Movie Review: Lamb

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B+

A bizarre, odd, slow paced and completely engrossing film. 

To say this movie is not for everybody is an understatement. Despite being advertised as a horror film, there is very little horror here and anyone who wants a traditional horror movie will be disappointed. This movie's very premise requires a lot of suspension of disbelief that some will have and some won't and the story will move too slow for most of those used to mainstream movies. Still if you are the right audience (which I am), you will find a lot to like here. Though the movie initially  came off as too slow, as the film went along I became completely engrossed. This is not because the pace of the movie sped up but because I become caught up in what I was seeing. I was engrossed in this strange and surreal world, and connected with the main characters' strive for happiness, even if it was in anything but a traditional way. This film is also held together by very solid and tight direction by Valdimar Jóhannsson (in what is amazingly his first feature film). I was also in awe of Eli Arenson's incredible cinematography. It is not only beautiful to look at but helps create a world that is similar to our own, but one that also has a dreamlike feel that makes the supernatural and strange elements completely believable. This movie also has a great sense of deadpan humor that was really funny, and kept the film from feeling too pretentious or self-serious. 

Unfortantly as much as I really like this movie, the ending feel completely flat for me. It feels forced, rushed and even too silly for this weird film. However this can hardly take away from how engrossed I was in the rest of this excellent movie.