CinemaNerdz

Movie Review: Wolf

Mike Tyrkus

While the film Wolf attempts to portray its topic in a dramatic manner, even delving a bit into the realm of being a thriller, the entire product is almost dead on arrival with its feet stuck in the air as it bounces between the silly and absurd, despite a strong performance by George MacKay.

Because they are worried about his predilection for believing he is a wolf trapped in a boy’s skin, Jacob’s parents send him to be treated in an clinic that apparently specializes in the treatment of individuals (adolescents mostly) who suffer from this condition, called clinical lycanthropy (or, feeling you are more like an animal than not).

That his parents want their son back is obvious. Also obvious is that no one in this so-called clinic is actually concerned with treating these patients, but rather in abusing them until they submit to what is deemed normal behavior. The facility is run by a character called the Zookeeper (Paddy Considine) who proves to be every bit the sadistic despot that one expects to be running an operation such as this in a movie like this.

George MacKay in “Wolf.”

Jacob manages to find refuge in sneaking out at night and baying at the moon. He even befriends someone referred to as Wildcat (Lily-Rose Depp) who believes she is of feline descent and the two strike up an unconventional romance.

Written and directed by Nathalie Biancheri, Wolf plays like it wants to be looked at as an examination of the perils of coming of age and not being accepted within society. But the sheer lack of any tangible depth to any of the characters struggles and the obvious ineptness and despicable behavior by the so-called professionals treating the afflicted makes for an almost comical farce of its intended destination. Even the sufficiently moody and occasionally gorgeous cinematography of Michael Dymek cannot help the film treat the subject, or story, properly.

To say that Wolf is a failure does not give credit to the remarkable performance delivered by George MacKay as Jacob. He is the one thing that keeps the film humming along, even when it feels as though it should not. Yet, overall, the shortcomings of the film outweigh the positives and leave it hollow in the end.

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Mike Tyrkus

Editor in Chief at CinemaNerdz.com
An independent filmmaker, co-writer and director of over a dozen short films, the Editor in Chief of CinemaNerdz.com has spent much of the last three decades as a writer and editor specializing in biographical and critical reference sources in literature and the cinema, beginning in February 1991 reviewing films for his college newspaper. He was a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society, as well as the group's webmaster and one-time President for over a decade until the group ceased to exist. His contributions to film criticism can be found in Magill's Cinema Annual, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever (of which he was the editor for nearly a decade until it too ceased to exist), the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, and the St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia (on which he collaborated with editor Andrew Sarris). He has also appeared on the television program Critic LEE Speaking alongside Lee Thomas of FOX2 and Adam Graham, of The Detroit News. He currently lives in the Detroit area with his wife and their dogs.

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