Concise, measured, and witty cinema from the iconic A24 studio, which can easily be reduced to a simple formula: a fundamentally non-scary horror film about a family raising a lamb as their own child.
Every family goes crazy in its own way. In the midst of Icelandic hills lives a farming couple, husband and wife. In the barn, sheep graze, an old tractor plants potatoes in the vast fields, and all is calm and quiet. No neighbors, minimal presence of modern conveniences: electricity, water, and a television with a VCR. For some, it’s an idyll; for others, it’s post-horror. The new generation of horror filmmakers seems less interested in scaring the audience. The fear in their films typically hides deep within, surfacing only occasionally. It’s not external stimuli that frighten but rather the inner world of a person; it’s not a direct threat but its hypothetical possibility. "Lamb" is a prime example of this approach to the genre, marking one of its important milestones. A horror film in which fear is entirely replaced by anxiety, which is completely vague and blurs as it approaches.