Ebert Did It Better: Gasbag Reviews

Director Valdimar Jóhannsson
Screenplay Sjón, Valdimar Jóhannsson
Starring Noomi Rapace, Hilmir Snær Guðnason, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson, Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson

“The tractor is making a new noise.”

Maria

Animals move away from a presence on a snowy winter night on a farm in Iceland. One sheep in a barn does not get away.

In the world of María and Ingvar (Rapace and Guðnason), they take on the monotony of raising sheep and growing potatoes. There is a discussion on the possibility of time travel. Maria, only would want to go to the past.

One day, the couple find something amazing while birthing their sheep. This comes in the form of a human/sheep hybrid, that, no questions asked, the couple begins to raise as their own. You know something is up when the animals are the ones giving the humans weird looks.

The strength in Lamb is in the long looks and the silence. We know it’s coming. We just don’t know what is coming. Most movies would have the hybrid be the strangest part of the film. The effects are good enough that one can settle in and think about the story, rather than how it looks. It is amazing how much real life drama that is compressed into this story, as if the child is just part of the scenery. The dog, the cat and the rest of the sheep know what’s up though.

This could be one of the strangest films one sees this decade. Or just a movie about revenge. This will be up to the viewer to discern. There’s not quite enough there to make this a great film, but it is a good one.

(***1/2 out of *****)