This is an oddity that has received almost universal rave reviews. It centres on the interlinked lives of a group of residents in a remote Icelandic settlement. Horses play a massive part in everyones’ lives and livelihoods and it is the relationship between the people and their horses which is examined in the film.
I think enjoyment of the film depends on whether you can empathise with the humans, as much as marvel at the wonderful animals. The problem for me, is that I found the humans boring or freakish at best, and in some cases pretty despicable.
On top of that, we are subjected to some very unpleasant violence towards the horses which was hard to stomach. I appreciate the horses were not actually harmed but those scenes did nothing to make me like the protagonists.
As the strange stories unfold it is only the jaunty music that reveal that this is meant to be a comedy. I managed a couple of smirks but the audience weren’t exactly rolling in the aisles.
On the plus side, it was good to see some of the annoying humans suffer as badly as the animals. All of the performances are fine and the bleak landscape is magnificently shot. Oh, and at 81 minutes it is mercifully short.
Rating 3 out of 10