For a film that on the outside is so weird, Lamb is incredibly toned-down. It’s an appealing approach, but perhaps ultimately to its own disadvantage. The mutated lamb is certainly odd, but the film just takes it and runs with it for what’s a very unremarkable relationship-drama set in the gorgeous Icelandic landscape. Reaching far in every direction, the fields are large, open and beautiful, but cold as ice. Its quiet nature is echoed by the central couple, whose silence speaks most of the emotions as they’re slowly drifting apart to form as much of a distance between each other as the vast mountainsides.

The lamb is a wonder of effects and does make for an unusual tale of parenting, but it’s hard to shake the feeling that if it weren’t for the lamb-child, Lamb would have very little to offer. So while the film tries to force a love-triangle upon us, it’s increasingly more apparent that there’s not much new to find underneath the dark cottagecore-approach of the film’s visuals.

I don’t know if I’m too harsh on a film that’s essentially pretty well made, but considering how gorgeous it looks and the dreamy imagery conjured up by the landscape, I ultimately think it’s a shame Lamb feels so ordinary. It’s a basic relationship-drama with a hint of magical realism, instead of something truly weird and unique.

2021