By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Valdimar Jóhannsson
Starring: Bjorn Hlynur Haraldsson | Ester Bibi | Hilmir Snær Guðnason | Ingvar Sigurdsson | Noomi Rapace
Original language title: Dýrið
Country: iceland, poland, sweden
Year: 2021
Running time: 106
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9812474/reference
Brett says: “All’s fair in love and wool.
The film LAMB works as a film that’s more about the journey rather than the meaning. Even the most subtle explanation here would involve potential spoilers for the film, so it is advised that a fresh, cold viewing of the film might best fit the film’s effect if one is so inclined to take the plunge after a few general notes about the content.
“It would be fair to bring up mood and atmosphere as a predominant trait of LAMB. Those who savored the THE WITCH are likely to find some of complementary visual components from that film. In some ways, LAMB feels like it occurs within the same cinematic universe as the Robert Eggers film, so it would make sense to find out Valdimar Johannssonn did his assigned screening homework before making this, his feature film debut.
“Minimalist with a super slow burn (especially through the first chapter) the visual storytelling sets up a fair amount of eyebrow-raising reveals through its steady pace, while never overplaying its hand along the way.
“Those well-versed in the nature and lore of one corner of folk horror will be rewarded with this prior background throughout the film. Without ever overtly explaining what is happening, fans of folk will surely writhe in their seats, tilting their heads as they make assumptions along the way about what is actually transpiring in the setting of this remote farm in Iceland despite mixed messages from a rather pastoral, beatific vibe. As such, the film’s fuel is in its sense of dread or foreboding as we navigate life on the farm.
“Couple Maria and Ingvar routinely manage their rustic farm life swaddled in stillness and silence until a newborn lamb awakens them to a new layer of countryside bliss, the notion of parenthood, and a fair share of turmoil. Noteworthy alongside this couple is how various animals in the film also stand out as characters all their own and propel the narrative forward, not through words, but through a viewer’s shared animalistic empathy.
“It’s an enigmatic little romp. But, the mixing of a few familiar folk components with an approach we’ve not quite seen play out in this manner earn it respectable enough marks.”
Toni says: “Probably unfairly lumped in with horror, LAMB is more of a family drama with supernatural elements. Driven more by location and atmosphere than gruesome content, it only has a couple truly shocking scenes, which are all the more effective for their sparse use.
“As a tale of an isolated Icelandic farming couple who raise an unusual child, the film deals with themes of parental bonding vs obsession as well as more generally man’s appropriate relationship with nature. Though the plot isn’t particularly complicated, I wouldn’t call it predictable either. The twists (logical, not gratuitous) will reward the patient viewer who can abide the deliberate pacing.
“Overall I found it rewarding, and it is the type of film that lingers with you after you leave the theater (or couch).
“If you’re curious about this and other Icelandic films, you can listen to archives of past interviews with the cinematographer, costume designer, and sound designer at spoileralertradio.com (search for keyword “Lamb”). 5 bleats, I mean cats.
Michael says: “Ominous and atmospheric, Valdimar Jóhannsson’s LAMB, takes a dash of folk horror and blends it with a very human story about loss and for the most part creates a muddy tapestry about a couple living on an isolated farm in the Icelandic wilderness who build a family they’ve longed for only to have it cruelly ripped away. The opening scenes of LAMB are remarkable at setting the tone. The ominous, point-of-view camera work and sound design lets you know immediately where this film is coming from. As Brett mentioned in his review, the many animals in LAMB are truly used as important supporting characters, and the human-like expressions on the sheep as they sense the approach of something… wrong, are nothing short of mesmerizing. The film is a full ten minutes in before any dialog is spoken, and the near deafening silence spotlights the deft sound design in a way the surprises. A brief early discussion between Maria and her husband Ingvar, about time travel sets up the entire film, and I appreciated that it was the only clue to motivations that aren’t clearly spelled out until much later. The film concludes in a shockingly fitting dark come-uppance of sorts. The only flaw for me, and unfortunately, it was a fairly large one was the introduction of a third character, Ingvar’s drifter-brother Pétur, who stumbles onto the farm and disrupts the harmonious family unit that has developed.His introduction sets up a couple of tension-raising situations, none of which come to bear, and made me scratch my head and think, why? Granted, he’s in about half the film, so I’m not sure what would have happened had he not appeared, but his presence did take away from the film.
“Direction, editing, sound design, and cinematography are all top-notch, truly immersing you into a situation where the quiet and isolation is at once comforting and threatening depending on a sound or the weather. I have to once again mention the use of the animals, who are anthropomorphized in such a way that is the antithesis of Disney/cute, but populate the film with characters that we human viewers have no trouble identifying with. For me, sl much so that an act in the first chapter was so unforgivable that I had trouble being sympathetic to one of the human characters as a result. Acting is strong from Noomi Rapace as Maria, and particularly Hilmir Snær Guðnason as Ingvar, oscillating from stock and gruff, to warm, loving and tortured with deft skill. LAMB started off as a 5 cat film, but sadly ended up with 3 1/2 cats“