Imagine a film that merges nature and folklore in a way that’s both unsettling and poignant — well, that’s A24’s Lamb. This isn’t your regular flick about a farm animal, it’s something way more unsettling and, dare we say, oddly emotional. Starring Noomi Rapace, Lamb is set in the hauntingly beautiful but isolated landscape of Iceland. It’s one of those horror movies that starts off quietly, but the tension escalates with every new frame. So, at the end of the day, what seems like a simple story at face value quickly spins into a tale that’s both dark and disturbing. Directed by Valdimar Jóhannsson, the film itself combines old Icelandic folklore with the perfect balance of modern storytelling, with Rapace and her husband Ingvar (Hilmir Snær Guðnason) at the center of the narrative.
She plays Maria, a woman mourning the loss of her child. Her grief leads her to take in and raise a mysterious lamb-human hybrid. For her, it’s a second chance at motherhood, however, things end up getting complicated and nature finds a way to balance things out. Overall, Lamb offers a story with a blend of horror, grief, and family values that’s topped with a slow vibe and the creepy visuals of a modern fairytale. Known for putting out films that are as terrifying as they are thought-provoking, A24 hits the mark with Lamb.
‘Lamb’ Offers a Clever Take on the Classic Fairytale Kidnapping Plot
Image Credit: Sena
When a child is snatched in a classic fairytale, supernatural forces are usually on the wrong side of the equation. Lamb completely flips that narrative on its head, so rather than being stolen by magical beings, humans take the infant in question. While still mourning the loss of their daughter, Maria and her husband, Ingvar, decide to raise a human-lamb hybrid they later name Ada. At first glance, it’s not particularly out of the question considering it was born from one of their farm animals. But as it is with these things, there’s always a twist and in this case, it’s that the true parents — an ewe and a mysterious ram-man— are the victims, unable to reclaim their offspring.
Taking a step away from the usual dynamic, the A24 movie, Lamb, makes it so that the viewers sympathize with María and Ingvar, even though they’re the kidnappers in this case. According to their logic, they’re providing Ada with a loving and stable home. But as the story unravels, it’s clear they’re more keen on filling a void than doing what’s best for her. What really drives the eerie factor home is how Ada’s biological mother haunts the couple. It’s so “disturbing” that Maria eventually kills her, a decision that essentially opens Pandora’s box.
The film further reinvents another trope by portraying the ram-man as the antagonist when the poor creature is simply trying to get his child back. What this shift in perspective does is challenge the audience’s notion of morality by blurring the line between victim and villain. Overall, it’s a modern, spooky twist on a tale as old as time, which makes Lamb a lot more than your run-of-the-mill horror film — it’s a psychological dive into emotions of grief, loss, and what it means to be a parent.
Parenthood and Loss Take Center Stage To Build Suspense in Lamb
Image Credit: Sena
It’s only logical for the strange creatures to grab your attention in A24’s Lamb, however long before that, viewers are pulled in by the crippling sense of loss that drives Maria and Ingvar’s actions. The instance Ada is born, they don’t see it as some sort of weird happenstance, rather it’s a second chance at parenthood. Their grief is the bridge that connects them to the lamb — it’s both heartwarming and unsettling all at once. However, what really sells the cocktail of emotions Lamb invokes is the state of denial they live in. As they care for their little one, the lines between love and obsession start to blur and that’s when things get creepy.
Lamb doesn’t deliver traditional horror scares by any means and to achieve this, the A24 movie banks on the couple’s emotional struggles. They’re so terrified of losing their child all over again that they’ll do just about anything to hold onto this unnatural creature. So, every scene is spent waiting for the next absurd action they’ll take to keep their new world from crumbling. So, expect no lurking monsters or traditional jump scares in this film — their desperation is even more bone-chilling than either.
To immerse yourself in the movie’s eerie atmosphere, Lamb is currently available to buy or rent on Apple TV+.
