Wolf Man, directed by Leigh Whannell (The Invisible Man, Upgrade) and written by Leigh Whannell and Corbett Tuck, follows the story of a family on a remote farm who are attacked by an animal they have never seen before. As the night progresses, the father begins to transform into something unrecognizable. The family in the film consists of Blake, played by Christopher Abbott, Charlotte, played by Julia Garner, and little Ginger, played by Matilda Firth. Wolf Man is a horror movie with a very bad family drama. The movie tries in various ways to make us connect as much as possible with this family, but at no point does it manage to overflow with any kind of emotion, which unfortunately doesn’t work at all.
Wolf Man stands out positively for its sound work. The soundtrack is one of the few qualities that elevate the movie. From the first chord, the music creates a dense, dark atmosphere, managing to convey the tension and ambiguity of the protagonist, even when the rest of the production fails to do so. The bass beats and subtly dissonant melodic arrangements reinforce the character’s internal struggle, creating an interesting contrast with the script’s lack of depth.
What’s more, the sound design itself is impressive. The roars of the wolf, the transitions of the transformation, and the echoes in the forests are well executed, helping to involve the viewer in the scenes of action and terror. The creative use of silence is also a success, amplifying the tension and creating moments of suspense that, in a way, compensate for the lack of emotion in the performances.
Even though Julia Garner and Matilda Firth try their best, they end up getting lost in a script that lacks any kind of depth. The film tries, but fails, to adequately explore the protagonist’s internal conflict, his regret at being transformed into a monster, and the struggle between his humanity and his bestial nature. The make-up work also turns out to be very positive. The film manages to overflow with a tone of “fear” when the father ends up transforming, but it’s a shame that all this work ends up being kind of wasted due to the film’s lighting work, which is extremely bad—an extremely dark film without any kind of brightness.
The direction by Leigh Whannell, who shone with The Invisible Man, is by far one of the movie’s biggest weaknesses. In The Invisible Man, Whannell managed to create an oppressive atmosphere, with minimalist direction and a growing tension that kept the audience on the edge of their seats. In Wolf Man, however, that same skill is lost. Here, Whannell seems more interested in weak drama and action scenes so generic that it feels like we’ve seen them over and over again, resulting in a visually empty experience that lacks the emotional impact you’d expect from a horror and monster movie.
What Wolf Man lacks is the construction of a unique atmosphere. Instead of intelligently exploiting silent moments or subtle details, Whannell’s direction moves away from the more intimate choices that worked so well in his previous work. While in The Invisible Man, the tension was in the things not seen, here, Whannell seems to rely too much on visual spectacle, forgetting that horror often lies in the unseen, the unspoken, and the simplest.
The structure of the narrative also suffers from the rushed direction. In a movie like this, the evolution of the character’s transformation should be gradual, allowing the audience to really care about the protagonist and his choices. Instead, Whannell’s direction opts for a more superficial approach, with quick jumps into action and horror scenes, without allowing time for the moments of introspection to really resonate with the viewer. The transitions between the emotional moments and the action scenes seem disjointed, which weakens the impact of both parts.
Furthermore, the characterization of the wolf, one of the film’s most anticipated promises, also suffers from a lack of careful direction. Instead of a monster that evokes fear and sympathy, the wolf seems more like an artificial creation, without a solid or threatening presence. Whannell’s direction fails to convey the duality between beast and man, a central element of the Wolf Man mythology, and one that has been explored more effectively in other films. So Leigh Whannell shines in showing the situation from the point of view of the father of the family, feeling agonized and even showing the transformation in a more visceral way and also showing how the Wolf Man ends up seeing people’s world.
Wolf Man seemed promising. After all, with the popularity of Universal’s monster movies renewed by hits such as The Invisible Man (2020), which was directed by Leigh Whannell, many expected the legend of the wolf to be successfully revamped. However, the movie falls short in many ways, failing to capture the dark and mysterious essence of the character. Wolf Man fails to deliver a truly impactful and memorable story. Even with a few hits in practical effects and quality sound work, the movie gets lost in poor directorial choices and a predictable script, resulting in a generic experience. The movie feels more like an attempt to revive a classic without bringing anything new or innovative to the table. For fans of the genre, the expectation of a great return of the monster ends in frustration, since, at the end of the day, Wolf Man is yet another soulless attempt to capitalize on an icon of cinema, without managing to capture the mystery and depth that made the legend of the wolf so captivating.
Wolf Man releases in theaters on January 17.
