Rams (Hrútar)

"Less really is more in this Icelandic tale of two elderly farmers and their flocks. The bushy-bearded brothers live in a remote village, just a short distance apart, yet, due to stubbornness, simmering hatred, and sibling prize-ram rivalry, haven’t spoken in four decades. Yup, they’re as hard-headed as their rams, but that doesn’t stop them communicating occasionally, via a note-carrying sheepdog."

"A touching humanist drama set in a remote farming valley where two estranged brothers must come together to save what's dearest to them: their sheep."

"There’s no doubting the film’s empathy for its protagonists. Shame, then, that the final-reel shift into tragedy feels misplaced."

"Despite its affection for the quirks of its characters and their milieu, the film is most memorable for its gravity, for the almost tragic nobility it finds in sad and silly circumstances."

"Sigurður Sigurjónsson and Theodór Júlíusson are utterly convincing as the battling brothers whose alienation is expressed more through morosely bearded gesture than drunken buckshot dialogue."

"This powerful volcanic landscape needs a complimentary style and Hakonarson brings one: long takes with little camera movement, almost a series of tableaux. It's similar to documentary but with a more poetic touch."

""Rams" is so much its own film that figuring out where its unusual, unpredictable plot will end up is difficult if not impossible."

"A small story about two old estranged brothers and their animals gently morphs from gentle near-absurdist comedy to something close to tragedy."

"The film's touching final scene is imbued with the raw truth of a prairie fable told among shepherds over the centuries."

"A masterclass in combining character and landscape that is played with deceptive poignancy by the excellent leads."