by Heath Lynch, Contributing Writer
It’s hard not to get excited about a new movie that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival that also happens to be distributed by A24. Add in the fact that this is a supernatural horror film starring Noomi Rapace about a family coming to terms with raising a being that is both sheep and human. Well… color me fascinated. I’m happy to report that this bizarre feature is a success. However, while Lamb is certainly a good film that’s both creative and intriguing in nature, some of its potential melts away as the film tries too hard to become Metaphor: The Movie.
María (Rapace) and Ingvar (Hilmir Snær Gudnason) lead lonely, unhappy lives as Icelandic sheep farmers. Every year is exactly the same, and every year they cannot seem to move past their previous tragedies. However, one year as the winter snows thawed they received a miracle. One of their sheep gave birth to her being that was both half sheep, and half human, a miracle never seen before by man. They took in this creature as their own daughter and named her Ada. Then, they went on living their lives and everyone lived happily ever after. Or, that was the dream…
Lamb is such a bizarrely fascinating movie. It is a supernatural horror that will send chills down your spine with its musical themes, and an anxiety-ridden one takes throughout the picture. Even more, it will make your head spin with its patience. To the movie’s success, and to its detriment, a picture of Lamb has to be put next to the definition of patience in the dictionary. It takes forever for this movie to do anything, and it’s quite intentional. For the most part, it adds to the tension, and elevates the actors’ performances. Other times, it hinders the theme and ability to hold the audience’s attention. Watching the first 20 plus minutes of this movie felt like such a chore, as the only real substantial line of dialogue is about how the farm tractor has broken down. This is not something I would consider inherently interesting.
I do, however, consider Rapace’s performance to be absolutely fascinating. While the other members of the cast are certainly doing a serviceable job, this is Rapace’s movie through and through. It is very clear that her character has experienced severe tragedy that has fostered self-loathing and poor decision making. But the joy and happiness she finds in the attempt to be a new mother makes her reborn. The fear of losing that newly gifted motherhood is a catastrophe that she simply cannot endure. Watching Rapace throughout this picture is certainly the best part of the experience.
The ever-growing tone of uneasiness throughout this picture is also a big part of its success. As previously mentioned, it has no problem ratcheting up anxieties. It also creates a terrific atmosphere for the audience to second guess the characters. The movie has no problem showing us its character’s questionable decision making, which puts the audience in a unique position to immediately scream at the screen to criticize their parental skills, or give them praise. The complications of parenthood are only heightened when Ingvar’s brother Pétur (Björn Hlynur Haraldsson) comes to visit, as he is a man without the greatest sense of morality. His morality mixes with María and Ingvar’s like oil with water. Plus, there’s the ever-looming presence of supernatural folly in the eerie mountains of Iceland that never give you room for pause. There is a consistent establishing shot of the mountains throughout this movie that almost makes you feel that they are coming alive and looking down upon you and our vulnerable family. This off putting tone is the best element of this movie, right behind Rapace’s performance.
The biggest aspect of this movie, though, is undoubtedly its massive amount of interwoven themes and metaphors. They are impossible to avoid. They are all over the place, and directly in your face. I found some of them to be particularly moving. The most notable to me was in regards to the conflicts between adoptive parents and biological parents when there is contention over who should rear a child. This movie has no problem shining a light on issues where families are destroyed and lives are ruined. It shows us that even the people with the best of intentions can be selfish and cruel, and that they’re fully capable of making wrong decisions for the child. And the movie also has subtle commentary on the idea of a child being less than worthy of love simply for being who they are, as well as commentary on class struggles. I appreciated a lot of this messaging.
However, does that already feel like a lot to you? Well, frankly, that’s because it is. But the movie is not even done there. This is its biggest weakness. It tries so hard to give so much commentary on so many different things that it loses its poignancy and relevance in regards to almost all of those issues. There is commentary on religion, and in particular on Christianity. Commentary on the immaculate conception. Commentary on Mary, the Mother of Christ. Commentary on the Lamb of God, and the disciples that would attempt to lead the lamb astray. There’s contemporary commentary on how we raise children, and the difficulties of getting pregnant in the modern era. How we can ostracize those who have gone through personal tragedy regarding their inability to get pregnant. Commentary on adultery and familial affairs. The faithfulness of a mother. Commentary on loss, grief, mourning, and moving on from the tragedies and mistakes of your past. There’s just so much happening here, and I could just keep going, but I have a feeling you get the point. A big reason why the movie is so patient is because it can’t afford not to be. If the movie wanted to draw actual lines in the sand and make decisions that would relevantly enhance certain themes, it would negate many of the other themes that it is working to achieve. Instead, it walks a vague tightrope in which it never picks sides on which themes to actually explore with real depth, so it can appear relevant to all themes. The movie is constantly at odds with itself, and it hinders the experience. It really makes it feel like this is just Metaphor: The Movie. That’s not a positive attribute.
I genuinely feel like Lamb is a solid movie. It achieves enough of its goals to make it worth watching. This is a singular experience that is very quirky in its execution. While it might be off putting to many, it will be brilliant to some. I cannot say that I fully recommend it, as I know that far too many people will dislike it. But if you are looking for a quirky international horror film with grand ambitions and an arthouse feel, look no further than Lamb.
Grade: B-
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