Ethel Cain’s Preacher’s Daughter: My Proposed Filmography
Preacher’s Daughter, is a cathartic, Southern gothic amalgamation of songs dealing with topics such as religious guilt, generational trauma, self-destruction, personal identity, and sexuality. Many others have written extensively as to the chronological meanings and significance for each song as the album itself follows the daughter of a preacher who breaks away from her cult-like, strict family, following along her life and culminating with her eventual demise, all expressed lyrically in the Americana folk/dark ambient droning of Ethel herself. But I am not solely interested in interpretation. With such a vibrantly rich concept album, I naturally began thinking of certain movies that reminded me of the songs and their thematic elements.
Let’s talk about some movies, and specific songs from the album.
1. Family Tree (Intro) – Carrie (1976) dir. Brian De Palma
“A mother is a very special thing…”
Beginning with an excerpt of a sermon, the song introduces one of the album’s overarching themes – religious guilt. Carrie intricately weaves together topics such as fundamentalist religion and oppressive maternal figures as seen in the character of Carrie’s mother, who forces Carrie to believe that menstruation and sexual intercourse are punishable sins. I am reminded by a quote by Ocean Vuong – “You're a mother, Ma. You're also a monster. But so am I - which is why I can't turn away from you.” As Carrie, in her ostracized state, is forced to reconcile her desire for external connection and intimacy with her own internalized “mother thoughts”, paired with the relentless bullying she faces at school, she bursts; Carrie’s tragic story arc maps quite accurately onto the intro track to this album.
2. American Teenager – American Honey (2016) dir. Andrea Arnold
This movie follows Star, a girl from a trouble home who embarks on a midwest road trip with a traveling sales crew, which eventually spirals out of control as this adventure soon turns into a destructive lifestyle of relentless partying and law-breaking; using the death of the American dream as its centrepiece, Star navigates this life of exploitation and fleeting stability, leaving the “dream” to be unattainable and instead morphing into something akin to an American Nightmare. In a Pitchfork Article, Cain said of the song, “They make you think it’s all achievable and that if nothing else, you should at least die trying. What they don’t tell you is that you need your neighbor more than your country needs you.”
3. A House in Nebraska – Days of Heaven (1978) dir. Terrence Malick
“Labored breaths and bed sores, sing it to me all day long / When the aching sound of silence used to be our favorite song”
Days of Heaven focuses on the schemes of a once-steelworker Bill and his girlfriend Abby and younger sister, as they flee from industrial Chicago to the fields of the Texas Panhandle in 1916. Cinematographer Néstor Almendros relied extensively on exclusively shooting during the “golden hour” times of the day, bathing the film’s characters in an ethereal, honeysuckle glow which gives the film its signature warm effect. The sentimentality and underlying sadness inherent to Cain’s song are echoed in this visually stunning masterpiece.
4. Ptolemaea – Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992) dir. David Lynch
The name "Ptolemaea" is actually a reference to one of the nine circles of Hell, Cocytus from "Dante's Inferno", the first part of the epic poem "Divine Comedy". Being one of the circle regions destined to those who betray the trust of others, as it is named after Ptolemy, son of Abubus who murders his sons and father-in-law after being invited to a banquet, Ptolomea speaks of a woman who has been scorned, abused, and betrayed. As Cain softly sings “I am the face of love’s rage”, I am reminded of the ultimate haunter-of-the-narrative, the great Laura Palmer of Twin Peaks.
5. August Underground – Possession (1981) dir. Andrzej Żuławski
This song has no lyrics so I am going purely off of vibes. If you’ve read any of my other articles, you will know how much of an obsessive fan I am of Possession. While simultaneously purgative and deeply unsettling, this instrumental ends with an abrupt loud noise, supposedly meant to signify a door slamming shut as the protagonist of the album is left to die. The film, at its core, tells a tale of grief over lost love, the supernatural, the nature of God, and internal struggle. It focuses on the disintegrating marriage between Mark and his wife Anna in their Berlin home, which all remind me so deeply of the universe of this album.
6. Televangelism – Stoker (2013) dir. Park Chan-wook
This is a piano instrumental, but I am reminded so heavily of angst-ridden Mia Wasikowska intensely playing the piano in her cardigan and saddle shoes each time I hear this piece. Stoker has it all – dark romanticism, Gnossienne No.4 by Erik Satie, Nicole Kidman, weird girl representation, librarian-core outfits, and one of my personal favorite monologues of all time:
“So we decide to start again. Wipe the slate clean. Start fresh. And then we have children. Little carbon copies we can turn to and say, "You will do what I could not. You will succeed where I have failed." Because we want someone to get it right this time. But not me... Personally speaking I can't wait to watch life tear you apart.”
7. Strangers – Bones and All (2022) dir. Luca Guadagnino
“Am I making you feel sick?”
This comparison was the starting point for this article; each time I listen to this song of love and death and self-destruction, (which is arguably the greatest song Ethel Cain has ever written/created), I am reminded of Timothée Chalamet and Taylor Russell embracing while covered in blood. This movie is not for the faint of heart, as it very explicitly deals with body horror, cannibalism, and grotesque things of that sort – but it is also a gut-wrenching portrayal of otherness, isolation, and the desire to belong.
P.S. I am running out of words to fit into the word count but here are my other pairings…
Sun Bleached Flies – Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) dir. Peter Weir
Western Nights – Badlands (1973) dir. Terrence Malick
Family Tree – Pearl (2022) dir. Ti West
Hard Times – Buffalo 66 (1998) dir. Vincent Gallo
Thoroughfare – Paris, Texas (1984) dir. Wim Wenders
Gibson Girl – X (2022) dir. Ti West