It's been quite a while since I've truly enjoyed a film. I've become awfully jaded in my late twenties, and sorta have a "been there, seen that" attitude towards the entire medium.
Malmhaus, or 'Metalhead' has changed that attitude. I haven't been blown away by a movie like this in quite some time. One review referred to the film as "Iron Maiden meets Ingmar Bergman" and I can attest to that assessment.
Malmhaus is a film which centers around a young woman named Hera living on her family farm in Iceland, who witnessed her metalhead brother being scalped alive by a tractor at age 12. The movie focuses on her and her family's individual grieving and coping methods, but mostly Hera's.
Hera clings to her brother's essence by adorning his old clothing, a leather jacket of her own, and eventually corpse paint. She smokes cigarettes in church, works at a slaughterhouse, and goes on drunken escapades on the tractor causing mayhem throughout her local town. Taking after her lost brother, she also has developed a passion for playing metal guitar.
Watch as Hera deals with her pain and lashes out by disrupting her entire Icelandic country town. Laugh at the 'normies' who simply don't understand where Hera comes from, and watch her grow as a person. The ending to this movie was possibly the most heartwarming thing I've ever seen.
There's so much more I want to say about this movie, but I don't want to spoil anything. If you get the chance, just watch it. To quote Andy Webster of the NY Times, "It taps into something universal, and very precious, about loss, art and adolescent rebellion."
Shit, you guys. I love metal, and I loved Metalhead.
10/10 - no hyperbole