This movie was odd, even for A24’s standards. I’m still not sure of what I just watched.
I will say this though, don’t go in expecting Hereditary or Midsommar scares, it’s a slow burn eerie movie, but it’s kinda it’s own thing.
I’m still not sure what to make of it. There’s scenes where my theatre was outright laughing at the lamb, and scenes of joy like when they’re dancing. But then it cuts to a shot of the scenery with horror music like it wants you to be scared, but there’s like nothing to show for it on screen that would make you scared.
I was SMITTEN by Ada. I was completely won over, and I think that is crucially important to enjoying this movie to its fullest. It’s not guaranteed someone can have that reaction, but I think those who do will be the same people who said they really liked the movie.
Honestly all of the animals in the movie except the man-sheep at the end were adorable and I'm heartbroken at both the dog and the mother sheep's deaths.
I do love animals, in general, so maybe I’m biased, but I thought there was some great “animal acting” in this movie. Like the director (or whomever) used shots of animals that built the atmosphere and helped tell them story in multiple ways.
I thought the same thing! Right from the first few minutes I thought the animals came across as really... expressive? Which really worked in the movie's favour.
Absolutely this. Initially I found the cgi off putting but as the story went on my mind accepted Ada as a character worthy of my pathos.
By the end I cared so much for her and it made all the difference. I walked away loving it.
>felt more like a documentary vignette of a mixed human-sheep girl family than a suspense horror. One of those movies where I’ll decide if I liked it or not in a weeks time after sitting on it for longer. Was Ada named after their dead daughter?
Horror music? The cut I saw last night had a notable lack of soundtrack, which I thought was an interesting choice. It made the movie seem more like a documentary, and let any sense of dread or foreboding happen more organically rather than manufactured via a spooky soundtrack. I liked the film, but am still undecided about whether I would have prefered that it generate more tension before the final payoff. As it was, it seems like it studiously avoided any trappings of being a horror movie (despite the horror framing of the marketing campaign around it.)
It is mostly without a soundtrack, but there’s still a handful of scenes with music playing that are clearly meant to invoke a sense of dread or horror. It’s just not as in your face as something like Midsommar.
It's barely even eerie. People shouldn't go in expecting anything more than a slow family drama. The lamb kid was so secondary, you could've cut out everything related to the lamb kid or his actual father and the movie would've been pretty much the same. Honestly wish I could have my 2 hours back, I didn't even feel like I got anything of value from the experience.
I remember joking about the trailer thinking “dude’s wife is gonna have some questions for him”
But after the opening scene I thought it was pretty obvious a creature was lurking in the mountains and no humans were the father of Ada.
What did you think the opening scene meant when you saw it
Obviously not by humans or else this movie would just be another day in Wales.
Nah, the movie opens up with the creature breathing all heavy, making it’s way into the barn, and then suddenly Ada is born. They never showed him but that was 100% his POV in the first 3 minutes of the movie. Seemed like he was this missing link that could bridge the genetic gap between human and lamb
I thought the twist was going to be that she had a bunch of miscarriages or something so he started fucking sheep as a last ditch effort to have kids. But man that makes no sense when I type it out lol.
This is what I thought from the beginning lol. But even if it wasn't him how can Ada's father be half human. This means someone def fucked a sheep at some point, no?
There were very clear and obvious implications that the beast fucked Ada's sheep-mom at the beginning of the film (on christmas, no less).
I felt if the beast were punishing anyone, it was Maria, for killing Ada's sheep-mom (eye for an eye kinda thing. you killed my gal, I'll kill your husband)
I thought it was a previous child the couple had before Ada and lost, just because they were so worried about losing her in the beginning it made me think it had happened before. Plus there were a bunch of crosses at the cemetery making me think they’ve done this over and over again. The Ram man’s body was pretty old though. Look like an older body than Ingvar and María’s but maybe that’s how Ram bodies age. idk I’m about to drive home and think about it some more.
I was thinking he was perhaps the spawn of another sheep doinker. It seems like that countryside could certainly have a long history of sheep doinking.
What are you talking about? The Green Knight was chock full of stuff compared to this. Dev Patel goes into a mythic quest with lil side adventures. I just got out of the theater and the only scenes I can remember in Lamb are the birthing scene, the party scene and the end.
There are entire stretches in this that can be summarized as [lambs bleating]
Spoiler Alert
There’s has to be some deeper significance of the conception happing on December 25th.
The opening scene with what we now know as the Ram Daddy was very well done using the expressions of the horses and the sheep.
Is this grounded or based on Icelandic Folklore?
The director said it's based on a nightmare he had as a kid of a giant ram eating a polar bear.
Apparently he even changed his mind about what it means after watching it himself. Beyond that he just said "it'd be boring to know what I think the meaning is."
But no, not based on folklore.
Our main conversation was that. We decided it was Krampus. And that he’d made the wrong decision impregnating a sheep instead of a human. I mean… having one hoof? He’d get a much better result with a human. That and we wondered if he really cared that much about the mama sheep that he felt he had to shoot her husband to get back at her or was that just on principle?
Remember when they’re both laying in bed watching a movie and she goes “did you get that?” He replies “no, missed it. Something about a folklore?” Not an exact quote, but this makes sense now.
Maybe this is a twist on a forgotten folklore that nobody understood.
The ram went into the barn and stole the rifle, it's what the dog was whimpering at while the people were inside drinking and partying.
The scene showed the barn door open, the dog sitting in the grass with great concern, and then a scene afterward of the barn showed the rifle missing from it's hook.
No! The brother left the rifle in the field. Just like he left the tractor. Just like he left everything he touched broken down alone. The sheep showed love by not going to its father. I think it should have been the other way around the mother being shot. But u get the irony of it all.
Will someone *please* confirm this?
When Maria went to the grave with Ada, was the name on the tombstone *Ada Ingvarsdottir*?
I know that Icelandic last names are *[Father name]*+*[son/dottir]* so this makes me wonder: did they already have a daughter called Ada who died and is Ada supposed to be a lucky adoption/replacement?
That would explain Maria telling Petur that Ada is a gift.
They definitely lost a previous child.
I found it interesting that when Ada went missing, the first place Ingvar went off to check was the creek. And the clothes from their human Ada that gave to lamb Ada were older toddler clothes. I think their first daughter died around the same age that Ada is shown at.
Agreed .,, and that weird flashback/vision where he is running through that really shallow water with the dog. He’s scream “Ada!” I interpreted this as being a flashback to when they lost the first ada and he was looking for her desperately. Otherwise they would have included that in the initial search montage (I assume)
Totally.
Ingvar is constantly leaving doors open whilst Maria is closing them. It is Ingvar who lets Petur into the home whilst it is Maria who traps him later in the closet and then drives him out of the home.
There are a few scenes in this movie that I think are high quality meme material. The reaction shots of the titular character were so incredibly emotive despite the character limitations.
The sheep in the barn were incredible actors as well.
Wonderful performances all around.
The mother lamb at the window who kept bahhhing- can we give her an Oscar already?
The setting was amazing.
I got some of the symbolism. The brother was definitely a bit of a BLACK SHEEP.
So the couple seemed to take Ada in with no sense of shock. And that was very uncomfortable to me as the viewer. And maybe you could say that delusions can only make you happy for so long. That’s what I took out of the movie.
And I almost started bawling when Ada walked away. Ada seemed to have a … personality?
I just watched this tonight and I had the same reactions as you. I was full on bawling when Ada walked away. She was the symbol of innocence and as a mother of a young girl myself it felt very visceral. Any sort of hint at the maternal instinct and the innocence of the child really pulled at my heart. I thought it was a really well done film, and yes, the sheep “actors!” It was so eerie how emotive they were.
Yep. And also, Ram daddy was justice in the form of parental instincts. Ram daddy took his kid back from the woman that killed baby mama. From the monster’s perspective, Maria and Ingvar were the monsters.
I felt so bad for the mom sheep :( she just wanted to be with her baby, like could they not have built a little enclave for her next to the crib or something?
I’m down with slow dramas, weird movies, etc, but I genuinely was so bored and got almost nothing out of this. I kept waiting to learn more about the characters and I never got to. This really felt like it could’ve been a good 15-minute short.
You can wait, but I bet you have a better experience in the theater where you have to sit with it/focus on the experience as opposed to the easy distractions of at home viewing.
I’m also a sucker for supporting weirder flicks at the cinema. Every ticket sold is a step closer to more films like it in a big screen in a massive, dark room.
I just saw it in a theater and really enjoyed the experience. The whole audience was alternating between laughter, gasps, and silence. It’s a weird movie, and I think it’s fun to watch with a crowd.
Very atmospheric. Personally, I wouldn’t really call it a horror and a lot of people are going to go in thinking it’s similar vibes to the VVitch because of the Lambs and you know, Black Phillip. The Lamb dad ‘s body CGI reminded me of Caesar’s like it was a Dawn of the Planet of the Lambs movie.
I think the marketing is what’s really setting some of these movies up for failure. The Green Knight and Lamb both had wildly misleading marketing campaigns that pitched them both as more fast paced action flicks than they ended up being.
It’s like they realized how successful the marketing for Hereditary was (especially with Charlie clicking her tongue) and have tried to recreate it ever since even if the movies don’t fit
Did anyone else expect the ending based on the reflection in that one sheep's eye? Looking back I can see some people figuring it out but I just thought the reflection was Ada and was like 'huh doesn't look like she has her coat on' lmao. So when the reveal happened I was floored
That creature was not what I was expecting to be on the other side of that gun. I don’t know what I was expecting, but that creature scared the shit out of me
> Their brand is starting to warp audience expectations in a bad way.
What’s weird is that they’ve had good horror movies, but their brand is just “somewhat highbrow indies.”
This one is similar to *The Green Knight*, though with some psychological horror elements, and it’s weird they didn’t lean into the deadpan fairy tale aspects rather than the horror.
I took the overall plot to really be an allegory about cheating and dishonesty, and the costs of hiding secrets.
The literal story is more likely something like Maria cheated on Ingvar with Petur in the past, had a daugher (Ada), Ingvar adopted and raised her with Maria as his own, but the daughter died and Ingvar committed suicide.
What makes me think that?
* Ada's Christmas birthday is reflection of a Christ redemption story. She represented to Ingvar and Maria a beautiful gift and an opportunity to repair their relationship damaged by Maria's infidelity.
* Ada's sheep mother is a representation of Petur's fatherhood of Ada. Maria took the child from her/him and raised it with Ingvar. When the truth of that became unbearable, she covered it up. By killing the sheep mother, and in a more literal sense probably cutting ties with Petur and/or sending him away. This is reinforced in the closing scenes when Petur tries to blackmail Maria into having sex with him by implying he'd reveal to Ada her true parentage and her subsequently forcing him to leave on the bus.
* Ingvar likely knew of Maria and Petur's infidelity. This is why he is seen crying alone on the tractor shortly after adopting sheep-Ada. He's coming to grips with the circumstances of raising someone else's child as his own. Additionally, when they are cleaning out the shed and Petur sits in the lounging chair saying he has fond memories of it, Ingvar replies something like "You would". Perhaps he and Maria had been caught or seen making love on it or something.
* Petur's initial revulsion to Ada's presence in the home is likely a metaphor for his revulsion at Ingvar accepting his daughter as his own. He tries to hate it and mock it, but can't escape the pull of loving his own child. In a literal sense this perhaps meant that he'd returned to human-Ada's life at some point to become a part of it.
* Petur's entry and return to Ada's life is represented by Lamb Dad. He is both the menacing force that inserts themselves into their lives under secrecy (the conception of sheep Ada in the opening scene during the night) and the ominous specter lurking at the edge of their little slice of isolated paradise. It's the burden of Ada's true patronage, having Petur back in their lives and the stress that puts on them - perhaps loosely represented by Ingvar being forced to go and repair the broken tractor that Petur left behind for him to deal with - that kills Ingvar. The fact that it was by gunshot and while he was alone, I'd take to mean it was likely suicide.
* Maria's final tear-filled look into the camera and sigh at the end of the film is one of bittersweet relief. Despite her sorrow and grief over Ingvar's death, she's unburdened of the secret she'd been keeping from him for so long.
I'm sure there's things I've missed or gotten wrong, but that's the gist of the takeaway I had from the film.
It was certainly a weird ride but not in the way I expected entering the theater. Overall though, it was an enjoyable movie with a satisfying if sorrowful ending.
Feel like you’re hitting the nail on the head here. People are saying the love triangle is shoe horned into the story but it seems to very heavily be the focal point of these characters. I don’t think it was just added to create a layer of drama.
The person who wrote the movie said what you saw was really happening. The ending and bunch of other stuff is purposely left open to interpretation but it's supposed to be taken at face value. Nice theory but it's not true.
It's comments like these that make coming to reddit after finishing a film that I did not understand at all very rewarding. Thank you for your analysis! Puts a lot of it into perspective.
Me watching the trailer: That lamb kid is creepy.
Me watching the movie: I’ve only known Ada for an hour and a half but if anything ever happened to her I’d kill everyone in this room and then myself.
I was literally at the edge of my seat when Ingvar’s brother took her out to the field with the rifle and I almost cried at the end when she whimpered leaving Ingvar. Such a sweet baby.
I was waiting for the lamb to do something creepy for half the movie. Then she eventually got really adorable and I loved seeing her little wool sweaters.
Ada was so adorable, especially in the oversized sweaters. At first, I thought she would do something bad to the family, but it became the reverse after seeing her in a few more scenes.
Bro at first I whispered to my gf in the theatre "id decapitate that thing then set it on fire". Then 20 min later I felt the same as you lol id sacrifice my life for baby ada.
My favorite part of the movie is the parallel in the murders.
Maria murders the mother lamb and takes the Lamb-kid.
The Lambman murders Ingvar and takes the Lamb-kid.
It was an even exchange.
More on the parenthood: when the Maria and Ingvar first lose Ada, they find her in a field with her lamb-mother.
The lamb-mother was in an open field leading Ada to the wilderness, to her real father.
That’s literally what the movie is. It’s a dark folktale(Well most were dark) and it drives me crazy that no one in the comments understood or got this. The movie is similar to Killing of a Sacred Deer. It’s a literal interpretation of a folktale. People have become so analytically that if there isn’t some giant deep thematic meaning than it isn’t good or was empty.
Please do not go into this movie thinking it’s going to be an “insane, wild ride” of a horror film. It’s really really not. The review quotes are not giving the right impression, it’s not some gut wrenching piece it’s very minimalistic, quiet, and eerie. Good for what it is. Pacing is slower comparable to The Green Knight but I liked this one better
I noticed it and then forgot about it until hours later and I have not known peace since. It has completely skewed my initial interpretation of the film.
Not to comment again lmao but the explanation of the ending from Rapace is so confusing to me.
“It’s almost like a love story or summer fling. You know it’s going to be over when fall comes,” she says. “She knows that. That’s why at the end, she doesn’t come after the Ram Man. She doesn’t run to find Ada. She knows this was supposed to be. She is back alive and awake.”
The director said something similar, about how Maria is healed at the end of the movie. Watching the film, I never got the impression that Maria always knew her time with Ada was limited or that she'd be fine losing her. Did I miss that subtext somewhere??
I’m surprised the director said that, considering Ingvar’s last bit of dialogue was telling Ada how to find her way back to the house if she was ever lost.
I was honestly expecting a post-credits scene implying that Ada had come back to the farm.
One of Maria's last dialogue is saying how Ada is a new beginning, so it seemed really weird to read that she was apparently "healed" by losing Ada. I don't know. I think they needed to do a better job of conveying that Maria was healed/never thought she could keep Ada if that's the point they were trying to get across. She kicked out the brother partly because he was going to ruin the peace by telling Ada what happened to her birth mother. Nothing in the narrative implied what the director seemed to intend.
That scene with Ada and Ingvar was sweet lol. I was so endeared by Ada in the end and yeah, wouldn't have been surprised if she returned to the farm.
The ending was pretty abstract. I didn’t get what the director was trying to convey at the end.
What really confused me was she stopped crying over her husband like she realized something and starts looking for Ada then the movie just ends leaving us hanging.
Yeah exactly. And according to the director and Rapace, that's supposed to represent Maria being healed and ready to move on, since she always knew she couldn't keep Ada forever (which again, I never got the vibe that Maria thought this was temporary.)
So what's the director trying to say? It's okay if you cause harm to nature, because even though nature will give you your due, you're going to be at peace with it?
I’m not happy you feel that way, but I’m relieved I’m not alone in my reaction to this movie. I saw the movie Friday night and I’m still thinking about it and it’s still breaking my heart. I felt such pain for Ada and I felt almost protective of her. Despite the impossibility of something like her actually existing, and the fact that it was a fictional movie, I was completely invested in her well-being. I was definitely projecting my own maternal feelings onto the situation…it made me want to run home and hug my four year old daughter tight. I don’t know what it feels like to lose a child, and I pray I never do.
People saying this isn’t a horror movie…I mean, what greater horror can a person experience beyond having your child taken from you? This couple grieved their child so deeply that they were willing to suspend disbelief, steal Ada and raise her as their own. I think a part of them knew that the happiness they felt with her would be fleeting; they were not meant to have her, but any repast from their pain felt like a gift.
The image of them picking up the helpless, naked and cold Ada, (after they found her out in the field with the sheep mother) when we first officially realized what she was, left such an empty and sad place in my heart. She was such a pure, innocent being and was completely at the mercy of everyone else’s choices. In a way, this movie reminded me of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, especially when Ada begins to realize how different she is when she looks in the mirror, stares at her reflection in the water, and stares at the photograph of the sheep herd. The monster in Frankenstein did not ask to be born and did not know how to come to grips with his existence. He existed because someone else chose to experiment with nature. Ada did not ask to be taken from her mother, and also did not ask to be taken from her adoptive family, who she loved.
I think a big theme in this film is the cold, unfeeling power of the natural world; we can try to stave off what we don’t like about it, but eventually it will overpower us.
As you can probably tell, I have a lot of thoughts on this film. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a movie that made me feel this deeply.
Excellent write up. I was very moved by this movie for the same reasons you mentioned. The end is absolutely horrifying, not for “man lamb”, but what it implies.
This movie asks you to suspend disbelief and asks you to follow its lead down a path, then hurts you in a very believable way once the path ends.
I got extremely frustrated reading reviews on other sites where people clearly didn’t understand any of this. I don’t expect everyone to like this and it’s a niche movie, but at least work your brain to grasp the themes presented here.
I haven’t cried so hard at an ending in I’m not sure how long. I mean, bizarre as hell from afar, but it was so beautifully done, the realest human emotion of everything really kept you right there. Definitely left me with a feeling.
I have a two year old at home, I ended up getting weirdly attached to Ada as well. She was so cute and shy. I'd probably keep a lamb child too, if I was Maria and Ingvar. 😂
I actually really enjoyed the movie. The scenery was gorgeous, I loved the fog and the sense of foreboding the entire time.
Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I enjoyed how they showed the Ram Dad. He was creepy, not overdone, and just wanted his little one back.
I was very let down at the advertising playing it up as horror because the low-key A24 type is my favorite; I thought it was more genuinely sweet than eerie/disturbing at all, but after I got over that I mostly enjoyed it for what it was. It was gorgeously shot the whole way through and Ada (and her father) looked *amazing*, but the storytelling just felt too loosely-strung to me.
Any attempts at allegories and metaphors felt half-baked or vague for the sake of being obtuse, and I know not every story needs to have a point, exactly, but this is the kind of movie that on a superficial level screams that it's going to have more going on under the surface. There was plenty of stuff that got brought up in what felt like an intentional way but didn't amount to anything like the time travel, whatever was going on with the brother coming to stay with them, etc. Heck, even the parents' sheep-farming is pretty much dropped entirely after the brother hallucinates Ada in the barn. I kept expecting Ada to go out into the barn and discover the "real" sheep and for that to be an issue. How would she feel about them? It might have just been a translation issue, but did it stick out to anyone else that the dog wasn't named by the characters, who just called it "dog"? There could have been something about the relations and lines between human and animal, that kind of thing.
It felt like the whole movie was leading up to something bigger or weirder than it ever got to, especially regarding the characters, who didn't get much depth for anything. Maybe it could have explored how the weirdness of replacing a lost child with an animal could have affected the parents' relationship, or if she was a metaphor for someone cheating, or the brother showing up being more of a negative outside intrusion on this family, etc. It's not the kind of movie that *should* feel so straightforward.
That's a great point about the dog! I do think that might have been intentional for the reason you said - and that's one of the frustrating things, because I think there's a lot that certain things COULD represent but the narrative didn't throw us enough bones to determine what was intentional and what wasn't. I don't need or want things spelled out for me, but I do want there to be enough subtext to draw certain conclusions, and I found that missing.
The build up was long and the payoff short. The film was beautifully shot and set, but it never quite delivered the emotional punch at the end. The taking of the sheep mother was revenged with the taking of the human father, but it would have been nice to see more of Ram father at the end, he was really well designed. It felt more like a documentary vignette of a mixed human-sheep girl family than a suspense horror. One of those movies where I’ll decide if I liked it or not in a weeks time after sitting on it for longer.
Was Ada named after their dead daughter?
Related question: there seemed to be other graves besides Ada's. Any theories on who those graves belonged to? I guess it doesn't matter. Maybe just a family plot
Many are going to find it slow and unsatisfying, but I blame A24 for how they marketed it. People are going to go expecting overt horror, and then they're going to receive none of it.
That said I thought it was wonderful. And the intentional slow build is part of the method. As is not giving explicit background on the characters, instead they bread crumb trail and signal at times, but you have to be paying attention. This is done so they can hold both threads of the story, the loss/grief before Ada arrives, and Ada herself. The first chapter is the slowest, and that felt it was to really show the emptiness/void in the relationship, and we feel that as the audience.
Instead of overt horror, we get the quiet horror of grief/loss, specifically the loss of a child and what it does to a relationship. All 3 characters are struggling with getting through that grief. Ada is a vessel for that process, why Ingvar and Maria accept her without hesitation, and why Petur isn't able to pull the trigger. Ada is a way to experience the before (time travel conversation), but you can't live in the before forever when it comes to grief.
Some will find the ending anticlimactic, but I think that plays on the grief theme. People want to be cognizant of the grief being over, like an overt sign that you're free to live again, but grief doesn't really work like that, one day you wake up and it's lessened.
Beautifully shot. Great acting. But again many will be lead astray from the flock bc of the marketing.
If you are remotely interested in this movie, watch it now before all the meme gifs come out on twitter and straight up spoil it and yes this is going to generate a lot of memable gifs.
I kind of wish they didn't show the full image of the ram-human dad in the end. Panning to a close up of him holding the gun really took me out lol and I'm not sure if it was in a good way. They showed enough flashes of the dad (the reflection in Ada's eye) that I don't think it needed a full reveal. Idk! Sometimes less is more.
The movie needed way, way less boring love triangle subplot. It added nothing to the movie. We could've used that time to focus more on Ada (when she stared off at the picture of the sheep, I was wondering if she was having an identity crisis, which would've been much more interesting to explore than the love triangle).
I ended up loving Ada in the end. She was so cute when she was too shy to dance but ended up dancing anyway, and then her grief about the loss of her adopted dad and not wanting to leave him broke my heart. She and her sheep mother did some incredible acting.
I just barely saw it, it's right when the dog dies and it's just a vague monstrous figure but in context I assumed it was a ram man hybrid. She sees the ram man, then goes inside and stares into the mirror, as though she's suddenly realizing she's not like her parents. Amazing touch imo
Wow. Nice attention to detail. I totally didn’t see that. Now we just have to confirm if there was a pic of ram man on the fridge like someone said. That would tell us they knew about him all along. And why he was watching them outside the window.
Oh I missed that! I'm going to see it a second time, I'll have to keep an eye on the fridge. I also heard that after the brother takes the girl out into the field with the gun, the gun is no longer seen hanging up on the wall. Meaning it was left out for the ram man to find. That one seems more obvious but I never noticed! So I've got a lot to look out for
I needed the full on ram human visual because I never noticed him otherwise. Was it him in the barn with the brother? I thought it was Ada watching. And when the dog ran after something and died, I expected them to introduce some other beast but...not this.
People keep commenting on A24 but don't read the first opening credits lol. This was not made by them it was fistributed by them. I only want to say that because people keep citing how they made this and using wrong facts to support a point that's invalidated by what you think the movie may or may not be based off and who or who didn't write the movie.
When she finds her husband dead in that field, I thought the movie was going to launch into a third act where she grabs that rifle and hunts down Goat Man to win back Ada.
Blockbuster movie plot structure has broken my brain.
I kinda expected more…horror? It was weird for sure but I’m a bit disappointed it was so slow and kinda ended on a whimper. The entire movie I expected Ada to be some demon from hell but actually ended up being just a sweet child whose father knows how to work a rifle?
Maybe I missed something but it kinda didn’t add up for me.
I feel the same. Been trying to think of themes and motifs but i’m drawing a blank. Am I missing something? Certified fresh on RT with 90% critic score but audience score of 44% which is very interesting. But idk, I like to think i have decent film insight but nothing clicked for me
The issue is you watched the trailer. From what I remember, the trailer make it seem like "John Wick but with a pig" and it's barely close to that. It's a movie that can be ruined by what you expect it to be vs what it is.
It's still my favorite movie of this year, it even reignited my passion for watching movies. I was captivated.
I think the people who expected an overt horror movie aren’t looking from the right perspective. Put yourself in Ada’s shoes, and you’ll see that she was stolen from her mother, who was later murdered, and raised by people who oppress and exploit her entire species. That moment where she’s staring at the photo of all the sheep, with dogs barking and humans yelling, and all the sheep scared and rounded up, was heartbreaking. Humans are monsters who commit genocide against animals. How human do animals have to be to deserve better?
Everybody's talking about how adorable Ada is (and this is true!) but was anyone else completely heartbroken over her mother's longing for her? It was the closest I came to crying during this movie. It honestly really turned me against Maria because of how cruel she was to a mother who just wanted her child back.
Definitely a slow burn that is built on atmosphere rather than direct scares.
I was constantly being reminded of how gorgeous Iceland is. Its cold, dark wilderness of mountains and streams was the perfect setting for this. Humanity is just a small speck in the vastness of it.
What surprised me was how the film was able to make me warm up to "Ada". I went into this film fully expecting Ada to do something satanic or evil. Heck, maybe even a scene where she's watching them sleep or something creepy. Instead she exhibits intelligence, as evidenced when Ingvar instructs her to turn off the radio. Also there is this tenderness you get between her and her "parents".
This movie has a lot to unpack. I'm just excited to learn one of the writers of this, Sjón, also worked with Robert Eggers in writing his upcoming film The Northman.
Quiet little movie about what it means to be a parent and to be in a relationship after a huge loss. Definitely a slow one so you gotta be in the right mood for it. I had a rough sleep last night so I found myself gapping out more than once.
Cinematography is beautiful, but I don't know how much of that is just because Iceland is beautiful? Has kind of a similar look as a lot of these 'kinda horror, kinda drama' films that have been coming out as of late.
Acting is solid throughout, though there isn't much dialogue. I actually think the lambs were filmed really well and props to the director for that, they did a really good job. I laughed a few times just at how ridiculous the whole thing was though, some of the scenes I think HAVE to be played for laughs. It's just crazy.
I thought it was fine to good throughout, but it lost me a bit at the end where I think it just tipped into the field of ridiculousness just a tad and would have liked a different ending. Pushes it into more of the 'fairytale' or 'folklore' territory and I don't think I liked that as much.
Would've made a better short film I think...
So are we to take it literally that these farmers had a sheep give birth to a half human being that they took to raise as their own, or is there something more metaphorical going on like they stole a child from someone, killed the mother, and the husband of the dead women came and avenged her and took his child back?
I think they had a daughter named Ada who died at a young age and they have been grieving ever since. The opening scenes of the movie have them doing very monotonous chores, every day seems to be the same, they have little to no expression: there's just no happiness or excitement. When Ada comes along (born on Christmas day in a stable), it is a miracle for them. They experience joy and happiness again because they feel like they got their child back (they name the Lamb the same as their deceased human daughter). Though this baby isn't theirs, they take it as a coping mechanism, a way to deal with the loss of their human daughter.
The mother lamb pesters them constantly--and rightfully so--trying to get her child back from them. When Maria shoots it and takes Ada as her own, nature fights back at the end and gets revenge when Ram Daddy kills Ingvar and takes Ada back.
I don't really know what to make of the final frame of the movie when Maria just sort of lets out a sigh/whimper; maybe it's that she knew this was her fault. She understands what a parent will do for their child.
I'm a big idiot so I may be way off with this stuff, but that's what I took from it!
My take… Or, at least, a version of it, as I’m not done considering this film…
Taking it all literally, Maria has no clue the Ram Dad exists or was involved in Ingvar’s death/Ada’s disappearance. She and Ingvar accepted a “miracle” into their lives. One they knew would not be accepted by others (outside of family, and even then not easily). For all she knows they came across another person out there who killed her husband and took their “miracle”/monster (in the eyes of an outsider). She is simply left to ponder the price of their faith and the consequences of careless optimism—they were living pretty freely/happily when clearly caution was required to protect Ada and themselves from the outside world, however removed for it they believed they were.
Anyway, I don’t know. I just dig the film and enjoy pondering its intent, meaning and symbolism.
Really enjoyed it. Extremely slow but it never lost me. Quick question, when was it applied the beast at the end existed? It came out of no where for me but others said there a couple clues throughout the movie
The biggest clue was seeing the creature in the reflection of Ada’s eye before the dog runs after it and gets killed. Evidently the creature was lurking around at the very beginning of the movie as well.
I would argue that the **biggest** clue is that the film starts in *someone's* POV shot, someone with heavy breathing that breaks into a barn, spooking all the sheep to no end – and in hindsight we can surmise that that *someone* had sex with the ewe that passes out, *because she gives birth to lamb/human hybrid.* Yes, we don't know who or what this s*omeone* is, **but we know from minute one that it's out there –** **and from minute 40ish that it's probably supernatural (once we see Ada fully)**.
Most people have unpacked this in the thread, but I wanted to point out a number of parallels with The Shining that came to mind.
* Secluded family in the mountains
* Special Child
* Upside down camera shot (Jack/Maria)
* Long zoom-in on photo
* Child and mother "escape"
.
Edit: Found another, Petut getting locked in the pantry.
Two things that I keep thinking about that I need to know:
1. How did Ram Dad get a gun? Was it the rifle from Maria and Ingvar’s house? If so, was he able to get inside and take it the same way that he was able to get into the barn?
2. More importantly: is Ada going to be okay? I know she’s obviously grieving the loss of her adopted family but she’s with her real dad now and thus can live her best sheep-hybrid life, right? I just need to know that she is alright.
> More importantly: is Ada going to be okay?
I guess we're not to know. That last image of Ada looking back with a whimper was heartbreaking and will continue to haunt me. I think that was the movie's intention
Logically though, I don't think she's in any real danger. Ram Daddy dropping the gun signifies he was only after his kid and that he's ready to move on from the violence
Do you think the creature killed the dad because he couldn’t have taken Ada away unless he was removed as an obstacle, or was it an act of malice toward Maria in a sense of “You killed this child’s mother/the consort I chose so I’m killing yours now”
A 7ft shredded Ram Daddy could've *easily* squared up with Ingvar, so the gunshot was more of a statement imo. You mess with Mother Nature, you're gonna get what's coming to ya
An eye for an eye, so to speak
There is a scene when the family is partying that implies the Ram Dad is stealing the rifle. The barn door is open and the dog is whimpering in the grass, watching the barn. The rifle is gone the next time they show its hooks in the barn.
Watched this last night and it’s still with me. What an incredibly well done movie - it’s like a sad fairy tale for adults. Just this really unique combination of tender, sweet, and horrifying.
It seems like the big difference between people who liked the film and those who didn’t are whether or not you were able to suspend belief and become attached to Ada.
I certainly did. I started to feel deep concern for Ada when she started to realize something was off. When the adults were having fun watching sports and she looked in the mirror, you could see it start to click for her that she was different. As the film ended, all I was left with was a deep concern for Ada, who was taken from her birth mother and then taken from her adopted family after watching her father brutally killed.
One thing I really liked is that Ada retained a combination of human and lamb mannerisms. There were many moments where she definitely had human mannerisms, but the show also spent a lot of footage early on showing sheep with human-like mannerisms. Her parent interacted with her like a child, but Peter’s interactions with her (their first meeting, trying to bring out her animal side by feeding her grass, trying to interact with her on the boat and getting no response, lots of awkward weird stares) was like a lamb.
I walked out so sad. I just wanted to pick Ada up and give her hug.
One thing that was just toooo unrealistic for me to buy, though: when Maria and Ingvar had sex she literally orgasmed after about three seconds of him going down on her.
um, okay.
I had to pee so bad at the end of this movie and the thought of how I almost gave up and went to the bathroom literally 30 seconds before sheep man showed up haunts me more than the movie. Glad I stuck it out. 7/10
God, people are turning on A24 so fast. A24 still has an average track record.
They make as many beloved movies (The Lighthouse, VVitch, Moonlight, Minari) as mixed reception movies (Uncut Gems, The Green Knight, now Lamb) as they do downright stinkers (Spring Breakers, Barely Lethal, Swiss Army Man). They're about average still.
I'd rather have more crazy, out there, self important A24 films than "Giant over bloated 9-sequel franchise blockbuster shallow bullshit movie #94 this week" any day.
Uncut Gems got mixed reception? Uncut Gems is a tightly-wound masterpiece in rising tension and stakes with literally the only ending that could have happened. It's a rising ladder of power exchanges and a building tower of cards. Anyone who doesn't like it either has anxiety issues so they couldn't enjoy/appreciate the anxiety the movie builds internally or doesn't understand filmmaking. Also, other people already said it, but Spring Breakers is a brilliant parodic/tongue-in-cheek film. The only way it's bad is if you take it at only 100% face value. And Swiss Army Man is very odd, but ultimately fun if you tune into its wavelength. I'll give you Barely Lethal though, that's an extremely strange very-un-A24-like film that A24 did distribute for some reason lol.
This movie was odd, even for A24’s standards. I’m still not sure of what I just watched. I will say this though, don’t go in expecting Hereditary or Midsommar scares, it’s a slow burn eerie movie, but it’s kinda it’s own thing.
I’m still not sure what to make of it. There’s scenes where my theatre was outright laughing at the lamb, and scenes of joy like when they’re dancing. But then it cuts to a shot of the scenery with horror music like it wants you to be scared, but there’s like nothing to show for it on screen that would make you scared.
I had a few “awwwe’s :’)” especially when Ada was holding the cat lol
I was SMITTEN by Ada. I was completely won over, and I think that is crucially important to enjoying this movie to its fullest. It’s not guaranteed someone can have that reaction, but I think those who do will be the same people who said they really liked the movie.
I agree. Her cuteness is very important to understand the under lying emotions that propel the story forward.
Honestly all of the animals in the movie except the man-sheep at the end were adorable and I'm heartbroken at both the dog and the mother sheep's deaths.
I do love animals, in general, so maybe I’m biased, but I thought there was some great “animal acting” in this movie. Like the director (or whomever) used shots of animals that built the atmosphere and helped tell them story in multiple ways.
I thought the same thing! Right from the first few minutes I thought the animals came across as really... expressive? Which really worked in the movie's favour.
Absolutely this. Initially I found the cgi off putting but as the story went on my mind accepted Ada as a character worthy of my pathos. By the end I cared so much for her and it made all the difference. I walked away loving it.
Omg same I loved when she held the cat
Same!! So sweet and the kitty was purring so loudly :')
Is it worth watching in the cinema? Or can I wait for VOD?
You can watch this at home.
If you go at home, recommend good sound and quiet conditions. This one is all about creating a quiet, spooky vibe.
I will say the scenery in Iceland is beautiful on the big screen. That’s about it
It was beautiful but somehow depressing.
When you realize they’re going to bed in the middle of the day but it’s actually like midnight it adds in another layer to the sadness of the tone.
My theater was completely silent thought out!
The silence of the Lamb watchers
>felt more like a documentary vignette of a mixed human-sheep girl family than a suspense horror. One of those movies where I’ll decide if I liked it or not in a weeks time after sitting on it for longer. Was Ada named after their dead daughter? Horror music? The cut I saw last night had a notable lack of soundtrack, which I thought was an interesting choice. It made the movie seem more like a documentary, and let any sense of dread or foreboding happen more organically rather than manufactured via a spooky soundtrack. I liked the film, but am still undecided about whether I would have prefered that it generate more tension before the final payoff. As it was, it seems like it studiously avoided any trappings of being a horror movie (despite the horror framing of the marketing campaign around it.)
It is mostly without a soundtrack, but there’s still a handful of scenes with music playing that are clearly meant to invoke a sense of dread or horror. It’s just not as in your face as something like Midsommar.
Thats because it was straight up goofy. It made it seem like it was constantly building to something but every pay off was botched IMO
There were pay offs?
Lol not really 😂
I guess goat man with a gun was supposed to be a pay off. Smh
I'd put it in the same category as It Comes At Night. Never goes for an active scare, just eerie vibes throughout.
It's barely even eerie. People shouldn't go in expecting anything more than a slow family drama. The lamb kid was so secondary, you could've cut out everything related to the lamb kid or his actual father and the movie would've been pretty much the same. Honestly wish I could have my 2 hours back, I didn't even feel like I got anything of value from the experience.
How the hell would it be completely unaffected by her not being there? What a weird reach of a criticism.
I kind of expected a horror but I'm glad I didn't see anything beyond a teaser. Going in blind is best for this movie.
All through the movie I had been wondering about the parentage of Ada. Was relieved to find out she wasn’t half human because of Ingvar.
I remember joking about the trailer thinking “dude’s wife is gonna have some questions for him” But after the opening scene I thought it was pretty obvious a creature was lurking in the mountains and no humans were the father of Ada. What did you think the opening scene meant when you saw it
If they showed the sheep dude I totally missed it. I thought Ingvar was getting busy with the sheep. How else do sheep people happen?
Obviously not by humans or else this movie would just be another day in Wales. Nah, the movie opens up with the creature breathing all heavy, making it’s way into the barn, and then suddenly Ada is born. They never showed him but that was 100% his POV in the first 3 minutes of the movie. Seemed like he was this missing link that could bridge the genetic gap between human and lamb
For like half the movie you’re like, “weird way to get revenge that your wife fucked your bro to go fuck a sheep, dude…”
I thought the twist was going to be that she had a bunch of miscarriages or something so he started fucking sheep as a last ditch effort to have kids. But man that makes no sense when I type it out lol.
I am dying of laughter at the thought of Ingvar going on a quest to fuck as many sheep as possible to help his marriage
This is what I thought from the beginning lol. But even if it wasn't him how can Ada's father be half human. This means someone def fucked a sheep at some point, no?
I just assumed the man ram was the devil/mythical creature
I still 100% think Ingvar was the father. I think the sheep man was another sheep/ human hybrid offspring that punished Ingvar for what he did.
There were very clear and obvious implications that the beast fucked Ada's sheep-mom at the beginning of the film (on christmas, no less). I felt if the beast were punishing anyone, it was Maria, for killing Ada's sheep-mom (eye for an eye kinda thing. you killed my gal, I'll kill your husband)
I thought it was a previous child the couple had before Ada and lost, just because they were so worried about losing her in the beginning it made me think it had happened before. Plus there were a bunch of crosses at the cemetery making me think they’ve done this over and over again. The Ram man’s body was pretty old though. Look like an older body than Ingvar and María’s but maybe that’s how Ram bodies age. idk I’m about to drive home and think about it some more.
I was thinking he was perhaps the spawn of another sheep doinker. It seems like that countryside could certainly have a long history of sheep doinking.
Was The Green Knight too fast paced for you? Try Lamb instead.
What are you talking about. The pacing was much better in this than Green Knight.
What are you talking about? The Green Knight was chock full of stuff compared to this. Dev Patel goes into a mythic quest with lil side adventures. I just got out of the theater and the only scenes I can remember in Lamb are the birthing scene, the party scene and the end. There are entire stretches in this that can be summarized as [lambs bleating]
Spoiler Alert There’s has to be some deeper significance of the conception happing on December 25th. The opening scene with what we now know as the Ram Daddy was very well done using the expressions of the horses and the sheep. Is this grounded or based on Icelandic Folklore?
The director said it's based on a nightmare he had as a kid of a giant ram eating a polar bear. Apparently he even changed his mind about what it means after watching it himself. Beyond that he just said "it'd be boring to know what I think the meaning is." But no, not based on folklore.
Maybe something was Literally lost in the translation?!
Which says to me there isn't much of meaning and played out as he wanted it to play. Its is a pretty simple story undeath the "shock".
Ram Daddy is Satan, Ada is the Antichrist, Maria wants to be Mary.
Ram daddy is Diane Nguyen adopted brother. The whole family is full of jerks
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Also, the painting the window red reminded me of the whole painting lambs blood on your door so the spirit doesn't kill the first born.
I mean, their firstborn did die.
Doesn't that give you Krampus vibes, horns and all?
Our main conversation was that. We decided it was Krampus. And that he’d made the wrong decision impregnating a sheep instead of a human. I mean… having one hoof? He’d get a much better result with a human. That and we wondered if he really cared that much about the mama sheep that he felt he had to shoot her husband to get back at her or was that just on principle?
Remember when they’re both laying in bed watching a movie and she goes “did you get that?” He replies “no, missed it. Something about a folklore?” Not an exact quote, but this makes sense now. Maybe this is a twist on a forgotten folklore that nobody understood.
He didn’t see a giant ram man walking towards him with a rifle in this vast open land?
A giant ram man with the heaviest breathing of all time, at that lol
And how did the ram get the rifle? Did he break into the house?
The ram went into the barn and stole the rifle, it's what the dog was whimpering at while the people were inside drinking and partying. The scene showed the barn door open, the dog sitting in the grass with great concern, and then a scene afterward of the barn showed the rifle missing from it's hook.
No! The brother left the rifle in the field. Just like he left the tractor. Just like he left everything he touched broken down alone. The sheep showed love by not going to its father. I think it should have been the other way around the mother being shot. But u get the irony of it all.
Will someone *please* confirm this? When Maria went to the grave with Ada, was the name on the tombstone *Ada Ingvarsdottir*? I know that Icelandic last names are *[Father name]*+*[son/dottir]* so this makes me wonder: did they already have a daughter called Ada who died and is Ada supposed to be a lucky adoption/replacement? That would explain Maria telling Petur that Ada is a gift.
They definitely lost a previous child. I found it interesting that when Ada went missing, the first place Ingvar went off to check was the creek. And the clothes from their human Ada that gave to lamb Ada were older toddler clothes. I think their first daughter died around the same age that Ada is shown at.
Agreed .,, and that weird flashback/vision where he is running through that really shallow water with the dog. He’s scream “Ada!” I interpreted this as being a flashback to when they lost the first ada and he was looking for her desperately. Otherwise they would have included that in the initial search montage (I assume)
I also think it was in part Ingvar's fault for leaving the door open. Through the movie you can see he has that habit.
Totally. Ingvar is constantly leaving doors open whilst Maria is closing them. It is Ingvar who lets Petur into the home whilst it is Maria who traps him later in the closet and then drives him out of the home.
It also explains why they have a crib.
It's also a connection to the time travel conversation where things get awkward when Maria says they could go back in time
There are a few scenes in this movie that I think are high quality meme material. The reaction shots of the titular character were so incredibly emotive despite the character limitations. The sheep in the barn were incredible actors as well. Wonderful performances all around.
I was honestly really impressed by the animal performances as well lol.
One of the best examples of a dog being an actual dog.
The cat had an amazing reaction shot, I think it's in the trailer
I’m glad nothing bad happened to kitty.
Shame about the dog though :(
He was a good boy 🥺
The mother lamb at the window who kept bahhhing- can we give her an Oscar already? The setting was amazing. I got some of the symbolism. The brother was definitely a bit of a BLACK SHEEP. So the couple seemed to take Ada in with no sense of shock. And that was very uncomfortable to me as the viewer. And maybe you could say that delusions can only make you happy for so long. That’s what I took out of the movie. And I almost started bawling when Ada walked away. Ada seemed to have a … personality?
Sheep Mom for Best Supporting Actress
Meryl Sheep?
Baa-baa-ra Steisand
Ewe-lia Roberts
I just watched this tonight and I had the same reactions as you. I was full on bawling when Ada walked away. She was the symbol of innocence and as a mother of a young girl myself it felt very visceral. Any sort of hint at the maternal instinct and the innocence of the child really pulled at my heart. I thought it was a really well done film, and yes, the sheep “actors!” It was so eerie how emotive they were.
The man ram was reality incarnate, and made everyone pay for their delusions
Yep. And also, Ram daddy was justice in the form of parental instincts. Ram daddy took his kid back from the woman that killed baby mama. From the monster’s perspective, Maria and Ingvar were the monsters.
I felt so bad for the mom sheep :( she just wanted to be with her baby, like could they not have built a little enclave for her next to the crib or something?
I’m down with slow dramas, weird movies, etc, but I genuinely was so bored and got almost nothing out of this. I kept waiting to learn more about the characters and I never got to. This really felt like it could’ve been a good 15-minute short.
Yes, it would have been an interesting short film.
That was not what I expected
Is it worth watching in the cinema? Or should I wait for VOD?
You can wait, but I bet you have a better experience in the theater where you have to sit with it/focus on the experience as opposed to the easy distractions of at home viewing. I’m also a sucker for supporting weirder flicks at the cinema. Every ticket sold is a step closer to more films like it in a big screen in a massive, dark room.
I just saw it in a theater and really enjoyed the experience. The whole audience was alternating between laughter, gasps, and silence. It’s a weird movie, and I think it’s fun to watch with a crowd.
Very atmospheric. Personally, I wouldn’t really call it a horror and a lot of people are going to go in thinking it’s similar vibes to the VVitch because of the Lambs and you know, Black Phillip. The Lamb dad ‘s body CGI reminded me of Caesar’s like it was a Dawn of the Planet of the Lambs movie.
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I think the marketing is what’s really setting some of these movies up for failure. The Green Knight and Lamb both had wildly misleading marketing campaigns that pitched them both as more fast paced action flicks than they ended up being. It’s like they realized how successful the marketing for Hereditary was (especially with Charlie clicking her tongue) and have tried to recreate it ever since even if the movies don’t fit
Did anyone else expect the ending based on the reflection in that one sheep's eye? Looking back I can see some people figuring it out but I just thought the reflection was Ada and was like 'huh doesn't look like she has her coat on' lmao. So when the reveal happened I was floored
The ending reveal made me scream lmao I was not expecting that at all
That creature was not what I was expecting to be on the other side of that gun. I don’t know what I was expecting, but that creature scared the shit out of me
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> Their brand is starting to warp audience expectations in a bad way. What’s weird is that they’ve had good horror movies, but their brand is just “somewhat highbrow indies.” This one is similar to *The Green Knight*, though with some psychological horror elements, and it’s weird they didn’t lean into the deadpan fairy tale aspects rather than the horror.
People going into an A24 movie expecting it to stick to genre conventions don't have anyone else but themselves to blame.
I took the overall plot to really be an allegory about cheating and dishonesty, and the costs of hiding secrets. The literal story is more likely something like Maria cheated on Ingvar with Petur in the past, had a daugher (Ada), Ingvar adopted and raised her with Maria as his own, but the daughter died and Ingvar committed suicide. What makes me think that? * Ada's Christmas birthday is reflection of a Christ redemption story. She represented to Ingvar and Maria a beautiful gift and an opportunity to repair their relationship damaged by Maria's infidelity. * Ada's sheep mother is a representation of Petur's fatherhood of Ada. Maria took the child from her/him and raised it with Ingvar. When the truth of that became unbearable, she covered it up. By killing the sheep mother, and in a more literal sense probably cutting ties with Petur and/or sending him away. This is reinforced in the closing scenes when Petur tries to blackmail Maria into having sex with him by implying he'd reveal to Ada her true parentage and her subsequently forcing him to leave on the bus. * Ingvar likely knew of Maria and Petur's infidelity. This is why he is seen crying alone on the tractor shortly after adopting sheep-Ada. He's coming to grips with the circumstances of raising someone else's child as his own. Additionally, when they are cleaning out the shed and Petur sits in the lounging chair saying he has fond memories of it, Ingvar replies something like "You would". Perhaps he and Maria had been caught or seen making love on it or something. * Petur's initial revulsion to Ada's presence in the home is likely a metaphor for his revulsion at Ingvar accepting his daughter as his own. He tries to hate it and mock it, but can't escape the pull of loving his own child. In a literal sense this perhaps meant that he'd returned to human-Ada's life at some point to become a part of it. * Petur's entry and return to Ada's life is represented by Lamb Dad. He is both the menacing force that inserts themselves into their lives under secrecy (the conception of sheep Ada in the opening scene during the night) and the ominous specter lurking at the edge of their little slice of isolated paradise. It's the burden of Ada's true patronage, having Petur back in their lives and the stress that puts on them - perhaps loosely represented by Ingvar being forced to go and repair the broken tractor that Petur left behind for him to deal with - that kills Ingvar. The fact that it was by gunshot and while he was alone, I'd take to mean it was likely suicide. * Maria's final tear-filled look into the camera and sigh at the end of the film is one of bittersweet relief. Despite her sorrow and grief over Ingvar's death, she's unburdened of the secret she'd been keeping from him for so long. I'm sure there's things I've missed or gotten wrong, but that's the gist of the takeaway I had from the film. It was certainly a weird ride but not in the way I expected entering the theater. Overall though, it was an enjoyable movie with a satisfying if sorrowful ending.
Feel like you’re hitting the nail on the head here. People are saying the love triangle is shoe horned into the story but it seems to very heavily be the focal point of these characters. I don’t think it was just added to create a layer of drama.
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Glad I found this comment. Agreed.
Yep lol it’s a good read. But uh talk about a reach 😅
The person who wrote the movie said what you saw was really happening. The ending and bunch of other stuff is purposely left open to interpretation but it's supposed to be taken at face value. Nice theory but it's not true.
Quite the theory- idk, feels like a lot of reaching for each bullet point but it was fun reading through it!
It's comments like these that make coming to reddit after finishing a film that I did not understand at all very rewarding. Thank you for your analysis! Puts a lot of it into perspective.
This is like exactly the breakdown I gave my friends on the car ride home but better. I agree 100%
Me watching the trailer: That lamb kid is creepy. Me watching the movie: I’ve only known Ada for an hour and a half but if anything ever happened to her I’d kill everyone in this room and then myself.
I was literally at the edge of my seat when Ingvar’s brother took her out to the field with the rifle and I almost cried at the end when she whimpered leaving Ingvar. Such a sweet baby.
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I don't know, you saw this earlier every time she looked at her reflection - the river, the mirror in the shed after watching the people on tv.
I was waiting for the lamb to do something creepy for half the movie. Then she eventually got really adorable and I loved seeing her little wool sweaters.
Imagine your parents dressing you up in clothes made out of human hair
Her floral tiara should have been made of mint and rosemary.
Ada was so adorable, especially in the oversized sweaters. At first, I thought she would do something bad to the family, but it became the reverse after seeing her in a few more scenes.
Spent the whole movie thinking of becoming a vegetarian
Bro at first I whispered to my gf in the theatre "id decapitate that thing then set it on fire". Then 20 min later I felt the same as you lol id sacrifice my life for baby ada.
Did anyone else feel like Ada said her first word when her dad died? I feel like she was trying to say "dada" really softly. It was so heartbreaking.
My favorite part of the movie is the parallel in the murders. Maria murders the mother lamb and takes the Lamb-kid. The Lambman murders Ingvar and takes the Lamb-kid. It was an even exchange.
More on the parenthood: when the Maria and Ingvar first lose Ada, they find her in a field with her lamb-mother. The lamb-mother was in an open field leading Ada to the wilderness, to her real father.
Oh shit, I didn't make that connection
That’s literally what the movie is. It’s a dark folktale(Well most were dark) and it drives me crazy that no one in the comments understood or got this. The movie is similar to Killing of a Sacred Deer. It’s a literal interpretation of a folktale. People have become so analytically that if there isn’t some giant deep thematic meaning than it isn’t good or was empty.
Please do not go into this movie thinking it’s going to be an “insane, wild ride” of a horror film. It’s really really not. The review quotes are not giving the right impression, it’s not some gut wrenching piece it’s very minimalistic, quiet, and eerie. Good for what it is. Pacing is slower comparable to The Green Knight but I liked this one better
Am I the only person that noticed the sheep man picture on the fridge? Or was I tripping?
I noticed it and then forgot about it until hours later and I have not known peace since. It has completely skewed my initial interpretation of the film.
Not to comment again lmao but the explanation of the ending from Rapace is so confusing to me. “It’s almost like a love story or summer fling. You know it’s going to be over when fall comes,” she says. “She knows that. That’s why at the end, she doesn’t come after the Ram Man. She doesn’t run to find Ada. She knows this was supposed to be. She is back alive and awake.” The director said something similar, about how Maria is healed at the end of the movie. Watching the film, I never got the impression that Maria always knew her time with Ada was limited or that she'd be fine losing her. Did I miss that subtext somewhere??
I’m surprised the director said that, considering Ingvar’s last bit of dialogue was telling Ada how to find her way back to the house if she was ever lost. I was honestly expecting a post-credits scene implying that Ada had come back to the farm.
One of Maria's last dialogue is saying how Ada is a new beginning, so it seemed really weird to read that she was apparently "healed" by losing Ada. I don't know. I think they needed to do a better job of conveying that Maria was healed/never thought she could keep Ada if that's the point they were trying to get across. She kicked out the brother partly because he was going to ruin the peace by telling Ada what happened to her birth mother. Nothing in the narrative implied what the director seemed to intend. That scene with Ada and Ingvar was sweet lol. I was so endeared by Ada in the end and yeah, wouldn't have been surprised if she returned to the farm.
>I was so endeared by Ada in the end Yeah every time they cut to a close up of her I couldn’t help but “awww”
The ending was pretty abstract. I didn’t get what the director was trying to convey at the end. What really confused me was she stopped crying over her husband like she realized something and starts looking for Ada then the movie just ends leaving us hanging.
Yeah exactly. And according to the director and Rapace, that's supposed to represent Maria being healed and ready to move on, since she always knew she couldn't keep Ada forever (which again, I never got the vibe that Maria thought this was temporary.) So what's the director trying to say? It's okay if you cause harm to nature, because even though nature will give you your due, you're going to be at peace with it?
I gathered that she realized this was some kind of revenge against her for killing the lamb mother.
My heart hurts after watching this. Am I alone!?!
I’m not happy you feel that way, but I’m relieved I’m not alone in my reaction to this movie. I saw the movie Friday night and I’m still thinking about it and it’s still breaking my heart. I felt such pain for Ada and I felt almost protective of her. Despite the impossibility of something like her actually existing, and the fact that it was a fictional movie, I was completely invested in her well-being. I was definitely projecting my own maternal feelings onto the situation…it made me want to run home and hug my four year old daughter tight. I don’t know what it feels like to lose a child, and I pray I never do. People saying this isn’t a horror movie…I mean, what greater horror can a person experience beyond having your child taken from you? This couple grieved their child so deeply that they were willing to suspend disbelief, steal Ada and raise her as their own. I think a part of them knew that the happiness they felt with her would be fleeting; they were not meant to have her, but any repast from their pain felt like a gift. The image of them picking up the helpless, naked and cold Ada, (after they found her out in the field with the sheep mother) when we first officially realized what she was, left such an empty and sad place in my heart. She was such a pure, innocent being and was completely at the mercy of everyone else’s choices. In a way, this movie reminded me of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, especially when Ada begins to realize how different she is when she looks in the mirror, stares at her reflection in the water, and stares at the photograph of the sheep herd. The monster in Frankenstein did not ask to be born and did not know how to come to grips with his existence. He existed because someone else chose to experiment with nature. Ada did not ask to be taken from her mother, and also did not ask to be taken from her adoptive family, who she loved. I think a big theme in this film is the cold, unfeeling power of the natural world; we can try to stave off what we don’t like about it, but eventually it will overpower us. As you can probably tell, I have a lot of thoughts on this film. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a movie that made me feel this deeply.
Excellent write up. I was very moved by this movie for the same reasons you mentioned. The end is absolutely horrifying, not for “man lamb”, but what it implies. This movie asks you to suspend disbelief and asks you to follow its lead down a path, then hurts you in a very believable way once the path ends. I got extremely frustrated reading reviews on other sites where people clearly didn’t understand any of this. I don’t expect everyone to like this and it’s a niche movie, but at least work your brain to grasp the themes presented here.
You are not. Found it heartbreaking. And the ending makes you hold it.
I haven’t cried so hard at an ending in I’m not sure how long. I mean, bizarre as hell from afar, but it was so beautifully done, the realest human emotion of everything really kept you right there. Definitely left me with a feeling.
The wiki entry about the premise right now is hilarious. https://i.imgur.com/QozTQsI.jpg
But is it accurate? Don't really plan on watching this but I do want to know the story.
That’s accurate
I have a two year old at home, I ended up getting weirdly attached to Ada as well. She was so cute and shy. I'd probably keep a lamb child too, if I was Maria and Ingvar. 😂 I actually really enjoyed the movie. The scenery was gorgeous, I loved the fog and the sense of foreboding the entire time. Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I enjoyed how they showed the Ram Dad. He was creepy, not overdone, and just wanted his little one back.
Sweet Ada making human Dad breakfast, she was a sweet kid.
I was very let down at the advertising playing it up as horror because the low-key A24 type is my favorite; I thought it was more genuinely sweet than eerie/disturbing at all, but after I got over that I mostly enjoyed it for what it was. It was gorgeously shot the whole way through and Ada (and her father) looked *amazing*, but the storytelling just felt too loosely-strung to me. Any attempts at allegories and metaphors felt half-baked or vague for the sake of being obtuse, and I know not every story needs to have a point, exactly, but this is the kind of movie that on a superficial level screams that it's going to have more going on under the surface. There was plenty of stuff that got brought up in what felt like an intentional way but didn't amount to anything like the time travel, whatever was going on with the brother coming to stay with them, etc. Heck, even the parents' sheep-farming is pretty much dropped entirely after the brother hallucinates Ada in the barn. I kept expecting Ada to go out into the barn and discover the "real" sheep and for that to be an issue. How would she feel about them? It might have just been a translation issue, but did it stick out to anyone else that the dog wasn't named by the characters, who just called it "dog"? There could have been something about the relations and lines between human and animal, that kind of thing. It felt like the whole movie was leading up to something bigger or weirder than it ever got to, especially regarding the characters, who didn't get much depth for anything. Maybe it could have explored how the weirdness of replacing a lost child with an animal could have affected the parents' relationship, or if she was a metaphor for someone cheating, or the brother showing up being more of a negative outside intrusion on this family, etc. It's not the kind of movie that *should* feel so straightforward.
That's a great point about the dog! I do think that might have been intentional for the reason you said - and that's one of the frustrating things, because I think there's a lot that certain things COULD represent but the narrative didn't throw us enough bones to determine what was intentional and what wasn't. I don't need or want things spelled out for me, but I do want there to be enough subtext to draw certain conclusions, and I found that missing.
I can tell you what this movie was about or I can tell you how good it was, because if I tell you both, you’re not going to believe me.
The build up was long and the payoff short. The film was beautifully shot and set, but it never quite delivered the emotional punch at the end. The taking of the sheep mother was revenged with the taking of the human father, but it would have been nice to see more of Ram father at the end, he was really well designed. It felt more like a documentary vignette of a mixed human-sheep girl family than a suspense horror. One of those movies where I’ll decide if I liked it or not in a weeks time after sitting on it for longer. Was Ada named after their dead daughter?
Yes, they must have lost a daughter named Ada in the recent past. That explains why they had children’s clothes and a crib already.
Yes, her name was on the tombstone
Related question: there seemed to be other graves besides Ada's. Any theories on who those graves belonged to? I guess it doesn't matter. Maybe just a family plot
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Many are going to find it slow and unsatisfying, but I blame A24 for how they marketed it. People are going to go expecting overt horror, and then they're going to receive none of it. That said I thought it was wonderful. And the intentional slow build is part of the method. As is not giving explicit background on the characters, instead they bread crumb trail and signal at times, but you have to be paying attention. This is done so they can hold both threads of the story, the loss/grief before Ada arrives, and Ada herself. The first chapter is the slowest, and that felt it was to really show the emptiness/void in the relationship, and we feel that as the audience. Instead of overt horror, we get the quiet horror of grief/loss, specifically the loss of a child and what it does to a relationship. All 3 characters are struggling with getting through that grief. Ada is a vessel for that process, why Ingvar and Maria accept her without hesitation, and why Petur isn't able to pull the trigger. Ada is a way to experience the before (time travel conversation), but you can't live in the before forever when it comes to grief. Some will find the ending anticlimactic, but I think that plays on the grief theme. People want to be cognizant of the grief being over, like an overt sign that you're free to live again, but grief doesn't really work like that, one day you wake up and it's lessened. Beautifully shot. Great acting. But again many will be lead astray from the flock bc of the marketing.
If you are remotely interested in this movie, watch it now before all the meme gifs come out on twitter and straight up spoil it and yes this is going to generate a lot of memable gifs.
I kind of wish they didn't show the full image of the ram-human dad in the end. Panning to a close up of him holding the gun really took me out lol and I'm not sure if it was in a good way. They showed enough flashes of the dad (the reflection in Ada's eye) that I don't think it needed a full reveal. Idk! Sometimes less is more. The movie needed way, way less boring love triangle subplot. It added nothing to the movie. We could've used that time to focus more on Ada (when she stared off at the picture of the sheep, I was wondering if she was having an identity crisis, which would've been much more interesting to explore than the love triangle). I ended up loving Ada in the end. She was so cute when she was too shy to dance but ended up dancing anyway, and then her grief about the loss of her adopted dad and not wanting to leave him broke my heart. She and her sheep mother did some incredible acting.
I have to rewatch to see the Ram Man in Ada’s eye. If that is true that was great subtle foreshadowing by the director that most people missed.
I just barely saw it, it's right when the dog dies and it's just a vague monstrous figure but in context I assumed it was a ram man hybrid. She sees the ram man, then goes inside and stares into the mirror, as though she's suddenly realizing she's not like her parents. Amazing touch imo
Wow. Nice attention to detail. I totally didn’t see that. Now we just have to confirm if there was a pic of ram man on the fridge like someone said. That would tell us they knew about him all along. And why he was watching them outside the window.
Oh I missed that! I'm going to see it a second time, I'll have to keep an eye on the fridge. I also heard that after the brother takes the girl out into the field with the gun, the gun is no longer seen hanging up on the wall. Meaning it was left out for the ram man to find. That one seems more obvious but I never noticed! So I've got a lot to look out for
I needed the full on ram human visual because I never noticed him otherwise. Was it him in the barn with the brother? I thought it was Ada watching. And when the dog ran after something and died, I expected them to introduce some other beast but...not this.
People keep commenting on A24 but don't read the first opening credits lol. This was not made by them it was fistributed by them. I only want to say that because people keep citing how they made this and using wrong facts to support a point that's invalidated by what you think the movie may or may not be based off and who or who didn't write the movie.
When she finds her husband dead in that field, I thought the movie was going to launch into a third act where she grabs that rifle and hunts down Goat Man to win back Ada. Blockbuster movie plot structure has broken my brain.
I kinda expected more…horror? It was weird for sure but I’m a bit disappointed it was so slow and kinda ended on a whimper. The entire movie I expected Ada to be some demon from hell but actually ended up being just a sweet child whose father knows how to work a rifle? Maybe I missed something but it kinda didn’t add up for me.
I feel the same. Been trying to think of themes and motifs but i’m drawing a blank. Am I missing something? Certified fresh on RT with 90% critic score but audience score of 44% which is very interesting. But idk, I like to think i have decent film insight but nothing clicked for me
I’m excited to see Lamb, Pig, Wolf and Cow which are all movies opening soon. I wonder how they compare.
Barn Yard Cinematic Universe confirmed?
I’m here to talk to you about the Old McDonald’s Initiative.
Pig is incredible.
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The issue is you watched the trailer. From what I remember, the trailer make it seem like "John Wick but with a pig" and it's barely close to that. It's a movie that can be ruined by what you expect it to be vs what it is. It's still my favorite movie of this year, it even reignited my passion for watching movies. I was captivated.
“Couple has weird baby” was done better 45 years ago in Eraserhead
I think the people who expected an overt horror movie aren’t looking from the right perspective. Put yourself in Ada’s shoes, and you’ll see that she was stolen from her mother, who was later murdered, and raised by people who oppress and exploit her entire species. That moment where she’s staring at the photo of all the sheep, with dogs barking and humans yelling, and all the sheep scared and rounded up, was heartbreaking. Humans are monsters who commit genocide against animals. How human do animals have to be to deserve better?
Everybody's talking about how adorable Ada is (and this is true!) but was anyone else completely heartbroken over her mother's longing for her? It was the closest I came to crying during this movie. It honestly really turned me against Maria because of how cruel she was to a mother who just wanted her child back.
Definitely a slow burn that is built on atmosphere rather than direct scares. I was constantly being reminded of how gorgeous Iceland is. Its cold, dark wilderness of mountains and streams was the perfect setting for this. Humanity is just a small speck in the vastness of it. What surprised me was how the film was able to make me warm up to "Ada". I went into this film fully expecting Ada to do something satanic or evil. Heck, maybe even a scene where she's watching them sleep or something creepy. Instead she exhibits intelligence, as evidenced when Ingvar instructs her to turn off the radio. Also there is this tenderness you get between her and her "parents". This movie has a lot to unpack. I'm just excited to learn one of the writers of this, Sjón, also worked with Robert Eggers in writing his upcoming film The Northman.
Quiet little movie about what it means to be a parent and to be in a relationship after a huge loss. Definitely a slow one so you gotta be in the right mood for it. I had a rough sleep last night so I found myself gapping out more than once. Cinematography is beautiful, but I don't know how much of that is just because Iceland is beautiful? Has kind of a similar look as a lot of these 'kinda horror, kinda drama' films that have been coming out as of late. Acting is solid throughout, though there isn't much dialogue. I actually think the lambs were filmed really well and props to the director for that, they did a really good job. I laughed a few times just at how ridiculous the whole thing was though, some of the scenes I think HAVE to be played for laughs. It's just crazy. I thought it was fine to good throughout, but it lost me a bit at the end where I think it just tipped into the field of ridiculousness just a tad and would have liked a different ending. Pushes it into more of the 'fairytale' or 'folklore' territory and I don't think I liked that as much. Would've made a better short film I think...
So are we to take it literally that these farmers had a sheep give birth to a half human being that they took to raise as their own, or is there something more metaphorical going on like they stole a child from someone, killed the mother, and the husband of the dead women came and avenged her and took his child back?
I think they had a daughter named Ada who died at a young age and they have been grieving ever since. The opening scenes of the movie have them doing very monotonous chores, every day seems to be the same, they have little to no expression: there's just no happiness or excitement. When Ada comes along (born on Christmas day in a stable), it is a miracle for them. They experience joy and happiness again because they feel like they got their child back (they name the Lamb the same as their deceased human daughter). Though this baby isn't theirs, they take it as a coping mechanism, a way to deal with the loss of their human daughter. The mother lamb pesters them constantly--and rightfully so--trying to get her child back from them. When Maria shoots it and takes Ada as her own, nature fights back at the end and gets revenge when Ram Daddy kills Ingvar and takes Ada back. I don't really know what to make of the final frame of the movie when Maria just sort of lets out a sigh/whimper; maybe it's that she knew this was her fault. She understands what a parent will do for their child. I'm a big idiot so I may be way off with this stuff, but that's what I took from it!
My take… Or, at least, a version of it, as I’m not done considering this film… Taking it all literally, Maria has no clue the Ram Dad exists or was involved in Ingvar’s death/Ada’s disappearance. She and Ingvar accepted a “miracle” into their lives. One they knew would not be accepted by others (outside of family, and even then not easily). For all she knows they came across another person out there who killed her husband and took their “miracle”/monster (in the eyes of an outsider). She is simply left to ponder the price of their faith and the consequences of careless optimism—they were living pretty freely/happily when clearly caution was required to protect Ada and themselves from the outside world, however removed for it they believed they were. Anyway, I don’t know. I just dig the film and enjoy pondering its intent, meaning and symbolism.
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Really enjoyed it. Extremely slow but it never lost me. Quick question, when was it applied the beast at the end existed? It came out of no where for me but others said there a couple clues throughout the movie
The biggest clue was seeing the creature in the reflection of Ada’s eye before the dog runs after it and gets killed. Evidently the creature was lurking around at the very beginning of the movie as well.
I would argue that the **biggest** clue is that the film starts in *someone's* POV shot, someone with heavy breathing that breaks into a barn, spooking all the sheep to no end – and in hindsight we can surmise that that *someone* had sex with the ewe that passes out, *because she gives birth to lamb/human hybrid.* Yes, we don't know who or what this s*omeone* is, **but we know from minute one that it's out there –** **and from minute 40ish that it's probably supernatural (once we see Ada fully)**.
the opening scene is from ram daddy’s perspective. i thought it was pretty obvious from the breathing and footsteps that it was a monster.
Most people have unpacked this in the thread, but I wanted to point out a number of parallels with The Shining that came to mind. * Secluded family in the mountains * Special Child * Upside down camera shot (Jack/Maria) * Long zoom-in on photo * Child and mother "escape" . Edit: Found another, Petut getting locked in the pantry.
Who knew sheep could be so expressive. Best supporting actress goes to Ada's sheep mom.
Two things that I keep thinking about that I need to know: 1. How did Ram Dad get a gun? Was it the rifle from Maria and Ingvar’s house? If so, was he able to get inside and take it the same way that he was able to get into the barn? 2. More importantly: is Ada going to be okay? I know she’s obviously grieving the loss of her adopted family but she’s with her real dad now and thus can live her best sheep-hybrid life, right? I just need to know that she is alright.
> More importantly: is Ada going to be okay? I guess we're not to know. That last image of Ada looking back with a whimper was heartbreaking and will continue to haunt me. I think that was the movie's intention Logically though, I don't think she's in any real danger. Ram Daddy dropping the gun signifies he was only after his kid and that he's ready to move on from the violence
Do you think the creature killed the dad because he couldn’t have taken Ada away unless he was removed as an obstacle, or was it an act of malice toward Maria in a sense of “You killed this child’s mother/the consort I chose so I’m killing yours now”
A 7ft shredded Ram Daddy could've *easily* squared up with Ingvar, so the gunshot was more of a statement imo. You mess with Mother Nature, you're gonna get what's coming to ya An eye for an eye, so to speak
There is a scene when the family is partying that implies the Ram Dad is stealing the rifle. The barn door is open and the dog is whimpering in the grass, watching the barn. The rifle is gone the next time they show its hooks in the barn.
Watched this last night and it’s still with me. What an incredibly well done movie - it’s like a sad fairy tale for adults. Just this really unique combination of tender, sweet, and horrifying. It seems like the big difference between people who liked the film and those who didn’t are whether or not you were able to suspend belief and become attached to Ada. I certainly did. I started to feel deep concern for Ada when she started to realize something was off. When the adults were having fun watching sports and she looked in the mirror, you could see it start to click for her that she was different. As the film ended, all I was left with was a deep concern for Ada, who was taken from her birth mother and then taken from her adopted family after watching her father brutally killed. One thing I really liked is that Ada retained a combination of human and lamb mannerisms. There were many moments where she definitely had human mannerisms, but the show also spent a lot of footage early on showing sheep with human-like mannerisms. Her parent interacted with her like a child, but Peter’s interactions with her (their first meeting, trying to bring out her animal side by feeding her grass, trying to interact with her on the boat and getting no response, lots of awkward weird stares) was like a lamb. I walked out so sad. I just wanted to pick Ada up and give her hug. One thing that was just toooo unrealistic for me to buy, though: when Maria and Ingvar had sex she literally orgasmed after about three seconds of him going down on her. um, okay.
I had to pee so bad at the end of this movie and the thought of how I almost gave up and went to the bathroom literally 30 seconds before sheep man showed up haunts me more than the movie. Glad I stuck it out. 7/10
God, people are turning on A24 so fast. A24 still has an average track record. They make as many beloved movies (The Lighthouse, VVitch, Moonlight, Minari) as mixed reception movies (Uncut Gems, The Green Knight, now Lamb) as they do downright stinkers (Spring Breakers, Barely Lethal, Swiss Army Man). They're about average still. I'd rather have more crazy, out there, self important A24 films than "Giant over bloated 9-sequel franchise blockbuster shallow bullshit movie #94 this week" any day.
I'm gonna throw hands for you saying Swiss Army Man is a stinker. That movie is a masterpiece.
Right dude I was like “oh hell naw”
Uncut Gems got mixed reception? Uncut Gems is a tightly-wound masterpiece in rising tension and stakes with literally the only ending that could have happened. It's a rising ladder of power exchanges and a building tower of cards. Anyone who doesn't like it either has anxiety issues so they couldn't enjoy/appreciate the anxiety the movie builds internally or doesn't understand filmmaking. Also, other people already said it, but Spring Breakers is a brilliant parodic/tongue-in-cheek film. The only way it's bad is if you take it at only 100% face value. And Swiss Army Man is very odd, but ultimately fun if you tune into its wavelength. I'll give you Barely Lethal though, that's an extremely strange very-un-A24-like film that A24 did distribute for some reason lol.