The movie takes off as a British comedy of manners and then it diverts into an a-la-Kaurismäki absurd tragic comedy. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 8, 2023

Icelandic film doesn’t have to go this hard. This is like Yorgos Lanthimos more grounded in reality, or Todd Solondz with a big, bushy white beard.

Full Review | Oct 21, 2022

Director and screenwriter Grímur Hákonarson has crafted an unmissable tragic and noble fable that celebrates humanity.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 6, 2021

Iceland might not have the sheep-to-human ratio that has previously made us the butt of many an international joke, but we've yet to make a film like this that eulogizes their place in our society.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 7, 2021

The stupid rivalry and the hate-protection relationship between both brothers result in a tender film with certain touches of humor. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | May 14, 2020

A meaningful drama with sparse moments of comedy, Rams is essentially a tale of determination and forgiveness.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Nov 18, 2019

Writer-director Grímur Hákonarson spins this idiosyncratic yarn with such sly, deadpan grace you don't see what's coming.

Full Review | Aug 7, 2019

Hákonarson maintains a tone as chilly as the Icelandic countryside, but still offers touches of dry, dark Nordic humor, and just when the film can't get any bleaker, it ends on a note of almost shocking tenderness. It's quite a ride for such a quiet ride.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 12, 2019

It's a rare beast of a film that can provoke genuine gut laughs alongside moments of true anguish, but Rams achieves both, with undeniably greater emphasis on the latter.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Apr 9, 2019

Although shot through with humour, Rams is undeniably bleak. But don't let that put you off. It's captivating and one of the freshest films you will see all year.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 8, 2019

Rams isn't a film for mainstream audiences but cinéphiles will appreciate its execution, beauty, minimal scripting and the deft performances by all.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 30, 2018

Amid the grand themes about love of the land and kin are some wonderfully bizarre comic moments. One to savour.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 23, 2018

Rams is the kind of film whose evident craft belies its lack of adventurousness; its virtues are mostly predictable, its revelations far from revelatory as it plods inexorably from one situational hurdle to another.

Full Review | Nov 10, 2017

Plays out as a droll comedy that held my attention throughout.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Sep 21, 2017

The film's gorgeous cinematography captures a world that couldn't feel more distant from a life of smartphone notifications and open office structures.

Full Review | Aug 17, 2017

Although Rams never feels like nature porn, Sturla Brandth Grøvlen's lensing is always stunning.

Full Review | Jul 14, 2017

Offers a masterclass in minimalist film-making that lacks for nothing in colour and character.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 6, 2017

Rams isn't the film that is going to definitively put Iceland on the world cinema map, but it is the boldest invitation yet about the distinctive tone of their cinema.

Full Review | Feb 18, 2017

Hákonarson doesn't lessen the harshness of the characters or the landscape, but still manages to find beauty in the way they are.

Full Review | Jan 3, 2017

After grim comedy comes the threat of grim tragedy. The ending is a do-or-die confrontation with the elements, powerfully presented.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 27, 2016