It may seem that this film is about music or about a musical style, but it really speaks about what is that people thinks about us and what they think we should be or they want us to be, about what we want to be and about who we really are. Talk about the most important thing in life, which is one's own identity and our happiness. Very powerful message. It is an excellent film.

Altogether the movie has a cool visual style to it. Grief and loneliness was well displayed through the tasteful pacing of dialogue and also the farming life placed in the scenic landscape of Iceland.When it comes to narration, general plot and the protagonists acting, the movie failed(IMO). Many situations didn't get a proper introduction or rectification, so it often felt random and strange.!!!SPOILER!!! You see her transformation from a antisocial rebel to a silent, good girl, moving together with a friend she doesn't love and becoming a housewife within three scenes - saying all was explained symbolically isn't an excuse for that. This all leads to the story itself. Norwegian Black Metalheads (like you would expect them in Wayne's World, as a guy before me noted) appear and stay with her for days to help building the church (LOL) and played with her for the village commune - oh, and they thought the people would love it for sure. I won't comment on the audience's reaction. I thought, the movie couldn't get cheesier until I experienced the Megadeth dance-off. Also Hera's (Thora Bjorg Helga) relationship to heavy metal couldn't possibly get closer to a distorted cliché of a subculture some worried parents could have in mind.I'll give it a 5 because I found the idea creative and the visuals nicely done.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this movie. Title was either "hit or miss" and I was afraid it was going to be exploitation movie. But it's not.It was a great drama about how certain people deal with their pain, how people around them react to their, let's say unusual way of expressing their pain.Story fallows a young girl Hera who witnesses death (by accident) of her older brother. Few years after that, she still can't cope with pain of losing her brother, so she turns to metal music as a way of escapism. Naturally, living in small community, she is often misunderstood by others. She expresses her pain on her own "unique" way, while her parents express theirs on their own (father feeling accident was his fault, while mother has trouble moving on).Hera eventually goes on a self-destructive path because it's the only way she can deal with her loss and anger since no one can really understand how she feels. Good example of that scene is her best childhood friend who mistakes drunken sex for love, proposing to her, while she replies "Can't you see anything?"This is a movie about human nature, nature of pain, how certain people deal (or can't deal) with pain and loss of a loved one and how people sometimes judge people by it's cover.Guy who wrote a review here telling this movie is about "Jesus helping metalheads" just because it happens that movie has understandable priest (because you know, that can't happen in real life) clearly missed the point of the movie.This was never a movie about "Jesus helps metalhead". It was a movie about human nature. Hera never stopped being metalhead, it was just a hint that she and her parents are moving on eventually, because they, like rest of the community are starting to understand Hera.

Metalhead (Málmhaus)is hard rocking. Superbly artistic and powerful. A strange but potent blend of Icelandic nature, divine acting and deep message. Melodramatic joy where death and hope are woven into a web under heavy tones of metal. The stage is a farm in Iceland where a teenage girl transforms into a heavy metal performer and songwriter, exercising in the cowshed with the cows as her audience but maybe not the biggest fans. Love and death is not far away and gives the film a classic undertone where basic themes of human nature are explored. The strong theme in the movie is the endless question about faith and religion when you are faced with the sudden death of your family or friends, the question where almighty god is when young people die. The film has many references to classic literature and the history of the movie. A film that you want to see again and again. I would not be surprised that this will develop into a classic cult movie. The director and actors deliver a fantastic tale.