Behold the Lamb (John McIlduff, 2011): UK

Reviewed by Krista Marquez

The first few minutes of this film is an assurance that this will be a somewhat dark and gloomy entity, adorned with tidbits of appreciated humor.  What gives this away is the dry opening dialog between the man and woman about their dog, who is left outside all night only to be found frozen dead the next morning.  The two main characters, Liz and Eddie, meet on the cold and dreary riverbanks of Northern Ireland.  Out of desparation, Eddie convinces Liz to take him on an errand, and as I came to find out, this film is really about the journey, not the destination.

Eddie needs to pick up a lamb.  Now, this is no ordinary lamb, and ironically, is the representation of corruption and greedy, as opposed to innocence and meekness.  This lamb carries inside of its belly the most poisonous of drugs–heroin, and Eddie needs to kill it and deliver the goods.  Low-budget filmmaker, McIlduff (Triage, Red Mist), dramatically tells the story of depressed and struggling characters whose dialog is darkly humorous and whose morality and ethics would be socially criticized if they existed in the real world.  While on delivery, we meet Liz’s son who is handicapped as a result of her drug use while he was in utero.

This journey is a rough one, but its grunge is tastefully articulated.