A man travels to Oregon with his wife and daughter to visit his childhood home in a rural area after his father disappears and is declared dead by the state. When an unseen animal attacks, he and his family barricade themselves inside a farmhouse with the creature prowling outside. As the night wears on, however, he begins to behave strangely, gradually transforming into something unrecognizable. A film by Leigh Whannell, starring Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner, Matilda Firth, Benedict Hardie, and Sam Jaeger.
WOLF MAN
Leigh Whannell
(2025)
In early 1995, a hiker went missing in the remote mountains of central Oregon. After several sightings, some members of the isolated local community began speculating that the missing man had contracted an animal-borne virus they called ‘Hills Fever.’ The Indigenous people who lived there before, however, called it something else: Ma’iingan Odengwaan, or ‘Face of the Wolf.’
During a hunting trip, young Blake (Zac Chandler) and his strict father, Grady Lovell (Sam Jaeger), encounter a mysterious creature lurking in the forest. Alarmed, the two take refuge in a hunting blind before retreating to their secluded home.
Later, Grady contacts Dan Kiel (Leigh Whannell) via CB radio, claiming he’s spotted the hiker — now the legendary ‘Face of the Wolf’ — in the nearby woods. He tells Dan that the creature is targeting Blake, and pleads for help to track down the beast, insisting they must destroy it to protect their children.
Thirty years later, Blake (Christopher Abbott), a struggling writer living in San Francisco with his journalist wife Charlotte (Julia Garner) and their daughter Ginger (Matilda Firth), receives unexpected news. A document from the state of Oregon declares his father Grady dead after his mysterious disappearance years ago. Along with the death certificate, Blake receives keys to Grady’s property, which he has now inherited.
Arriving in Oregon in a rental truck with Charlotte and Ginger, Blake struggles to find his late father’s farmhouse. Having left as soon as he was old enough, he never returned out of fear of his father. While seeking directions, they meet a local hunter (Benedict Hardie) who introduces himself as Derek, Dan Kiel’s son, claiming to know Blake from childhood. Derek offers to guide them to Grady’s farm.
In the darkness, a creature suddenly appears on the road. Blake slams on the brakes, causing the truck to lose control and flip off the road. The beast attacks, scratching Blake’s arm and slicing Derek’s stomach before dragging him away. Panicked, Blake rushes his family toward the house as the creature pursues them. They barely make it inside and barricade the door. Soon after, Blake’s wound begins to fester, and he slowly starts to transform.
Directed by Australian filmmaker Leigh Whannell, who co-wrote the screenplay with Corbett Tuck, Wolf Man is a horror film about a man struggling to protect his family from a werewolf. Unbeknownst to him, he is infected and begins to transform into the fearsome creature. The film serves as a reboot of The Wolf Man franchise.
The Wolf Man franchise is a horror film series that centers on Larry Talbot, who transforms into a werewolf after being bitten by one, and his attempts to cure himself of this condition. The franchise is part of the Universal Classic Monsters series and was created by Curt Siodmak. The first film was released in 1941. The original series consisted of five installments starring Lon Chaney Jr. as Larry Talbot.
The script struggles with pacing, often feeling slow and repetitive. For example, the scenes featuring inaudible dialogue as Blake begins to transform and loses his ability to understand human communication are overused — once would have been more than enough, as the concept is clear early on. Meanwhile, the two climactic scenes of werewolves clashing feel rushed, with one of the confrontations even occurring offscreen!
Ginger is arguably the most annoying character—if she isn’t whining, she’s either crying or screaming. The script repeatedly hints that she possesses some form of telepathy, suggesting she can read minds, but this is never substantiated. In fact, it’s clear throughout the story that she can’t read minds. Yet, in the final scene, she inexplicably gains the ability to read Blake’s thoughts and tells Charlotte that her father ‘wants it to end.’ This inconsistency is frustrating, as the entire narrative feels underdeveloped and riddled with contradictions.
WOLF MAN was theatrically released in the United States on 17 January 2025, by Universal Pictures.
