A24’s Cannes Film Festival prize-winning film, Lamb, opened in limited theaters over the weekend and brought in $1M at the domestic box office.
Read our review of the film below, written by our resident movie guru, B. Gunn.
As children, we were taught not to take things that don’t belong to us, no matter how tempting. Reasoning in our immature minds for stealing was simple back then; we either wanted it because we had to have it or wanted it just because everyone else had it.
As we get older, however, temptation intensifies and we try to justify our reasons for thievery. For example, a car enthusiast can see an old rusty automobile in an unattended yard and sneak off with it thinking the owner should be ashamed of themselves for letting such a fine car go to waste.
Someone sees a person drop their wallet and instead of catching up with them, he picks up said wallet and keeps it, seeing it as a “blessing in disguise”.
No matter what you tell yourself, there are consequences if you get caught, and in the new movie, Lamb, a couple is about to find out this sheep isn’t meek and doesn’t follow the flock. Let’s go!
There will be no silencing of the lambs!
Lamb stars Noomi Rapace, Hilmir Snaer Guonasson, and Bjorn Haraldsson.
Rapace and Guonasson play a married couple who are sheep farmers in Iceland. One of their ewes gives birth to an odd-looking lamb and in a bizarre move, the couple decide to take the lamb and raise it as their own, basically abducting it from the ewe.
Y’all know momma sheep ain’t having that, right? Let me say this; I’ve seen some outlandish films in my day and I promise you, this is in my top three.
Having said that, Lamb is actually a brilliant piece of work! Aided by subtitles, the dialogue is scarce but when it comes time for them to deliver lines, the conversations are quite effective.
It’s the cinematography and nonverbal scenes that speak volumes. A clever technique the director uses is teasing the audience by slowly revealing the lamb’s physical appearance.
Of course, that is the centerpiece of the story, but by delaying it and allowing the other characters’ backstories to develop, we understand why they abscond with the baby sheep whether right or wrong.
Haraldsson plays the brother-in-law, Petur, and acts as the film’s voice of reason. He asks what we as an audience are thinking: You know this isn’t going to end well?
Lamb deals with loss, a rebirth of sorts, and a superiority complex. This is a whole other level of a Verzuz battle.
This movie is man vs. animal, and nature vs. nurture. The visuals are weird, I ain’t even gon’ lie, and the film’s pace is super slow!
This is more of an art house film so average movie goers may not get into it. Nonetheless, it is shocking, and the 3rd act, especially the ending, is sure to have you saying, “Whaaaaaat?!?!?!”
Production company A24 never disappoints, and their track record remains intact with this new release.
I’m co-signing Lamb to the fullest! You’ll probably need a drink or two after seeing this flick but it’s not (in my sheep voice) baaaaaaad.
And that’s on Mary had a little lamb!
Watch the trailer below.
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