The story really struggles to transform beyond its first phase. Even when the Wolf Man aspects of the story take shape, it still feels largely uneventful and dare I say, dull.
Back in 2020 Leigh Whannell directed The Invisible Man which was a modern vision of one of Universal’s classic monsters. It was an excellent thriller that used the titular character to tackles themes of domestic abuse within its narrative. Fast forward five years and Leigh’s follow up is yet another film centred around a classic Universal monster, The Wolf Man.
Wolf Man tells the story of Blake (Christopher Abbott) who along with his wife Charlotte (Julia Garner) and daughter Ginger (Matilda Firth) are attacked by an unseen animal, whilst saying at a remote house. As the night continues Blake himself begins to transform into something unrecognisable.
This iteration of the Wolf Man attempts to present a unique perspective for a werewolf story. Gone are many of the tropes we have come to expect from films involving lycanthropy. In its place we have a story that focuses on a family and drops them within a home invasion style film, where they are stalked by a creature outside the house before realising that another threat is transforming inside. On paper I see the appeal of this framework but in summation, I appreciate what Wolf Man is trying to do more than what it was able to achieve. I didn’t have any expectations prior to watching this and it still left me feeling very underwhelmed.
Leigh Whannell dropped the ball with both the direction and the script. The whole film feels one note throughout and it fails to develop in any interesting or exhilarating ways. Even as a horror film it mostly fails to create suspense and scares. Wolf Man needed to at least deliver with the horror experience, or deliver with emotional side of the narrative and what’s happening with the characters. Ideally it would do both but it doesn’t do either.
One of the biggest problems is this film didn’t successfully make me feel invested in the family and their story, so when it attempts to hit strong emotional notes they fell flat. That includes the climax which has a major crescendo in the score as if to signify a big emotional moment but it simply didn’t work. Fatherhood is a core theme that is presented but not enough is done with it to create any real depth and substance thematically. This script was first written during Covid and that is apparent due to the isolation the family endure within the house, and the fact that the transition into the Wolf Man is treated more like a disease. Even so, those aspects are lacking the depth to make it something meaningful.
Christopher Abbott’s performance became better as he transitioned into the Wolf Man, compared to how it was when he was a human. His emotional scenes prior to the transformation felt hollow. I blame the script for this more than him but once he begins to undergo his transformation, his performance gains more merit. Julia Garner was miscast in the role of Charlotte. She didn’t seem believable as the mother of Ginger and the wife of Blake. In the marketing material I had assumed she was portraying a sister to Ginger, and that’s because she looks quite young and doesn’t have the presence of a mother. Christopher and Julia lacked chemistry. Their on screen chemistry is so non existent that it resulted in me never believing that these two people would’ve loved each other enough to get married. It is made clear in the first act that Blake and Charlotte are going through an uncertain period in their marriage, but that is yet another aspect of this film that lacks depth and isn’t explored beyond a brief moment. Matilda Firth gave a serviceable performance as Ginger, she needed stronger direction to help her convey fear and sadness during the events that occur.
Wolf Man’s biggest strength is with how it depicts the initial phases of the transformation from Blake’s perspective, as he experiences shifts within his sensory capabilities. This is shown through a specific visual which is accompanied by effective sound design. It’s the most unique thing this film has to offer that actually works. It’s just a shame that it was barely used outside of a couple great moments, one involving a loud sound he can hear and another in scene set within darkness as he stalks his family. The Fly is an obvious source of inspiration for how this film tackles the gradual metamorphosis. The practical make up in these scenes is commendable but the body horror elements seemed bizarrely ineffective at evoking a response out of me, whether it be discomfort or disgust.
The majority of this film feels like it’s stuck in first gear. The opening scene created a satisfactory amount of intrigue, but the following hour is excruciatingly slow and the story really struggles to transform beyond its first phase. Even when the Wolf Man aspects of the story take shape, it still feels largely uneventful and dare I say, dull. There’s no real structure to the story either. It’s hard to discern where the second act ends and the third act begins. Once I realised the story was deep into the third act, I was left surprised that the film had no time left to do anything of note, which would go beyond the fairly basic set up and sequence of events that had happened thus far. What is supposed to be Blake’s main transformation scene comes very late in the runtime and it wasn’t satisfying. At that point I succumbed to the thought that this film wouldn’t be able to do anything that’ll make it feel worthwhile as an experience. The design of the Wolf Man left a lot to be desired. He resembled a Crawler from The Descent more than the Wolf Man.
Aside from the one visual element that changes whenever the point of view shifts, there’s nothing distinct or interesting about the cinematography that is presented here. There’s a lot of darkness and barely any shots that I would deem memorable. The sound design and score does a lot of heavy lifting throughout the film.
If The Invisible Man was two steps forward for the glorious return of Universal’s classic monsters, Wolf Man is a step backwards. It has thematic ideas that could’ve worked but the execution failed to develop them.
★ ★
This review was written by Terrelle Graham.
Wolf Man. Starring Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner, Matilda Firth and Sam Jaeger. Runtime 103 minutes.