Odds are you won’t go into Rams with particularly strong feelings about Icelandic sheep farmers. Yet Grimur Hakonarson’s funny, pungent, oddball drama has been one of the buzz titles on the festival circuit since it surprised many by picking up the top prize in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes a year ago.

Brothers Gummi and Kiddi occupy neighbouring hillside farms but haven’t spoken to each other for 40 years. When one of Kiddi’s flock is judged the best ram in the valley, Gummi can barely hide his disgust. When he reports his suspicion that the beast in question may be infected with scrapie, some feel it is just sour grapes. But if confirmed, the valley’s entire livestock may have to be put down. The brothers’ antagonism only deepens in this crisis. But perhaps deep down these stubborn loners are more alike than they care to accept…

This deceptively small movie turns out to be a model of lean storytelling, edging almost imperceptibly from absurdist comedy to existential tragedy.