by allan tong for FILMbutton

In rural Iceland, a young girl witnesses her older brother dying in a gory farming accident. It traumatizes her parents and herself. She finds release and solace in the heavy metal that her brother adored which allows her to channel her anger as a headbanger. Armed with a guitar and a stack of amps, Hera (Thorbjörg Helga Dýrfjörd) declares war on the world, pisses off her grieving folks and upsets the local chruchgoing townsfolk. Natural enough, but Hera’s teenage rebellion goes on too long and threatens to dissipate whatever sympathy we feel for her. Only Dýrfjörd’s strong performance and Ragnar Bragason’s direction keep us watching, however, until we reach the pay-off at the end. A flawed film, but overall a good drama.

Allan is a Toronto filmmaker, co-directing Leone Stars, a documentary about child victims of the Sierra Leonean civil war.