Those who make horror films often rely on the cheap and easy tricks to make viewers jump and scream. Some of us are more connoisseurs, preferring films that make you think and that don’t show too much, and maybe even too little. Lamb once again underscores what has impressed me about Euro-horror over the last few years. Slow, building dread, it’s the kind of story that you know can’t end happily because it’s, well horror. There are spoilers here but I hope they won’t stop you from seeing this film if you haven’t. First of all, the film is in Icelandic, and much of the cinematography focuses on the brutally beautiful cold landscape. Its sense of isolation and the land make this a fine example of folk horror as well.
A couple, sheep farmers, make a reasonable living from the harsh land. We come to realize that they live in regret for the death of their daughter. Then, after the unseen visit of an unseen creature during the dark of an Icelandic Christmas, a lamb is born with a human body. She quickly becomes their ersatz daughter. This odd situation, we know, cannot last. They’ve set their happiness on a gentle monster (of the classic description) and such things never end well. The movie takes its time spelling out the story, knowing full well that viewers know something is about to happen, but are unsure of what. Since the husband’s brother stops in (after being forcefully ejected from a car), the film only really involves four characters—six if you count the brief appearances of the lamb’s parents. And that isolated landscape.
Part-human and part-animal generally counts as a monster. This one is well behaved. Cute, even. Dad, it turns out, isn’t so cute or well behaved. He has his reasons, though. The film is scary by implication: What happens when the cute little monster grows up? The movie invites us to consider that question. Monsters are often cast as evil and dangerous, but maybe they have to grow to become like that. With loving foster parents, such as the farmer and his wife, who knows? This is one of those films that makes you ask questions and offers little by way of explanation. You just have to accept it. Something led to a monster in the hills, somewhere back along the line. But even he may have been even-tempered had is kind been treated with civility. Monsters have something to teach us. Even, or maybe especially, cute ones.
