I saw the trailer for Wolf, not the Jack Nicholson werewolf movie from the 90s, but a new movie about a young man who believes he is a wolf, going to a specialized facility to try and cure himself along with a number of other such young patients. The whole thing looked like some kind of cross between The Lobster or something along the lines of The Fault in Our Stars. That by itself could be weird enough, so how far could something like this actually go?
Well, there was one way to find out. Now, if only the only two other people in the theater could have refrained from whispered conversations during the movie…
Jacob (George MacKay) believes he’s a wolf. For the most part, that apparently means wandering around a forest, naked, on all fours and howling at the moon. At some point before the movie started, he apparently hurt a few people, and is now checking himself into a facility that specializes in treating species dysphoria. That’s actually a real-world mental condition, for what it is worth. As it is, there seems to be a number of patients there, most notably a girl about his age who believes herself to be a wildcat (Lily-Rose Depp). Initially, the various doctors and staffers there seem friendly enough, particularly Dr. Mann, AKA the Zookeeper (Paddy Considine). However, it soon becomes clear that the patients are not treated all that well, with treatment seeming to consist largely in forcing the patients to perform human tasks, fake human emotions, and watch videos of predators enjoying a meal while being told how animals are, by nature, inferior to humans, so why would anyone want to be one?
However, things may not be all bad. Jacob knows when to play along so long as he can get out at night to howl. Plus, he and Wildcat seem to be having some sort of flirtatious relationship. She’s been at the facility long enough that she more or less has the run of the place. That said, her longevity does suggest what should be obvious: the treatment does not really work, and is maybe somewhat akin to say, gay conversion therapy. Can Jacob and Wildcat find some level of happiness? Is this that sort of movie?
Well, not really. If anything, it’s the sort of movie that suggests the normal humans are the real monsters. The various patients, arguably, are not hurting anyone (OK, Jacob apparently has, but more on that in a bit). They’ve got some weird quirks, many of them related to whatever species they believe themselves to be, such as the dog-boy who is very much eager to please everyone at all times or a parrot girl who largely just repeats whatever anyone says around her. The Zookeeper in particular is a nasty fellow, constantly stressing how superior humans are to animals and forcing his patients to do things they physically can’t until they either seriously hurt themselves or verbally admit their humanity, after which Mann congratulates himself for making progress. Considine actually looks like he’s having a ball playing the character too, and I felt like he had the best performance in the movie.
And then there’s Jacob, and yes, he sometimes does go a little feral, but it’s interesting to note that many times when he is punished for being “violent,” he is often doing so out of concern for someone else, often Wildcat but not exclusively. These moves suggest Jacob is more than just a wolf if he’s reacting like a wolf due to human concerns. Again, it seems as if the patients are more human than the staff.
That said, this movie somewhat wimps out in the end. It starts off going as batspit insane as the concept would suggest, it does get a lot more predictable in its last act. That’s too bad. There’s a lot to like here, but the script can’t quite keep the weird going for the entire duration. I’d say check it out if you like weird movies, but otherwise, it might be a bit of a letdown.
Grade: C+
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