Lamb (Valdimar Johansson)

[Ivan Drago]

IMDB / Wiki

[Ivan Drago]

Still unsure how to fully feel about this days after seeing it. Lamb is amazing on a technical level, the nuanced performances from everyone involved are solid, and Johansson's direction is heavily influenced by Hungarian auteur Bela Tarr, shown by the use of long, slow tracking shots, atmospheric landscapes and a bleak, melancholy tone that suggests an unsettling presence waiting outside for a couple with a strained relationship living on a farm in the middle of nowhere.

However, the narrative loses steam in the second half when all tension built up to that point suddenly deflates, while the reasoning for their child being what it is turns out to be left more ambiguous when it warrants an explanation, and the ending is more confounding than terrifying because it comes straight out of left field. There’s clearly a philosophical exploration of grief, isolation, human nature and the nature of…well, nature at play going on with this film, so it may just take another viewing for this critic to comprehend it all. Or maybe the movie just meanders without sticking the landing on a fully cohesive resolution. Either way, do not go into this expecting a full-on horror film.