Metalhead

2013

1h 37m

Drama

List

91%

Tomatometer

11 Reviews

75%

Audience Score

250+ Ratings

A grief-stricken young woman adopts the persona of her deceased brother.

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Martin Tsai

Los Angeles Times

Writer-producer Ragnar Bragason renders the story only on a superficial level, developing Hera's character primarily through changes in wardrobe, hair and makeup.

Mar 26, 2015

Full Review

Andy Webster

New York Times

It taps into something universal, and very precious, about loss, art and adolescent rebellion.

Mar 19, 2015

Full Review

Michael Nordine

Village Voice

The film deftly marries the essence of the music to a moving coming-of-age framework.

Mar 17, 2015

Full Review

Brian Miller

Seattle Weekly

By turns scathing, wounded, and contrite, the actress conveys an atonal, akimbo soulfulness that, yes, marks her as a true daughter of the Land of Bjrk.

Nov 12, 2015

Full Review

Marc Mohan

Oregonian

Any film that features a cross-generational dance-off to Megadeth's "Symphony of Destruction" can't be all bad.

Rated: B

Apr 10, 2015

Full Review

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

Spirituality & Practice

A deeply spiritual film about grief, forgiveness, and personal transformation: one of the most spiritually literate films of 2015.

Rated: 5/5

Mar 31, 2015

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Devin

I went into this movie completely blind. Had seen advertisements for it for quite some time and have always wanted to see it. I had heard good things about it as well. For the first twenty minutes or so I felt like it was something I was not going to be into at all and for the most part I was right about that. There really isn't a lot of metal things or metal scenes in this film, although it seems to be the main theme of it. There are quite a few nods to some bands and towards the end the metal theme starts to intensify, but (in my opinion) it was not metal enough for the title of the movie to be called Metalhead. I enjoyed some parts of this movie, but for the most part found it to be very boring and lacking in substance. Its okay, kind of good sometimes, but certainly not great.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

05/24/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Brütal and relatable!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/09/23

Full Review

Audience Member

As a fan of metal music for most of my life, the premise of this film intrigued me. Not enough films are made around this genre of music, and few of its followers are treated sympathetically, so it was great to see a fresh take on the subject. Unfortunately, I found the film, overall, to be underwhelming. Lots of things happen, but it rarely feels like anything significant is being built up to. The lead character has a compelling reason for behaving the way she does, and her adoption of her new identity makes sense, but you never get a true sense of her character or what she really wants. Her personality can be boiled down to ‘outcast who wears black t-shirts'. The bullying she endures consists of a single weak insult that she immediately responds to, some of the decisions she makes are so extreme as to be completely unbelievable, and the film can't decide if what she's doing is a lifestyle change or an act of rebellion. I like how it was performed and shot, and of course its great to hear some songs I enjoy on the soundtrack, but I feel like nothing was fleshed out enough, and the film relied too heavily on the ‘sullen child who says little' trope, rather than doing anything truly ground-breaking. A decent film that could have been so much more.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

Full Review

Audience Member

As fan of all genres of metal, this film is spot on in terms of soundtrack and dialogues discussing bands and musicians. The plot is quite interesting and the atmosphere created is really awesome. The main character and her feeling of "I don't belong" is something many people can relate to. And they don't portray her as always right. She can be infantile and immature as well. But that's the beauty in it. There is also some humour in it and the ending is satisfying

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

THIS IS NOT A PHASE, MOM !: The movie. Nice movie that portrays in a good way how it is that many times, through music or movies (or some other pleasure or hobby) we try to cover our pain and mourning.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/15/23

Full Review

Audience Member

There's something so undeniably thrilling in being rebellious. Metalhead feeds the fire within those of us who are free spirited and follow our hearts. Although incredibly slow and not too exciting, the picture itself is full of character and the story is informative.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

Full Review

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Ragnar Bragason

Director

Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson

Karl

Þröstur Leó Gunnarsson

Gunnar

Sveinn Ólafur Gunnarsson

Janus

Magnus Olafsson

Erlingur

Halldora Geirhardsdottir

Droplaug

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Critics Consensus: Insurgent is a Muddled Mess

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Synopsis

A grief-stricken young woman adopts the persona of her deceased brother.

Director: Ragnar Bragason
Screenwriter: Ragnar Bragason
Production Co: Mystery Productions
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Icelandic
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 17, 2020
Runtime: 1h 37m