Lamb

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.

David(Ross Partridge) is a forty seven year old man who has just lost his father and divorced his wife and seems on the verge of a nervous break down. After burying his father, he meets an eleven year old girl, Tommie(Oona Laurence) at a parking lot, where, somehow, they connect. Thus begins a strange journey, where the two relate on an emotional level. David takes Tommie on a road trip to a desolate cabin in the mountains while searching for some meaning to his life. Tommie is an outcast with indifferent parents. The writer of the novel, Lamb, Bonnie Nadzam, claims to never have read Lolita, which was also adapted for the screen in 1962 by Stanley Kubrick. The themes are similar, but Lolita's protagonist, played by the precocious and self assured fifteen year old Sue Lyon, is a million miles apart from the innocent eleven year old Oona Laurence. Though at times unsettling, Lamb never veers into Lolita's explicitly sexual territory. Partridge and Laurence are riveting together and I look forward to see what the young actress does next. Lamb is a solid 8/10.

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 :)

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.

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.