Year: 2021
Director: Vladimar Jóhansson
Screenplay: Sjón and Vladimar Jóhansson
Starring: Noomi Rapace, Hilmer Snær Guðnason, Björn Hlyner Haaraldsson
Running Time: 107 minutes
Genre: Fantasy, horror
María (Rapace) and Ingvald (Guðnason) live alone on an isolated sheep farm in Iceland. One day they discover that one of their sheep has given birth to a strange, part-sheep part-human creature. They name the creature Ada and raise her as if she was a human child. However, it isn't long before their little family idyll is shattered.
This is a deeply strange slice of folk-horror, which plays like a strange fairytale. The film has a contemporary setting, but it barely pays lip service to our modern age. The characters wear modern clothes, they watch television, listen to the radio and have a tractor, but it really could be set at any time, with barely any change in plot. It moves at a sedate pace, without much dialogue. There is a lot that is suggested without being explained. It appears that María had a child called Ada who died, whether with Ingvald or not is never revealed, and also that María had an affair with Ingvald's ne'er-do-well brother Pétur (Haraldson), although it is only hinted at when Pétur, who turns up to crash at the farm, tries to seduce her. Ingvald never mentions it and it is never clear whether he ever knew about it. Ada is a comic-horrible creation, a young girl with the head and right arm of a sheep, but there is also real sweetness there, and there is a genuine love and connection in the family, which makes the inevitable tragedy really heartbreaking. The cast are impressive, particularly Noomi Rapace, and the rural settings are truly beautiful. However, it is very slow, and it's suspense really comes from the knowledge that there is going to be something bad happening, but not knowing what. It will probably be seen as a cult film in years to come.
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