Lamb

Noomi Rapace shepherds viewers through an atmospheric, chilling fairy tale of love and loss

Film Review by Stefania Sarrubba | 06 Dec 2021
  • Lamb
Film title: Lamb
Director: Valdimar Jóhannsson
Starring: Noomi Rapace, Hilmir Snær Gudnason, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson, Ingvar Sigurdsson
Release date: 10 Dec
Certificate: 15

'Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.' Tolstoy's opening from Anna Karenina well applies to this eerie Icelandic fable. Noomi Rapace and Hilmir Snær Guðnason star as María and Ingvar, a couple who run a sheep farm where banks of fog conceal an unforgiving landscape, conveying a sense of isolation and suspension from reality. In that empty space, something unexpected sneaks in to give this broken family a beacon of the happiness they've been deprived of after an unspeakable loss.

They find domestic bliss thanks to Ada, a half-lamb, half-human hybrid delivered by a sheep and claimed by María as her own. She and Ingvar attempt to craft their joy out of desperation, playing house with Ada and shutting the world – in the form of Ingvar's loose-cannon brother – out. Ada is brought to life using a combination of puppetry, CGI and actors (both animal and human). The moments where you can spot the seams in these visual effects are distracting, but that feeling is fleeting thanks to Rapace's magnetic stare, which shepherds viewers through this heartbreaking tale of grief and love.

Blending Norse lore and religious symbolism, Valdimar Jóhannsson’s film is close to wordless, and the beautifully restrained performances are only enhanced by how little is said. Still, one line resonates: “Ada is a gift, a new beginning.” That’s what María tells Pétur, and yet, there is the sinister feeling that they should have looked this gift lamb in the mouth.


Released 10 Dec by MUBI; certificate 15