Part fable, part fairytale, Valdimar Jóhannsson’s arthouse folk-horror is a cautionary tale demonstrating the inevitable ascendency of the natural order. It also explores issues of motherhood, miracles, divine intervention and the hardships of living in harmony with nature.
María (Noomi Rapace) and her husband Ingvar (Hilmir Snær Guðnason) are sheep farmers on a remote Icelandic farm, stoically going about their work with noticeably unfulfilled joy, something which is clearly missing in their lives.
During the lambing season, they decide to take in one of the herd’s unusual hybrid offspring and raise it as they would their own child, naming it Ada. We later find out that this was also the name of María’s previous baby, which was stillborn, a lost child for whom she still mourns.
María’s sense of mothership thus rekindled, both she and her husband feel a strong bond and a sense of parenthood to this new addition to the family, a gift which is, as Ingvar describes simply to his visiting brother Pétur (Björn Hlynur Haraldsson), ‘happiness’.
Our own doubts and fears of the freakishly unnatural are raised through Pétur, an outsider and a voice of reason. His unexpected presence threatens to destabilise the bizarre family dynamic, but he is soon won over by little Ada and comes to accept the situation.
The film is a slow burner, a story which perhaps could have been told with a shorter running time. Eli Arenson’s cinematography is slow-paced and lingering, allowing time to absorb the ethereal, bleak Icelandic landscapes. The farm itself is dwarfed by comparison, the interiors are small and relatively stark, creating a sense of suffocation, contrary to its location. The overall aesthetic is sombre, overcast and, if the shots look classically composed, the end credits cite a long list of paintings used as inspiration, by artists ranging from William Turner, Carl Bloch, Albrecht Dürer and Rembrandt.
To its credit Lamb, with the potentiality to invite ridicule, sticks to its guns and manages to maintain a serious, if fantastical tone throughout. It would have been very easy to lose any sense of sincerity and shock value had it not been able to keep a straight face. As it is, its inherently disturbing nature and moments of genuine horror lose none of their effectiveness.
Suffice to say, such an unusual phenomenon, not least one which defies the laws of nature, is destined for portentous failure on a catastrophic level. Inevitably natural order is restored, though at a significant cost.
Surreal folk-horror
Movie title: Lamb (Dýrið)
Movie description: A childless couple, María and Ingvar discover a mysterious newborn on their farm in Iceland. The unexpected prospect of family life brings them much joy, before ultimately destroying them.
Date published: July 13, 2021
Country: Iceland, Sweden, Poland
Duration: 107 minutes
Director(s): Valdimar Jóhannsson
Actor(s): Noomi Rapace , Hilmir Snær Guðnason , Björn Hlynur Haraldsson
Genre: Drama, Horror, Fantasy
Thomas is a musician, writer and film enthusiast with a broad taste in films, from Big Night to The Big Combo. When he isn’t immersed in these activities his passions extend to the kitchen and food.
