Film Review: THE LIBERATION (2026): A Bone-Chilling Drama That Audiences Won’t Be Able to Shake From Their Minds

The Liberation Review

The Liberation (2026) Film Review, a movie directed by Guy Nattiv, written by Noa Berman-Herzberg and Guy Nattiv and starring Carrie Coon, Lily James, Bella Ramsey, Tracy Letts, Jamie Ray Newman, Odessa Young, Sharon Taylor, Siobhan Williams, Morgan Taylor Campbell, Philip Granger, Geoff Gustafson, John Cassini, Caitlin Stryker, Nels Lennarson, Maia Michaels and Ken Kramer.

Filmmaker Guy Nattiv makes a devastatingly bone-chilling mark on the year in 2026 movies with the intense and spellbinding film, The Liberation. This film showcases Carrie Coon and Lily James, two actresses at the top of their game, in phenomenally rendered performances. Coon plays Holocaust survivor, Rita Cooper, who establishes a deep-seated bond with a cult leader, Ricki King (James), at a price that is way too high to be paid comfortably. Set in the 1980’s, it’s hard not to get vibes similar to the superb Tribeca film from earlier this year, The Leader. Both movies show the deception and manipulation that cults use to entice their often innocent victims.

Coon’s work is of the highest quality. Some of the strongest scenes in the picture focus on Rita and the family she loses in the process of falling victim to Ricki’s personable charm. Tracy Letts as Rita’s husband, Reuben, is a character who gets unfair treatment from Rita as she becomes brainwashed by the cult’s strange antics and deceptive practices.

Soon Rita’s daughters, Ella (Bella Ramsey) and Jo (Odessa Young) Cooper, get lost in the shuffle of their mother’s spirtitual journey in which Rita is taken to an otherworldly type of place where she manages to live a lifestyle that feels more obscure than ever, but also, strangely satisfying. There’s something very gratifying about the attention that Ricki pays to Rita that makes Rita feel more loved by Ricki than by her own husband, who is a good man, but apparently not enough to help Rita find the happy medium in her all too mundane life.

The Liberation starts out slowly, establishing the two central characters and the circumstances which bring them together. Lily James is cast against type. She usually plays charming young women, but this time out, she’s more deceptive and complicated than we’re used to seeing her, and James pulls off the most difficult supporting work of the year by capturing the essence of this character she plays with great intensity.

Ramsey is also quite effective as the daughter who won’t let her mother go to the other side of life so easily. If Letts’ husband character, Reuben, truly loves Rita, perhaps he can make her see reason enough to escape the cult. There is also the fact that the film is based on real events, and it’s easy to eventually see that there will be no happy endings for Rita’s family. Quite to the contrary. Rita’s life becomes a living hell, and a true nightmare.

As the cult takes practice in odd overeating rituals and other disastrous events, Ella takes notice of how Rita changes for the worse. Rita becomes liberated, yes, but at a cost she is certainly unwilling to pay, and if she goes against the wishes of Ricki, she may as well be better off dead. Yes, this movie is that dark and frightening to behold in all its doom and gloom.

This film was crafted by Nattiv with the utmost sincerity as it was clearly a labor of love to tell this harrowing tale that hits close to home for the filmmaker. The Liberation isn’t a graphic horror movie in the same way that The Leader is. There seems to be more emotional stakes in The Liberation as families are torn apart, and relationships become torn forever, and there can ultimately be no turning back.

Nattiv’s impressive eye for detail is surpassed by the ability of the co-writer/director of the new film to captivate the audience through Carrie Coon’s nerve-wracking, career-defining performance. Coon never steers off-track even as her character does in her efforts to love and respect Ricki, above all else. James more than shines beside her in the most dark performance the actress has ever played. James is downright scary, and when her character makes choices for Rita’s future as Rita tends to her kids’ sensitive needs, it’s simply bone-chilling to behold those scenes that follow.

The Liberation is a heartwrenching drama. Coon’s vulnerability on-screen is the stuff Oscar nominations are made of. Letts and Coon share some great scenes together as their characters constantly fight throughout the film. Those arguments center on conversations about why Rita seemingly respects the cult more than Reuben and the couple’s children.

Of course, more than meets the eye is going on in this film as thousands and thousands of dollars are wasted by Rita, who invests greatly in the life the cult provides for her. Deception is the name of the game, though, and poor Rita pays the ultimate price for her temporary freedom and liberation.

The Liberation is a raw, aggressive movie that never quits. Driven by Coon’s masterclass in how to give a great performance, the new picture doesn’t quite capture the hellish void that The Leader delved into so well, but The Liberation is nevertheless powerful filmmaking, which must be seen to be believed. Coon has never been this strong on-screen before, and she makes this picture absolutely unforgettable.

Rating: 8.5/10             

Leave your thoughts on this The Liberation review and the film below in the comments section. Readers seeking to support this type of content can visit our Patreon Page and become one of FilmBook’s patrons.

Readers seeking more film reviews can visit our Movie Review Page, our Movie Review Twitter Page, and our Movie Review Facebook Page.

Want up-to-the-minute notifications? FilmBook staff members publish articles by Email, Mobile App, Google News, Apple News, Feedly, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, Reddit, Telegram, Mastodon, Flipboard, Bluesky, and Threads.