Wolf Man fails to dig its claws into you
Film review
Writer Leigh Whannell launched his career with his filmmaking school buddy James Wann as they unleashed what would become one of the most prominent franchises in the horror genre, Saw. After the pair exited the driving seat of their creation following the third instalment, they launched yet another commercially successful smash hit franchise into the world, Insidious.
After this track record of success, Whannell progressed from the writer’s desk into the director’s chair as he took on Insidious: Chapter 3. The film didn’t capture anyone’s attention. The sequels of Insidious failed to match the sensation brought on by the first instalment. However, Whannell managed to recapture our attention with his sci-fi-action-thriller Upgrade (2018). If that exhilarating ride he took us on wasn’t enough to demonstrate Whannell’s competence in the director’s chair, he managed to blow audiences out of the park with The Invisible Man (2020).
Taking a beloved Universal Monster and applying a modern spin resulting in a domestic abuse thriller doesn’t sound like an audience pleaser, but its execution was fantastic, proving Whannell to be one of the most exciting and promising filmmakers in modern horror. So when his new film Wolf Man appears on the scene, anticipation is inevitably high. Unfortunately, Wolf Man appears to be a bump in the road / a highway breakdown on this filmmaker's journey.
Christopher Abbott and Ozark’s Julia Garner star as a couple in somewhat of an unhappy marriage. It’s not quite clear where the source of unhappiness stems from, however, Garner’s character is envious of her husband’s ability to hold a strong bond with their daughter, something she feels as though she lacks. The family ventures up to Abbott’s character’s dead father's farmhouse to have a clear out where they encounter an aggressive beast that attacks them in the night. On their mission of survival, the father starts to experience dramatic changes in his biology.
Wolf Man’s strong opening delivers promise as it presents the brutality of nature as a group of ants fight off a wasp that’s overpowering them. The inclination here is that Wolf Man is going to contain some layers of intellect to feast on through its traditional basic premise. But this opener is as interesting as it gets on an intellectual level. The first act presents stimulating tension during a scene in which Abbott as a young boy is with his father in the woods hunting deer. The tone of the scene suggested it was going to take a dark turn, however my predictions were incorrect. It didn’t go into the territory that you think it’s going. At least it has the ability to surprise, but the reaction only occurred on the basis that something didn’t happen. Unfortunately, this is the pattern we follow through the rest of this journey.
The unravelling of plot events is too basic. There’s this underlying feeling that something more interesting is yet to reveal itself but that turn never comes. There are moments when your attention perks back up after a period of mind wandering, but it has an occurring habit of letting you go again. Despite the faults outlined, there is some admiration for what Whannell does with his creature feature. During the suffering of the father’s transition into the beast, Whannell smoothly switches between Garner’s character as she watches her husband suffer and then to Abbott as he loses the ability to understand what his wife is saying to him. His human senses rotting away in real-time.
By the end, you can’t help but wonder whether you’ve missed something. It can’t possibly have been THAT basic, right? If you wanted to dissect something deeper than what was presented you may concoct a theory that it may have been an exploration of dealing with a human’s ‘inner wolf’, the suppression of our aggressive nature behind civilised and desirable behaviour. There are examples of when Abbott’s character snaps at his little daughter but retreats, claiming it’s not really him. How do you protect yourself against a wolf? Do you have to crush them before they crush you? Is it inevitable once attacked by a wolf that you become the beast yourself? While these may be ideas to ponder, it's a bit of a stretch due to the simplistic presentation we encounter.
Despite failing to meet the high expectations set by his former work, there's still serious promise left in Whannell. He’s proved to us what he’s capable of and I have faith that he will reach those heights again. You’ll no doubt come across a dud in a filmmaker's collection of work. I suspect this is Whannell’s.
Out in UK cinemas now