A definite for fans of metal, Director: Ragnar Bragason’s Metalhead is a great meditation on the healing and destructive power of music. The music Hera plays allows her to reconnect with her dead brother, but is a constant reminder to her parents of what they lost. Hera’s childish acts of rebellion (KISS makeup to breakfast, moshing at an old-fashioned dance hall) don’t help matters.

When her brother dies in a farm accident involving long hair and a tractor, Hera (Þorbjörg Helga Dyrfjörð) reinvents herself in his image, devoting herself to heavy metal music, learning to play guitar and never really learns to deal with her grief. But after a few years, her acts of rebellion begin to feel hollow, and she moves from playing guitar at the cows to more destructive ways of dealing with her anger.

It’s interesting the way Metalhead toys with notions of conformity, especially in small towns. Hera is unique in her village, some accept her and many others don’t, and she either has to try to maintain the anger and isolation herself, leave or try to fit in. None of those options appeal, so she is left stuck in limbo. Can’t fit in, doesn’t want to fit in, too scared to try to find a place she does. But the only way to improve her situation is to make something change. Should she change herself to fit in?

Despite the pumping metal, it’s a surprisingly tender movie, with very strong performances from the entire cast and an amazing soundtrack. It’s not going to change the world, but it’s a solid, entertaining and heartfelt movie. Check it out.

Donal O’Connor

Shown at this year’s TIFF13 : Toronto International Film Festival.