A24 has a long history of producing bizarre, original horror films that seep into the minds of fans and never leave. Their streak seems to continue as the disturbing trailer for their upcoming film, Lamb, dropped in recent days.
Lamb, which recently premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, is directed by Valdimar Jóhannsson in his debut and stars Noomi Rapace and Hilmir Snaer Gudnason. The film centers on a young couple running a farm in a remote part of Iceland, and as the trailer suggests, one of their sheep gives birth to a lamb with human characteristics.
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Like any A24 trailer (Hereditary for instance), not too much plot is revealed. Instead, the Lamb trailer builds upon the film's lush cinematagophy, offering viewers glimpses of the slow-burn horror that awaits. The beautiful wide shots of the cloudy Icelandic mountains that slowly pan in and out provide a sense of isolation for this couple coming to terms with their new lamb/human hybrid. As the trailer progresses, so does the tension between the couple and the number of quick cuts intertwining amongst one another. And as the title suggests, the other sheep become obsessive towards the lamb, observing its every move
The film appears to add to the list of other great, moody A24 horror films like Ari Aster's Hereditary and Midsommar or Robert Eggers' The Witch, whichrely heavily on building atmosphere over body counts. On top of that, there is a real grounded, human aspect to it all with underlying themes involving either acceptance, mental illness, or personal discovery that add real depth to these stories and make them unlike any other horror film in the industry. At the start of Lamb's trailer, Rapace's character kneels in a graveyard, hinting at the possibility of the loss of her own child as she begins to raise the human lamb as one of her own. This could hint at a potential theme centering around loss and what it takes to move on from past trauma.
Although many of A24's past filmography showcases a very slow pace to accentuate a sense of dread that's opposite of other horror films like The Conjuring series, that tone may leave some fans feeling underwhelmed. Evidently, Lamb seeks to up the bonkers element, giving audiences something that they have never seen before. Even if the pacing may take some moviegoers out of it, there's no doubt Lamb and A24 have created something memorable and unsettling.
Lamb will be released on October 8, 2021
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Source: A24/YouTube
