Noomi Rapace and Valdimar Jóhannsson on ‘Lamb,’ their deeply strange new film

“Lamb,” the newest release from film house A24, is tense and gray, but it’s not a horror movie. That’s according to director Valdimar Jóhannsson. Instead, he says it’s equal parts folklore and supernatural thriller.

Set in the Icelandic countryside, a couple running a desolate farm makes an unsettling discovery in their barn after one of their sheep gives birth. They find a unique lamb, and husband Ingvar and wife María decide to raise the lamb as their child. They bottle feed her and dress her up in knitted sweaters. They even name her Ada.

But judging by the atmospheric and ominous tone of the film, the universe is telling them to give that baby back.

“When you allow the images and the animals and the faces to talk, you realize that conversations and communication are so much more than words,” says Noomi Rapace, who plays Maria.