Inspired by the sensational Icelandic picture of the same tale (where funnily enough, the sheep were credited as actors), Rams is a 2020 Australian screenplay of writer Jules Duncan, a former TV reporter with Channel 9 and GWN.
Starring Sam Neill, the film depicts the story of the striking illness that spreads through the local sheep flocks in Western Australia, causing chaos among the local farmers. Brothers Les and Colin are made to set aside their differences and help fight back against the governmental authorities, in order to protect their animals.
Most movie's featuring animals as their core narrative possess a heart-warming and comforting tone to accompany the delicate and at-times saddening rhythm that is seen on-screen. There is also a more communal film with productions outside the usual American / English billboards, giving the spectacle a more communal display and allowing you as the audience to immerse yourself in empathy of the characters, offering you to feel a part of the story, and connect with the personalities within.
Amassing over $4.3 million in a Box Office struck by COVID-19 preventing a strong cinematic turnover, Rams is a film with compassion, illustrating a devastating crisis in a wonderful, sincere way, its honest form bodes well with perfect dry humour to compliment its tinged sorrow.
I would usually make an overall summarisation in a few lines of what a surprising movie this was, but no one puts it better than Leigh Paatsch of the Herald Sun who said, "At times, it is as charming a (blackish) comedy as they come. At others, it is a strikingly well-observed drama."
