In the debut film directed by Icelandic director Valdimar Jóhannsson
shows a farmer couple cope with the loss of their child by taking in a half
lamb/half human baby that one of their sheep give birth to. It is just as
bizarre as it sounds, but it does not take long for one to find the strange
hybrid quite adorable. We watch the baby (known as Ada) grow, fit into human
clothes and dance around a television set seemingly more man than animal. However,
there is always a dark presence felt in the background by main character María played
by Noomi Rapace (who may be familiar to sci-fi horror enthusiasts as the lead
in Ridley Scott’s Prometheus (2012)). She did take away Ada from her birth
mother after all. A chilling tale about the lack of nature and its role in the
couple’s lack of acceptance unfolds.
With only three speaking characters, the movie does wonders with letting one learn each person inside and out. Alongside María is her husband Ingvar (Hilmir Snær Guðnason) who is willing to go on with the charade to help his wife, although the little one almost immediately earns a place in his heart. The only other character thrown into the mix is Ingvar’s brother Pétur (Björn Hlynur Haraldsson) stumbles his way onto the barn and witnesses all of the madness firsthand. Pétur acts as a possible placeholder for the viewer for the beginning part of his character arc. We see him treat Ada as an abomination (although not to her face) and even stand a finger pull away from ending Ada’s life. Pétur goes on to accept what is happening in their cold Icelandic farmhouse We soon find out this is possibly a front to try to rekindle an affair with María. All the characters motives play with one and their personalities shine through whether it be Ingvar’s kindness to his wife and brother, or María’s fierceness towards Ada’s mother’s nagging and Pétur’s advances.
The mystery of Lamb as the selling point of the movie only
works for the first thirty minutes. It no longer is a thriller as advertised;
it turns into a family drama with a lamb child. One does not feel any elements
of horror until the very end when its already too late. I am all for mystery in
world building, but the remote setting of the movie (although on the visual and
character front brings many advantages) takes a punch out of the ending. The
large ram man who shoots Ingvar dead is nature taking back what is his using
the old “eye for an eye” approach as María had done in Ada’s biological mother.
It makes sense, but should María be expecting this in Jóhannsson’s Iceland? Is
this half ram/half man a creature of legend or just rare in this fictional
world? Either way, the abrupt ending does not do the film any favors leaving
the distressed María without her husband, human child, or lamb child.
Lamb is great if for fans of A24’s arthouse style and slow
burn approach. If one is looking for a creepy movie that becomes truly scary in
the last act, along the lines of the production studios previous hits Hereditary
(2018) and Midsommar (2019), this is most certainly not it. The sound design
and visuals come close to the beforementioned movies. It is also strengthened
by its many beautiful shots of across Iceland, brining peace and normality to
the strange dynamic being unfolded. In the end, the box of questions that is
opened up in the film does not come close to being answered with a story that
could have used a bit more time in the oven.
★★
49/100
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