that tension to be really difficult to understand and pull apart and also deeply, deeply human," Coon remarked. Her portrayal aims to capture the intricate dance between resilience and surrender that defines Rita’s journey.
Methodological Immersion for an Authentic Portrayal
Coon’s preparation for the role of Rita was extensive and deeply empathetic. She immersed herself in the testimonies of Holocaust survivors, watching hours of archival footage of Nattiv’s grandmother speaking for the Yad Vashem Holocaust Remembrance Center. Furthermore, she listened to extensive interviews from the Shoah Foundation featuring other Polish women who had survived the Holocaust. Her research also extended to documentaries about cults, where she listened to firsthand accounts from survivors. "A lot of them were obviously very intelligent. These are smart people, and what they share is that they are seekers," Coon observed, drawing parallels between the survivors of atrocity and those drawn to alternative spiritual movements.
The Unconventional Figure of the Female Cult Leader
In a cultural landscape saturated with narratives about cults and charismatic leaders, The Liberation distinguishes itself by featuring a prominent female cult leader, brought to life by Lily James. As conceived by Nattiv and co-writer Noa Berman-Herzberg, Ricki is not presented as a straightforward savior, nor are her motivations entirely villainous. Nattiv offers a nuanced perspective on female leadership within cult dynamics. "I think that most men that lead cults are only about one thing: Domination. It’s toxic, toxic men who are leading, usually with sexual domination, and there’s nothing really else than that. In the movie, Ricki has liberated Rita. She made her open up. She gave her an added value. So it’s not only bad," he explained. Coon added with a laugh, "If we haven’t seen female cult leaders portrayed in the media, it’s not because they’re not out there. It’s because of all the other problems of representation that happen in film." This emphasis on the distinct nature of female cult leadership offers a fresh and thought-provoking dimension to a familiar narrative trope.
A Decade of Perseverance and Cinematic Realization
After a decade of dedicated effort to bring his vision to fruition, Nattiv, with the support of Bleecker Street and producers Julia Lebedev and Eddie Vaisman of Sight Unseen, commenced filming the story he had spent a lifetime preparing for. Production took place in Vancouver and on Vancouver Island, with the historic McLean Mill National Historic Site serving as the setting for the cult’s compound. As The Liberation finally reaches audiences, Nattiv anticipates that the film will spark vital conversations around trauma, autonomy, and the multifaceted processes of healing.
The Enduring Resonance of Rita’s Journey
Coon expresses a profound hope that audiences will find relatable elements within Rita’s extraordinary story, even if the choices depicted seem extreme. "I think it’s really easy for us to stand outside of it and say, ‘There’s no way that would ever happen to me,’" Coon observed. "It’s an act of hubris to think that you might not, yourself, be taken in by something. We would do well not to hold ourselves outside of that possibility." This sentiment underscores the film’s broader implication: that the human desire for belonging, meaning, and escape from suffering can, under certain circumstances, lead even the most resilient individuals down unexpected and challenging paths. The film’s exploration of these universal human needs, set against the specific backdrop of a survivor’s quest for peace, promises to resonate deeply with viewers.
