Dir. Valdimar Johannsson | Now Streaming On: Paramount+ | Rating: 4/5

I remember when Lamb came out as a limited release with AMC, I had every intention of seeing it but never got around to it. You all know my love of folk horror, and this weird little masterpiece really fit my taste. 

There was something so thoroughly unnerving about this entire film. The dread this cast sets made me so nauseous. I’ve been a fan of Noomi Rapace since watching her in the original Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series (probably at an age I shouldn’t have seen that film but I digress). Though this cast is small, each person delivers in their role, making this outlandish story somehow heartfelt and believable. 

Lamb, like much of contemporary horror, tackles loss and grief and the lengths we go to feel whole again. I’d counter that though, with the idea that love is a stronger theme in this film. We watch Maria, Ingvar, and eventually Petur truly love and care for Ada. Whether it be their shared grief and isolation, or pure love, that brings their relationship to this place is up for debate. 

The CGI of Ada creeped me out beyond belief. Ada, as a human/sheep hybrid, is such an interesting character for the audience to digest. Do you view Ada as a human child or as a baby animal? Both? Neither? The horror scenes in this were hard for me to digest because I was watching the emotion of a human on a sheep’s face, and the whole thing was trippy as hell. It was incredibly unique and stuck to its guns in what it was trying to convey. 

Where Lamb loses me a bit is its pacing, even though the runtime isn’t aggressive, it does take a while to get where it’s going. The lack of dialogue in the first 45 minutes of the film coupled with the slow burn will definitely turn some people off. In the same vein, the horror elements in this are tame and relatively implied. You won’t see any blood and guts in this film. 

Lamb struck a chord with me in its individuality, style, and emotional storytelling. This ending had me staring at my computer with my jaw dropped and tears rolling down my face. Why did this get to me so much? I wish I knew. Beautiful to look at with a uniqueness you can’t deny, Lamb is a must see for folk horror buffs and worth a shot for a casual viewer. 

Know Before You Watch: Features animal death, blood, death.