Lamb

What did I just watch? These were the first words running through my mind at the conclusion of 'Lamb'. This was not the film I expected by any measure. To be fair I don't think many who go in blind are going to be expecting what they get. A bizarre experience to say the least.

The film is set in a beautiful location. It's a pleasure to look at. You're going to see the horror tag attached to this movie, and it is in a odd sort of way I suppose, but mostly this is a drama with a twist. If you go in expecting a horror you're likely going to come away disappointed.

Whether this story will connect with you or not is anyone's guess. There are people who are going to hate every second of it, and there are people who will love it. I fell somewhere in the middle personally. It's unapologetically different though and I respect that a lot. 6/10.

I've not watched much Icelandic cinema. So I can't tell you if this is typical. I can tell you it's good though. It's sparse and wintery as you might guess. It's also a bit dark and magical. Maria (Noomi Rapace) and Ingvar (Hilmir Snær Guõnason) live on a remote farm. It's quiet, idyllic. Lots of hard work and they're vastly outnumbered by animals. They seem lonely. Unhappy even. Something missing. Iceland looks incredible. Almost unreal and it's used to great effect. It's all beautifully shot, from the amazing mountain vistas to the barns housing the sheep they tend. They're lives are changed, seemingly for the better when a new lamb is born, a little different from the rest. It's clear that shes used to mask an earlier unseen loss and for this reason things are going to end badly. Now this newborn creature is quite literally fantastic. So much so, it could rip you right out of the otherwise believable narrative, but she's so adorable you just go with it. Things get a little more complicated when Ingvar's brother Pétur (Björn Hlyner Haraldsson) turns up, but that's really not the half of it. Calling this Lamb and having one with such an arresting role is misleading though, there's a lot more to unpack. Iceland is gorgeous. Lambs are very cute. Loneliness is deadly.

María and Ingvar are sheep farmers in Iceland, stuck in both a rut and a one-sided loveless marriage as each day of tending to the sheep rolls into the next. Upon the birth of a lamb that doesn't seem to quite be a lamb, the couple's caring for it ultimately changes the dynamic of their relationship. What seems to be a happy development for this couple is marred for the audience by the constant feeling of something not quite being on the level, with both this new lamb and the circumstances around its birth. As the film progresses, other outside elements creep into María and Ingvar's happy little domestic life, changing them forever.

Two fair warnings for Lamb upfront: first, beware for any viewers that might be a bit squeamish, as we are treated to multiple live birthing of animals. Second, Lamb isn't what you think it is. While being billed as a supernatural horror film, the trailers are cut to slightly deceive those expecting something more on the level of Hereditary or Midsommar, also movies distributed by the vaunted company A24. A24 has become synonymous with producing and distributing off kilter movies that aren't afraid to take risks and delight in serving up horror that can shake the faith of even the staunchest fans of the genre. Lamb is not that. What the film is, however, is a meditation on grief and loss, the processing of said grief, and how that processing can negatively impact others. Through an incredibly sparse script, co-written by director Valdimar Jóhannsson, the real horror is the time spent waiting for the other shoe to inevitably drop. Lamb is a 95 minute buildup waiting for the last five or so minutes to deliver. While Jóhannsson excels at maintaining the overall creepy atmosphere of an isolated couple dealing with the birth of an unnatural mammal, the overall story itself is a bit thin. Again, Lamb isn't what you think it is.

Starring Noomi Rapace as María and Hilmir Snaer Gudnason as her husband Ingvar, a lot of the story between the couple is conveyed in its subtlety between the actors. The film opens on the immediate realization that the feelings in this marriage have all but faded for one of them, with the appearance of the titular Lamb as the catalyst for change between the two. The cause of the waning feelings is never explicitly stated but left for the audience to pick up on; Jóhannsson trust the audience to fit the pieces together. While difficult to pick up on at first, the signs of slow, hopeful transformation are there: a smile, a light brush of the hand. Seeing the love creep back into a couple is far more refreshing than its opposite and both actors play their parts well. Just as things seem to be changing for the better, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson enters the fray as Pétur, Ingvar's brother, who seems to be much more interested in María than in Ingvar. While this rouge element is meant to shake up this newly forming status quo and send the story on its head, the resulting unraveling of events more fizzles than explodes.

Directed by Valdimar Jóhannsson, his first feature-length film, Lamb is more concerned with mood and tone than anything else; a word isn't spoken between our two main characters for the first 10 minutes. While the story lacks any narrative thrust, the direction attempts to make up for that. Smart camera placement that hints at subtle reminders of the placement of certain objects shows the care and detail that went into the production of the film. Jóhannsson's pacing is slow, methodical. Lamb takes its time in the unraveling of events, letting the audience fully understand the dynamic between the characters and Ada, the lamb. The real standout of the film is in its cinematography; lingering beautiful establishing shots of the countryside the couple live in makes Lamb less of a supernatural horror and more an invitation to visit Iceland.

Overall, Lamb is a visually dazzling movie with little in the way of an actual story. The incredibly slow burn from Jóhannsson moves at a glacial pace, letting the mood do much of the heavy lifting. While Guðnason and Haraldsson turn in fairly subdued performances, Noomi Rapace is the obvious star of the film with the widest emotional journey. The supernatural elements lurk in the background, lending a possible misnomer for what the film actually is: a domestic drama between a couple whose lives are upheaved by the birth of this unnatural animal. Lamb hits theaters October 8th.

While I basically agree with the main statement the film makes, and perhaps the statement is even timely to some degree. However the film starts to feel very ho-hum nearing the midpoint. It's not all that interestingly told, nor does it come across as a meditation on it's main idea or ideas as well as it was likely intended to. To me it spent too much time in nowhere land. Perhaps if I understood Icelandic I would have gotten more out of it, I'm not entirely sure about that. Also, this is really not a horror film at all. It's somewhat dark, like an old folktale but mostly quite overt and not at all scary. I was enjoying the film for the first while, it sets up reasonably well, but it really never ends up giving you much of anything very interesting to chew on. There likely is some symbolism in the film that I didn't fully unravel; However what is here really seems too unimportant to care much for given the overall fairly aimless and stale feeling the film mostly has past the midway point. It's all very simple for the most part and in the end, a little silly really. This could've possibly made a great short film. There just isn't enough heart or guts or real substance in the film to be a feature in my view. It's not bad, but I would say skip it unless you're really into these kinds of old folktales. I love a good thinker and a good slow burn, but honestly there's not all that much here to think about. It tries to strike a fire in the viewers mind perhaps, but there's not enough fuel to light it and nothing much to burn. 5.5/10.

This isn't going to be a film that everyone is going to be pleased with. So, if you are considering it, go into it with an open mind and understanding that it's not for everyone.

Let me start by saying that I wouldn't consider this to be a "horror" film. It had suspense, weird and fantastical aspects but it just didn't cross over into horror for me. However, if you are a horror lightweight, the situation may cross the line into horror for you.

The camera work and acting was great. The setting was beautiful, well suited due to it's isolation and it is so well shot that it created a lonely, longing atmosphere that had me investing in the growing happiness this couple found despite how weird it was. Let me just say that after seeing her in several movies I have found Noomi Rapace to be a rather skilled actress. She plays these darker rolls quite well so I was pleased with her performance.

Some people have complained about the CGI but for the most part, I thought it was pretty good. Not perfect but definitely not awful.

Overall, the story was, as I said, unique. There are a lot of questions left. So many that they could play around with the idea of a sequel if they wanted to. Leaving questions unanswered is what has me still thinking about it though.

I say check it out. It was an experience.