★★★★ out of ★★★★★
Directed by Valdimar Jôhannsson
Maria (Noomi Rapace) and Ingvar (Hillier Snær Guonason) are a childless married couple who live on a remote sheep farm in Iceland. When one of the sheep in their herd gives birth to a sheep/ human baby, the couple decodes to take the little one in and raise it as their child. They call her Ada and the trio quickly slides into the daily life of a family. However, Ada’s real mother is constantly lurking around the property (and not since Black Philip has a farm animal been so menacing) so Maria takes matters into her own hands and kills Ada’s mother so no one will take Ada away.
Unbeknownst to Maria, Ingvar’s brother Pétur (Björn Hlynur Haraldsson) has arrived at the farm and while sleeping one-off in the barn, witnesses everything. Pétur and Ingvar seem to have a strained relationship and that is amplified when he meets Ada and it justly wondering WTF is going on. But he soon learns to love Ada as well and becomes a fantastic uncle minus the fact that he is constantly making sexual advances toward Maria (and it’s suggested that they have perhaps been intimate before). The sexual tension reaches its peak when he tells tries to blackmail Maria into sleeping with him by saying that he saw her kill Ada’s mother and will tell Ingvar. When Maria decides it is time for Pétur to go, she takes him to the bus station leaving Ingvar and Ada alone at the farm and that is when the metaphorical shit hits the fan.
Gorgeous to look at, stark and full of a steadily increasing feeling of dread, Lamb is a dark fable that while planted firmly on the “not” side of “horror or not” will have you booking a ticket to Iceland. You will fall as in love with Ada (who was brought to life using a stunning combination of puppets and CGI) just like Maria and Ingvar do and this is a film you will never forget.
Lamb is currently available to rent streaming on Amazon, iTunes and other streaming services listed on the A24 website.