Most cults function on the idea of delusion. Leaders of the cult often keep their followers in the loop by engaging in controlling tactics that the vulnerable brain cannot comprehend as good or bad. These cults are often defined by fundamentalist ideologies, where the followers fall prey to allowing the leader to exert control over them. This happens because the said followers come from a sect that has never allowed them to have an identity of their own. They have never had the grace and guidance one needs in life, and hence, the toxic control exerted over them feels like a light in a dark, hollow tunnel they see their life as.
In Taylor Paur’s “By the Hand,” Emma (Ryann Bailey), a young woman who has had enough of cult leader Fowler’s (Steve Luna) humiliating rituals and controlling ways, decides to put an end to it by fleeing the fundamentalist sect. Accompanying her is Sam (Chase Ramsey), whose rebellion against Fowler’s ways feels more personal, albeit elusive, and we slowly get to understand that his escape is grounded in more psychologically complex abuse instead of being an extension of a temporary defiance.
Set in rural Utah, the film is designed as a road-trip movie where Emma and Sam escape the cult using Fowler’s car. However, the slow-burn approach that director Taylor Paur and co-writer Ethan Paur apply to their narrative first allows us to witness the first-hand humiliation that eventually leads Emma and Sam off the edge. The film is carefully calibrated with an understated score that uses basic drum beats and guitar riffs to create a haunting, mysterious aura. Although the unhinged nature of everything beyond Emma and Sam constantly takes you out of the film.
Emma’s escape with Sam should be one where the duo realizes that they are both free to have autonomy over their lives again, but since they have been away from society for so long, navigating real life becomes nearly impossible for them. The conflict is pretty real and intriguing; Emma is an innocent soul who was possibly entirely clueless within the cult setting as well, so her resolve beyond it should come from being in unison with Sam, working together to figure out what they need to do next, with Fowler possibly on the pursuit.
However, for Sam, the complexity comes when he realizes that the real world and his personality in it were that of a person defined by his rage. His conflict becomes about working with Emma – providing her a helping hand, and also keeping his lost identity at bay, as he constantly tries to not let it consume him. This complexity is central to the film and evokes the same kind of intrigue as Sean Durkin’s 2011 film “Martha Marcy May Marlene.”
That said, the escape itself is written with such a lazy, unengaging approach that you do not feel completely immersed in the film. The nature of the theme is focused on the leading duo, but everything else that the writer-director duo uses (possibly from personal experience) renders these side-characters and diversions entirely meaningless. The weight of these side-quests – especially involving the deranged breakdown of Fowler – feels like they belong in a different movie altogether. The entire arc of him handling his cult to a young man, moving out to pursue Sam’s pathway, and eventually descending into self-sabotage, is unpredictable, but incredibly dull.
The acting is also pretty standard, with the only standout being Ryann Bailey. The actress is able to get you invested in her journey without having a lot to say. Chase Ramsey, on the other hand, tries his best to get you invested in his character, but beyond his rage and conflicting personality, his performance comes off as one-note. Steve Luna’s turn should get you either worried for the leading duo or scared by his persona. Alas! The actor is unable to do any of that.
That said, for a debut, Taylor Paur shows great promise. Instead of making this a thriller that matches the relentlessness of pursuit with intensity, he opts for a grounded, character-driven approach that is laudable and ambitious in itself. I hope he hones his craft with future projects.
