Lamb (I) (2015) User Reviews (41)

Like Watching a Train Wreck Bur You Can't Look Away

[larrys3 · 7/10 · 30 April 2016]

Wow! How can one even begin to describe or rate this movie? It's like watching a train wreck but you just can't look away.

Both Ross Partridge and Oona Laurence are terrific in their starring roles here. Partridge also directed and wrote the screenplay, based on the novel by Bonnie Nadzam. Partridge portrays the very strange 47-year- old David Lamb, who's in the throes of a divorce, his father has just passed away, and he's been asked by his boss to take some time off to get himself together. Also, he's in the midst of an office romance with a woman (Jess Weixler), who seems to care very much for him, but he's only capable of wanting a sexual dalliance at this point. David is also a rather vile manipulator and prevaricator, which he uses to gets what he wants.

Laurence is simply amazing as the 11-year-old Tommie, who spends most of her time on the streets with her so-called friends, and who comes from a most neglectful and miserable home life. After watching her performance in this film, I can't see how Laurence cannot have the brightest future on the silver screen.

Thus, when David and Tommie cross paths in a strip mall parking lot, it will mark the beginning of a most creepy and bizarre "bonding' between the two that will culminate in David taking Tommie on a several day's trip to his late father's isolated cabin.

Although Tommie will get to experience things she never has before, she's manipulated every step of the way by David. Through his subtle promptings, he will convince her not to notify her mother where she's gone. Although there are no overt sexual advances on his part, David ends up placing Tommie in emotional situations no 11-year-old should be. Things will just get creepier and more bizarre as the movie progresses, but as mentioned, I was just totally engrossed, as painful as it was to witness.

Overall, this was a most unsettling film, to say the least, with terrific performances from Partridge and Laurence, and with its most gut wrenching ending its impact will stay with me for some time to come.

Unsettling movie is bound to be controversial

[paul-allaer · 7/10 · 15 January 2016]

"Lamb" (2015 release; 96 min.) brings the story of David Lamb, a guy down on his luck. As the movie opens, we see David visit his sick father and it's not long afterwards that we learn his father has passed away, and on top that David has been kicked out by his wife, and David's boss tells him he needs to take some time off due to his affair with a co-worker. The next day David gets approached in a parking lot by a young lady who wants a cigarette. The two strike up a conversation, and from there a friendship develops. To tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this movie is a labor of love from under-the-radar actor Ross Partridge, who also directs and wrote the script (based on the critically well-received debut novel of the same name by Bonnie Nadzam). Partridge navigates the difficult task of portraying a relationship between a middle-aged man and an 11 yr. old girl, both of them two lost souls looking for some redemption, that can be viewed as just a friendship or maybe something more (platonically). It often makes for unsettling watching, and I will admit I came close to walking out of the theater a couple of times. Oona Lawrence, whom we saw not long ago in "Southpaw", shines as the little girl Tommie. Much of this is also a road movie (they are driving to and then back from David's family cabin way out west somewhere). There are some great side performances, including from Jess Weixler as David's co-worker Linny. I very much enjoyed the movie's score, composed by Daniel Belardinelli.

"Lamb" opened out of the blue today on a single screen for all of Greater Cincinnati without any pre-release hype or advertising. The early evening screening where I saw this at turned out to be a private screening: I literally was the only person there. I can't imagine that this movie will play more than one week in the theater, so if you want to check this out, you'll need to get VOD or eventually the DVD release.

A Film About an Inter generational Romance That Treads Waters of the Psyche

[japonaliya · 7/10 · 4 February 2016]

SPOILERS GALORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have seen many films about inter-generational romances. Some are wonderful, some creepy...

I first would like to say that this film is no "Lolita" (excepting the road trip aspect and living in motels) and it is surely not the Academy Award Best Film of 1962, Sundays and Cybele (Les Dimanches de Ville d'Avray) probably the greatest film about inter generational love ever made and now available on Criterion Bluray.

That being said, I am hoping the official DVD/Bluray release may have a director's commentary, as the film is really a Rorschach test given by the director to the viewer.

There is no sexual abuse in this film, though where the relationship was heading had not David sever all ties with Tommie is a matter of opinion, but in the end, he did worse..emotional abuse...

No one can be sure what David's ultimate intentions were...maybe he himself was not sure.. In a way, he was a kid running a way from home and wanted a companion

Likewise, he would do anything to keep the farce of this illusional relationship going at all costs, so keeping Tommie hidden was justification for that desire, and Tommie too was complicit until she actually got jealous when she realizes that he still (in her mind) thought of her as a kid.

While I am sure Tommie, as an innocent 11 year old did not actually want a sexual relationship with David, unconsciously and in her budding sexuality, she wanted him to want her as a woman.

I think however, the man had a plan, or had a plan which there were to be a couple of outcomes.

First, I want to establish a few things.. I don't think that initially he thought of Tommie as a sexual object, but definitely one he could mold, or "save" even though he couldn't "save" himself, or maybe he could, by giving Tommie the gifts of being needed, and to expand her horizons from the bleak existence she had.

Some very important scenes provide insight about both David and Tommie's persona.

When Tommie is shaving her legs (surely not actually as she was clearly not in that stage of puberty) but to mimic being a woman the way a young boy picks up his father's razor.

This is also why she screams at him when he wants to bath her. Not because she is embarrassed by nudity, as much as being treated like a small child.

This is further exemplified by her reaction of catching him making love to his girlfriend. NOT in disgust or fear that an innocent child might view it, but as a person who is told she is "equal partners" yet sees that in his eyes, she is not.

Whether she as a girl-child actually wanted to have sex with him was probably unconscious if at all, but the need to be "desired" was, and her need to act, and feel grownup is apparent throughout the film.

I think the ending is somewhat ambiguous on purpose, but there are clues.

While Tommie's life is going nowhere, and David attempts to show her the beautiful world beyond, his intent backfires when she is, by circumstances bound to him, and in a way, is "in love" with him.

So does the age old adage, "Tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all, apply here?"

The very last shot is of her bag, still laying on the sidewalk where she left it running after David's car. This might imply that it is left behind,as she does catch up to David and he relents and takes her away.

You know that he sees her running after him by the shot of her running in his side mirror.

This would be the "fairy tale ending.

Another possibility is that good directors never put in scenes or props that have no significance.

That being said...there was a rifle....and also some very "poetic" parting words.

One earlier scene which might establish David becoming further unhinged in this temporary Utopian fantasy is that after considering the nosy neighbor to be a threat to his concocted world, he sneaks into the neighbor's backyard with his rifle. Was he planing to shoot the guy? Why was he there at all, spying on him, and with a gun? Only when he sees the dying wife and is reminded of his father does he back off.

When Davis realizes that his fantasy is over, and that he has harmed, rather than helped Tommie, he knows what he has to do.

The clues are the gun, the "willing" his cabin to Tommie, and he would never see her again, but he will be with her always..in the wind, nature, etc. Sounds like a man who knows what he is going to do and there is no turning back....

David is going back to the cabin to kill himself.

THAT is what I believe the ending is... out of the 3 choices, David and Tommie go on with life apart, or she does catch up with him and they ride off into the sunset, or Tommie is totally broken, at least at first, and David ends it all, not being able to live with himself for what he did, and not being able to fix it.

Tommie also has a few choices, to remain broken, and feeling used by David, or that she can sense that he did try to give her something she would never have in her world before they met, and would use that experience, bittersweet as it was to become empowered.

"Lamb": Richly rewarding if you can work through the subject matter.

[jtncsmistad-82689 · 3 January 2016]

From thequickflickcritic.blogspot.com/

First things first. "Lamb" explores a liaison between a male and a female which is unequivocally inappropriate, unhealthy and unsettling. Not to mention illegal. One half of this couple is a 47-year-old man. The other, an 11-year-old girl. And while the bond forged between them never becomes a sexual one, it is a relationship that categorically made me feel consistently uncomfortable and squeamish.

With personal position firmly established and hardly exclusive, what "Lamb" is ultimately ABOUT is two helplessly lost people consumed in a desperate search for someone who cares. And someone to care for. I definitely can never condone the manner in which this compulsion is consummated here. However, I completely understand this fundamental need burning in us all. This is a film that tests in boldly serious and stark terms our limits of what defines such integral human connection.

Ross Partridge writes, directs and stars as David Lamb, a man so emotionally damaged that he sees a child as the savior of his severely scarred soul. Partridge's role is a massively difficult one to deliver upon effectively, constantly balancing precariously as he must upon the most sensitive of fine lines. His personification of David maintains the essential equilibrium demanded throughout, ultimately delivering as he does so an astonishing performance that is at once loathsome as it is emotionally cataclysmic.

Oona Laurence (Southpaw) is positively transcendent. Appearing to be even younger than she is supposed to be here, Laurence infuses her understandably deeply conflicted character of Tommie with an impressively mature perspective intertwined with a naive innocence. She owns the final moments of this movie. They are powerfully effecting. Expect that they will stay with you, as they surely have done with me.

Partridge vividly conveys the evolution of this peculiar pair's partnership through his wholesale contrast in setting. Beginning with a series of scenes from a dispiriting urban underbelly, the director deftly shifts the environment markedly, transporting us to and among the spectacular wide open spaces of the American western prairie. It is a sense of Shangri-La realized-a blissful place of near perfection for the curious couple. And it is a state of being we all know can not realistically be sustained.

"Lamb" will no doubt meet with controversial reception by audiences and critics alike. Be this as it may, Partridge has succeeded mightily in crafting a motion picture that I believe ascends well above the territory of simple shock value and exploitation. And should you choose to experience his story, and can somehow permit yourself, while certainly to not ignore, but rather interpret beyond the inherently troubling subject matter it examines so unflinchingly, you may find, as did I, that you have been uniquely and richly rewarded.

For more of my Movie Reviews categorized by Genre please visit: thequickflickcritic.blogspot.com/

An important lesson, if a little confusing.

[rushknight · 7/10 · 27 August 2016]

After reading some of the other reviews, it became clear to me that this movie hits a nerve for many. Our reactions are varied and emotional, ranging from disgust, panic and confusion to relief, respect and understanding.

I was intrigued, so I decided to watch it for myself.

A good reviewer will step aside from his own opinions and give the movie a fair shake from an objective point of view.

The real strength of the movie is that it pushes and breaks boundaries, which most of us adhere to. We generally believe that following these laws and moral norms will keep children safe, but the truth is that the world has never been safe. Just by living we all agree to this simple truth: life is dangerous.

The main protagonist, whose life is falling apart and who is slowly losing his grip, meets a young girl who is essentially being raised how he was. He deeply feels that this is a crime and decides that he will develop a relationship with her that, while wildly inappropriate and even illegal and dangerous, is beneficial to them both. As all relationships do, it takes a turn that both frightens and satisfies them, teaching them about love. Ultimately, it seems that they are soul mates who have found each other. The tragedy is that in this world they cannot be together, because in their current circumstances it was not healthy or safe for either of them. Note that the relationship was not sexual, it doesn't have to be.

This movie is well filmed and choreographed. The cinematography is bleak, accompanied by a soundtrack that is mostly atmospheric and moody.. and sometimes scary. All of this is designed to pull you into the hopelessness that both characters feel, while leaving you on the edge of your seat wondering what will happen next.

The film has two reasonably large flaws in my opinion: the writing and the direction.

The writing was mostly good, but deliberately obtuse. You are not supposed to completely understand what the character of David Lamb is thinking or planning. While we are supposed to think that David and Tommy's relationship develops from a deep understanding, I got the impression that Tommy was confused most of the time. When faced with David's constant deep observations about life, young Tommy seemed honestly dumbstruck. She seemed to take him on faith for most of the film.

As for the direction, the film draws on as a slow burner. What's happening next never seems to be a concern, because honestly it's fairly predictable. Aside from the question of Tommy's safety, there is little conflict to deal with. What really boggled me was the relationship that develops between the two characters. It starts off as a simple friendship, then develops into teacher/student, moves easily into father/daughter, and finally dives headlong into unrequited lovers. If I could complain about anything, I would say that the final relationship did not have enough screen time to be adequately explained. It just seemed to happen in a rush and was confusing to me.

Now then, The rest of my review is my opinion, feel free to read it or not.

Some other reviewers have written this movie off as a simple "defense of pedophilia." I don't see it that way.

I haven't lived long, but I've lived long enough to know that love is an inconsiderate thing. It can happen at the wrong time, in the wrong place, even with the wrong person. To make judgments on any other person's love is an arrogance I personally don't engage in. Can it happen between two people, even if one is a child and the other an adult? Of course it can. I won't say whether or not that love is true, it's not my place. I can only say that it is inappropriate given the circumstances. And when it comes to love, many would say circumstances be damned.

People who believe that love like this cannot exist between the young and old are completely on the wrong side of history. Relationships between very young and very old people have happened time and time again for generations. Our particular norms for the treatment of children are a very recent inventions, while we mostly agree that they are good things, they are not always right in every single case.

Deal with it.

The point of this movie is "Good Family is Important".

[movieliker1 · 6/10 · 27 June 2016]

Based on the user reviews and the IMDb message board, most people are uncomfortable with the subject matter and it's portrayal. And they should be.

What the main character David Lamb does in this movie, and the way he does it is weird, unusual and uncommon. He is a 47 year old man who essentially kidnaps an 11 year old girl, takes her out of state, lives with her alone in a secluded camp --- with no intention of physical or sexual abuse.

He is a product of a bad family. His father is a "Son of a Bitch" (his boss's words). His father shows no interest when David asks him for advice. His mother walked out on the family. His brother was voluntarily homeless, living behind a gas station until he eventually disappeared.

David's wife is in the process of divorcing him. He has a beautiful girlfriend who loves him. But he places no value on her or their relationship because he never learned what a good relationship was.

He recognizes that Tommie (the eleven year old girl) needs attention because she is engaging in risky behavior and she comes from a family that doesn't care about her. And, she is hanging out with friends that don't care about her either.

So, he wants to nurture her and show her things she wouldn't otherwise see. But, he goes about it all wrong because he doesn't know what a healthy relationship consists of. So, as a result, he unintentionally emotionally and psychologically abuses her. And they both end up worse off for their time together.

The point of this movie --- intentionally or not --- is that "Good Family is Important". But many people may not recognize this. Because today's society is rife with bad families, broken families and no families. This may be "one" reason why there is so much sociopathic behavior --- immorality, unethical behavior, crime, inhumanity, emotional, psychological, mental disease, etc.

The point being, if he had come from a good family, his life would not have been such a mess and he wouldn't be looking to mentor an 11 year old street kid. And if he did, he would have done it in an appropriate manner. Not the way he ended up doing it.

And if she had come from a good family, she would not have been on the street engaging in risky behavior with kids that didn't care about her. She would have been involved in healthy activities with family and friends who did care about her. And none of this would have happened.

This is a movie for adults, not children. It is uncomfortable to watch. It is a tragedy. There is no violence, action or special effects. But there is nudity and sex. And plenty of unhealthy behavior. The acting and cinematography are good. But it is about unhappy and unhealthy people. And the story goes from bad to worse.

I agree with many viewers that this is a hard movie to rate. If you are a mature adult looking for an interesting depiction of an uncommon, unhealthy social situation, I might even give this movie a 10.

But if you are just a normal viewer looking for light, happy, positive entertainment, this is not the movie for you.

Interesting, but still confusing

[indieke · 7/10 · 30 January 2016]

Let first state this. No man should spend a week with a young 11 year old, without her parents consent. Or even with.

The main character is a manipulator. A liar. And he is very unstable. Yet his girl-friend not leaves him, and shows him affection, and even really cares, surprises him. So why, he need to be with that young girl? What does she gives him?

What is frustrating many things are just not clear. The story of the brother, why he has to lie about his wife leaving him. It seems he has no children, somebody that looks up to him?

The girl is getting slowly in her adolescence, but has no evolution yet, she looks like a child. Yes at home she not gets much attention, but we not see her really mistreated, beating or anything like that.

She likes the attention of this older man, that she trust, and he makes her escape her boring life and makes her probably special. SO she gets a crush on him, like girls can have for an older guy, in real life often their teacher.

But the main character, who seems a nice person, is in fact an egoist. He uses her. Never it seems in a sexual way,but his intentions are not clear. On several occasions he touches her. A man should NOT touch a girl that is not related, this way, even if is not in a sexual matter. If he would have spend this time, knowing everything with my daughter, is something I could not stand.

Again, what I not understand is his satisfaction. He had a wife, he HAS a girl-friend that seems to care for real, he NOT wants to be the good Samaritan. He say the girl she can kick him when he is in a retirement home? Why? Because the girl think they have a platonic love-affair that cannot be answered? Or did he abuse her at the end? Or because the love she felt could not be consumed, and with him leaving her, is more desperate then before she met him?

One thing is clear, all he got is the girl confused at the end. The love making went to another, there was nothing at the end for her. He just messed her up, and why needed to be with this young girl, is not clear. As his relation with his father, now dead did not seem satisfying either, did he then just had the need to play a better dad himself? Giving the girl affection(and receiving it), he never had from his dad himself? This would make the whole story much more innocent then.

A textbook case of pedophilia

[misstessag · 3/10 · 6 May 2021]

This movie is a wonderful example of horrific facts being presented so obviously, that your brain tries desperately to invent another reality. What I saw in this film was this: a pedo grooming a young girl in the most realistic depiction ever. From the opening frame of their meeting, he was seeking to train her to be some his next victim. He did this slowly, this film was the initial stages if you will. I believe the blond who worked for him was his previous victim. She worked with him, went with him to the cabin. She aged out. Then he met this girl. The scene at the end, with her dropping her backpack and running after his car, it's to show the evidence that will be left of her when she chases down and he ultimately gets in his car. True facts presented so truthfully that we cannot accept them. Well done, and a serious warning to parents and children alike.

A unique indie drama

[PeterLormeReviews · 8/10 · 30 January 2016]

Lamb (2015) is a unique indie drama directed, written and produced by Ross Partridge, who also stars in the film. To be completely honest, I think this film is extremely hard to talk about. At points, I found it extremely uncomfortable. But that's the point. Well acted all around. Oona Laurence and Ross Partridge both gave excellent performances. In addition to great performances, the cinematography was also wonderful. This isn't just a cliché indie drama. The film splits off in a different directions, especially with the ending. I found Lamb to be an extremely memorable movie. Really hard to talk about without spoiling anything. Just go watch it. It's worth your time.

Stunning, Confusing,

[blueclementinex · 6/10 · 15 March 2016]

I sincerely put high expectation about this movie. I really liked the plot, and i also saw the trailer, and i thought that this will be an emotional indie drama. Well, i'm not sincerely wrong. Actually, it is. The ending got me pretty emotional. But, we'll get on that

For the first 20 minutes, I actually enjoyed the movie. The characters are get to know each other, okay, i like it. But the next, i sincerely doubt you, if i record myself through watching this movie, I actually cringed hard. Yes, when i watched the trailer, i already put the thoughts on my head, that this movie of course will Contain some of the inappropriate relationship between the lead characters, and even though i'm trying to help myself to make myself okay watching an older man keep 'flirt' and even touch a 11-year-old girl, but i just could not help it, since actually the actress who played Tommie, Oona Lawrence, actually looks pretty scared at some scenes. Not only that, the plot is pretty confusing, with so many plot holes that should have been covered in the dialog, but instead, filled with creepy pedophile references. This made me confused with the main male lead Gary / David who changed many of his actions through this movie. some people conclude he's selfish and manipulative, but, if he's selfish and manipulative, why would he actually felt so sad when he had to leave Tommie?

However, I understand the character Tommie. she's only 11 and is thirsty for attention, and while he could not get it from her home, since her parents does not care about him, and of course fell for Gary, who actually Gave much love and care to her. Oona Laurence actually did a pretty good job portraying her role, and so does Ross Patridge. Even, Reviews their chemistry looks unreliable and unnatural

The directing looks pretty great, Ross Patridge put a lot of effort in making this movie. Unfortunately, there are some noticeable shaky cameras through the movie. I also liked the work of the composer, that truly brings the audience to feel the mood of the movie.

I'm so sorry if there are grammatical mistakes, since English isn't my first language :)

Horrific psychological abuse story

[shorters-765-82682 · 1/10 · 4 May 2021]

A brainwashing manipulative story of how easily it is and how deviate perverts can be when it comes to brainwashing a child. This was horrible. From the supposed innocent conversations to the twisting of a child's mind. If that was the goal to show this disgusting method that predators use, you have succeeded.

A movie both unsettling and sweet in nature.

[gimpchrist · 9/10 · 17 January 2016]

A movie both unsettling and sweet in nature.

I remember as a child wanting with all the fibres of my being to have something like this happen to me. The adult portrayal in the film was great, he never crossed any physical boundaries but of course, the unsettling part being he may have skipped into some strange and not so authoritative-figure-like behavior emotionally and mentally.

I saw it as a man desperate to make a difference in someones life that was a positive effect rather than negative, and knowing what girls grow up to encounter, wanted to give her some space and perspective and something else to hope for in life.

Of course, being 11, she falls in love, and fortunately that's where dude stops things, leaving her depressed and brokenhearted, but its for her own good of course.

I have mixed feelings about this movie. parts of me are guarded and want to protect the child, but the child part of me sees it as a romantic love tragedy.

Unexpected

[brookecassidy-81708 · 7/10 · 21 November 2021]

I'd like to start off by saying I found this movie by accident - I spent the first half thinking I was watching A24's 2021 movie by the same title. I'll admit, a lot of it was uncomfortable to watch. I was constantly waiting for the relationship between the two main characters to take a dark turn, but the friendship developed between the them was endearing & heartwarming to watch. Definitely a questionable plot, a little unrealistic, but nonetheless an enjoyable little film.

Sick

[guyarneson · 1/10 · 22 October 2021]

In the real world a man like that would need to be put away for life. Not at all convincing. To me it was one step away from pedophilia. A better ending would have been for his neighbor to see her on the local news and called the police and reported him and him being driven away in the back of a police car.

Unconventional couple, 40-something man and 11-yr-old girl.

[TxMike · 25 June 2020]

First it is worth noting that this is based on a novel written by a female, meaning it has appropriate sensitivity to the subject, a 40-something man and an 11-yr-old girl forming a love relationship. He is closer to a grandfatherly age, and in the book the age gap was even larger.

Ross Partridge is 40-something David Lamb with a few difficulties in his life. One day he is approached by this small for her age girl, Oona Laurence as Tommie, asking on behalf of her friends for a cigarette. Tommie is a good kid burdened with an uncaring mother and her mother's boyfriend.

She and David gradually form a bond, one which takes them on a road trip to the mountains of Wyoming. They share motel rooms, sometimes even the same bed, but all depicted in a non-sexual manner. She often acts and reacts like the little girl she is, he is always kind and gentle with her, and ultimately each of them come to profess love each other although we strongly suspect he is just being manipulative.

This theme has been explored before, twice by characters that Natalie Portman played, first in "Leon" and then in "Beautiful Girls." It is a theme that undoubtedly commonly exists in real life, especially where a young girl does not have a kind and loving father figure in her life.

Stories like this are easy to begin, but are harder to write in a satisfying ending. I wish I had access to the book, to compare it to how this one ended. It is open to lots of interpretation.

Very interesting movie, young Laurence is really great in the role. I watched it on Youtube free streaming movies.

Sept 2020 edit: I found the book and read it, most of the dialog is right from the book. While it ends about the same way the middle of the "trip" is a bit closer to "Lolita", although the author never gets specific some of the terms and imagery suggest that the relationship crossed over to a sexual one. Another difference, Lamb was in his 50s, making the age gap even larger.

creepy

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 28 July 2022]

David Lamb (Ross Partridge) is troubled. His father dies. He's having a fling with Linny (Jess Weixler). He's having trouble at work. He's smoking in a mall parking lot and he's approached by 11 year old Tommie (Oona Laurence). She's been dared by her not-so-great friends to ask him for a smoke. She is befriended by the middle-aged David over many days. He convinces her to join him on a week-long camping trip.

This starts as lowkey creepy and it becomes troubling. It's basic stranger danger. The movie does keep using light music to not let it go too dark. I am less sure about that. The film allows the audience to make a judgement on David. For me, I expect him to kill himself after the ending. That's my judgement on the whole thing. This guy is troubled and it's going to manifest itself in some way.

This movie is an Illusion

[poisoncupcake74 · 6/10 · 21 January 2016]

I don't even know what to think about this movie, but I bet its going to be very big in pedophile circles. Its about a 47 yr old lonely guy who meets/befriends an 11 year old (whose parent is nowhere ever) that comes up to him at a truck stop in heels asking for a cigarette & then takes her on a trip with him. He urges her to lie to anyone they meet about who she is and their relationship. She asks to both call home and go home to which he refuses stating that would get her in more trouble. Then after being around this guy for a week and he doesn't molest or murder her she decides she's in love with him, further showing she is too young for even a friendship with this man. Yes the acting is flawless, superb. It is an absolute beautifully made movie. But their is beauty in illusion. I get that these two characters are lost/lonely and the girl is both abused & starving for affection and you can argue all day that this is a beautiful movie about friendship, but this movie is completely & utterly socially irresponsible!!! I believe this movie is an attempt to start controversy and make the audience think that this is such art that this situation could be appropriate if it was handled as delicately. NO. See it for what it is. It is a grown man trying to make friends with a child, not a girlfriends daughter, not a niece, a separate child. Deplorable.

a life without a future ends in a lesson

[lee_eisenberg · 7/10 · 12 July 2023]

If you only hear the plot of Ross Partridge's "Lamb", you might think that it sounds like one of the most inappropriate movies ever made. As it turns out, the movie is actually an intellectually-stimulating look at what people might do when life offers few prospects.

Partridge plays a worker with little social life. One day he meets a girl (Oona Laurence) who comes from a dysfunctional family. She and he quickly develop a friendship, and it eventually leads them to a cabin in the mountains.

A number of people have apparently likened this movie to "Lolita". I can see the parallels, but whereas that one focused on a widely respected man whose obsession with a girl caused his life to spin out of control, this one shows how neither protagonist has anything to look forward to in life, so they have only each other.

The movie's only real downside was that it was a little slow-paced. I guess that it needed time to let the characters develop, but it still seemed like it could've moved a little faster. Other than that, I thought that it was a well done movie.

There was also an Ethiopian movie called "Lamb" released in 2015, so I intend to find that one also.

A deeply unpleasant experience

[godsnames · 2/10 · 19 January 2016]

The movie, as a movie, it is not so bad. I can even say that sometimes beautifully shot. The subject of it, however, utterly disturbing and unsettling. It is about a 40 something man's love for an 11 year old girl. There is no sexual abuse - obviously -, otherwise it would have never arrived to the big screen. That said, from the very start of the story, the "sexual" concept is all above it, cautiously managing a very thin line between "happen" and "not happen". Worst thing of all that, however want to explain it, it is child abuse, if not physically, mentally surely. And that's what makes me really sick about it. No one, in his right mind, should ever do that to a child. And that's sums it all up. In the final scene, you can see an again abandoned little child running after a car, emotionally drained, desperately trying to catch something she could never have. And the man who did this to her, just drives away. Very, very bad. I don't give a .... about the man. In my opinion he is as bad as he can be. But the child - that's more than heartbreaking.

Needs more distribution. Great filmmaking.

[gideonzack · 9/10 · 4 June 2019]

Another film lost in the pile. Yes the plot is morally questionable given the kidnapping of an 11 year old girl...but it's a great film. I wish people were smarter and can see into the reasoning behind everything the main characters do. It's not about sex or pedophilia, it's about people that are lost.

This is a very very sensitive subject, and to make a film about a child kidnapping and have the narrative go the way it goes does makes u think. It's disturbing and fascinating at the same time. Watch it. If u like films that make u think :)

Uhn, NOT just another Hollyweird-Freemasonic-Illuminati propaganda film - NO, REALLY!!

[scarletpumpernickel · 6/10 · 20 July 2017]

Prologue, deplete once read... or not.

Dear kind, intelligent, and beautiful *YOU*, (the editor now reading this),

I suppose I must apologize for attempting to contact YOU.., though quite likely you've experienced a "shift change", and the ONE I technically seek, the ONE who read and approved my review of Lamb late last night, is likely dragging INTO bed with a strong cup of vodka and a mild sedative.

But, since you be, as I've noted, kind, intelligent, and beautiful, I implore you to read this and act upon my bitter ruminations accordingly (and we ALL know you're right now visualizing the "waste basket".

My first bitter rumination bitterly questions the choice of IMDb to display all reviews with very wide lines of SMALL text, making them painful to read, if not impossible on a smaller device.

My second and last bitter rumination is possibly less bitter and more actually curious, but with a hefty side of cynical. That is, I do not understand your/IMDb's method for selecting the placement of new reviews. I've understood when a website places one's post at the front or back of the cue on the basis of chronology. It makes sense. BUT!, I discovered that my review of Lamb, officially approved by THE ONE zoonself, had been mysteriously hidden away in the middle of the second page (of 3). So I ask: Do you editors give each review a rating, and the reviews then arrange themselves accordingly? Or perhaps (and this is the cynicism talking) I was banished to the seldom- read middle of the pack because I confessed my Christianity, a status currently well below pedophile or Donald Trump.??

I am reachable via email or landline, which I unflinchingly offer (figuratively) as a daring adventure, because I am an "idealist"; and I'm currently seeking an edgy, progressive, poetic, transcendental, and romantic cross-generational relationship with a 10, 20, or 30-something zoon (who tends to be female), who is wildly intellectual and has a broad aesthetic paradigm, willing to settle down on my wooded acreage with zoonself's Tantric partner slash gender- fluid MK-Ultra handler, shortly after slitting my throat and burying me behind the goat barn.

Cordially, Scarlet Pumpernickel Author of.. "Everyone Usually But Not Necessarily Always Poops".

cheers!!😇

-------------------------------------------

July 20, 2017

I think I can safely say this film is Art for Art's sake; and I guess that's OK. There are indeed an infinite number of provocative, trendy, YouTube-eligible topics that one could make a movie about, but of which it would be imho pointless to do so. And at the end of Lamb, I was simply left asking myself, now what the hell am I suppose to do with THAT? I suppose I could write a pointless review that almost no one will read, and rhapsodize about how cool and edgy and transcendent it was.

But in the end, in reality, this daringly whatever film takes you nowhere. Perhaps it rationalizes itself, as other reviewers have noted, as a creative adventure in idealizing love, imagining perhaps that in some enlightened society, we might be free to accept love where we find it - this mystical force that floats in the ether and descends willy-nilly upon its hapless victims, who apparently have no will or reason with which to resist.

The comment that made me decide to write this was: "The real strength of the movie is that it pushes and breaks boundaries, which most of us adhere to."

So, in the realm of reality where we like to think that boundaries have value, the only function this film can serve is to plant the seed of doubt, perhaps making it just a little bit easier for yet one more budding, albeit "idealistic" pedophile to cross the line, but with the best of intentions, I'm sure.

So, OK, I admit it -- I'm one of those born- again Christians, whose life prior to becoming brainwashed however was filled with aesthetic adventures, pursuing ideals and stretching boundaries which Christianity would only have clucked at me for. Like most people, I had to learn the hard way. In the end, while it's easy to aspire to and imagine ideal relationships, and even easier to write about them, etc., the human mind or soul, if you will, has a way of turning good intentions and lofty ideals and beautiful aspirations into sludge. And thus, as I would often say to my wife after a film like this, "That's why the Amish don't go to movies."

My preference, knowing what I know, is to believe that I'll just have to be content to wait for Heaven, the next life that awaits, where all relationships will be ideal, as well as absent the potential for turning sour or landing me in jail. As for this life here and now, if one craves a deep relationship with an eleven year old girl, I think I'd just have to recommend becoming a parent.Along the lines of what "Gary" says to Tommie near the end, just think of it as an "expensive" relationship. And as a parent, that way... it really will be (expensive); and your quest for an idealized cross-generational relationship can then legitimately be (more or less) guilt free.

Like I say, one can theoretically appreciate Art for its own sake, but at least couldn't the artist once in a while make art without having to achieve it by simply breaking yet another taboo? This well-worn gimmick does not make for an "expensive" film.., and nobody's leaving me a farm in their will. I want my money back.

COME ON, PEOPLE!! Let's DO something truly, actually worth while; and help me bring back the semicolon!!

A bad movie

[lilpest9 · 1/10 · 3 June 2022]

This is a bad movie no one should ever watch. Is all about the lead, a very young girl, being abused. Is horrible she was forced into such a trash movie.

A risky exploration of love

[espinosawilliam · 9/10 · 10 February 2016]

LAMB is set in the Midwest and its conventions. A middle aged man, beset by adult challenges including the death of a parent, work and crumbling relationships, encounters a young girl whose home has provided no identity or value. The two go on a road trip deeper into the heart of the country and into unexpected inner places. LAMB is risky and challenging exploration of love, our need for it, the unusual places where we find it and the sacrifices it calls for. Oona Laurence as the young girl is superb and deserves consideration for a Best Actress award. The cinematography is evocative. Ross Partridge is to be commended for his integrity, courage and skill in bringing this story to the screen.

No Convincing Story

[Tweetienator · 4/10 · 18 January 2016]

The camera did a good job, the pace of the story is fine, the actors did well (thumb up to Oona Laurence), the soundtrack is nice, yet just a 4!? I simply couldn't connect to the story. I never got what the story is really about and many of the male leads dialogue was just felling to me like they are copied from a esoteric life-coaching book or some kind of poetry from the bargain bin. Also the intentional motivation for Lamb to take the kid on a trip wasn't convincing to me. You are in a midlife-crisis and then you "kidnap" a young kid!? Seriously!? Maybe I'm not romantic enough for that kind of movie. Anyway, you may give Lamb a try, there is certainly far more bad stuff around you can waste your time on.

The movie Lamb Clearly child molester

[rozehealcoord · 1/10 · 1 February 2016]

I have read your reviews and agree but yet not one of you even mentioned the scene where he is having sex with the girlfriend and the girl looks in the window, he sees her and keeps having sex while looking at her watching. That is the main factor that tells me what his motives were along with the other number of scenes you all mentioned. I mean, Who does that? Only a molester would not stop having sex and continue on while looking at a little girl. Very sick. This movie is twisted and truly makes me wonder whether the actor Ross relates to a child molester, I mean who would want to do a roll like this? Very sick and makes me sick.