Wolf Man (2025) *Might contain spoilers*

DIRECTED BY

Leigh Whannell

STARRING

Christopher Abbott - Blake Lovell

Julia Garner - Charlotte Lovell

Matilda Firth - Ginger Lovell

Sam Jaeger - Grady Lovell

Benedict Hardie - Derek

Genre: Horror/Supernatural/Body Horror/Werewolves

Running Time: 103 Minutes

PLOT

With his marriage fraying, Blake persuades his wife Charlotte to take a break from the city and visit his remote childhood home in rural Oregon. As they arrive at the farmhouse in the dead of night, they’re attacked by an unseen animal and barricade themselves inside the home as the creature prowls the perimeter. But as the night stretches on, Blake begins to behave strangely, transforming into something unrecognizable.

REVIEW

It’s funny - I had reviewed the original 1941 THE WOLF MAN earlier this month in preparation for, what I had believed, was a modern remake or retelling of the same story. I had even debated whether to watch and/or review the 2010 remake, but I felt that I would dislike the 2025 adaptation more if I had. I wanted to go into 2025’s WOLF MAN with a fresh set of eyes and judge it for its own merits without comparisons to whatever came before it.

But lo and behold! 2025’s WOLF MAN isn’t an actual remake at all! It has no Larry Talbot. There are no Romani fortune tellers. I don’t think I even caught a full moon. It has family, love, and a man changing into… something. But it’s not the Universal WOLF MAN you’re used to.

And that’s one of my main issues with this version of the story - I feel the title is a bit misleading. Yes, there’s some legend about men turning into wolves and technically there are wolf-looking men in this movie. But WOLF MAN is less of a werewolf film and more of a body horror movie that’s akin to David Cronenberg, mainly 1986’s THE FLY. It’s a horror film where someone gets infected and begins to transform for the entire film, until that person decides to attack the people closest to them. Yes, main character Blake gets scratched and becomes more of a wolf creature. But he’s not technically what one would expect a werewolf to look like either. I respect the change but the title is advertising something audiences are probably not expecting [or even wanting out of a film like this].

The film also struggles with getting its message across in a meaningful way. 2020’s THE INVISIBLE MAN turned the original story on its head to craft a fantastic horror movie about abuse and PTSD. It just happened to star a man who could turn invisible and traumatize the main character with that ability, making characters in the film wonder if she’s going crazy or her outbursts about her ex-boyfriend being invisible are true.

WOLF MAN seems to be about not wanting to repeat the same mistakes our parents did so it won’t pass on to future generations. The prologue doesn’t shy away from this, as young Blake is raised by a strict military father who barks orders rather than show love and affection for him. He’s also hiding his own secrets, which makes Blake turn on him as he grows up. In order to do that, Blake is a bit more loving with his daughter Ginger [nice GINGER SNAPS homage], who dotes on her father and seems closer to him than to her workaholic mother Charlotte. However, Blake continues to feel guilty anytime Ginger acts out or doesn’t listen to him, turning him into his father. It seems while avoiding the past, Blake can’t seem to shake it off for his present and future.

While this commentary is great, it’s not handled in a deep way. The father-daughter aspect is done well, but the rest of the relationships could have used more time. There’s issues between Blake and Charlotte that aren’t really elaborated on besides that she works so much that she feels she’s not a good mother to Ginger, while Blake is a stay-at-home dad who probably isn’t being the best husband and father financially. But we barely spend time with this couple before shit hits the fan, so it’s hard to tell whether the marriage has been rocky for a long time now or this is just a recent event. Plus considering that Charlotte and Ginger don’t have the strongest relationship, the film’s focus would be more on that. While the two do grow closer due to the events in the film, I never got a sense their relationship will improve, although I suspect it would. Plus the “Sins of the Father” deal gets hammered into your head maybe too many times that it soon becomes too much on the nose when the “twist” occurs.

I also felt WOLF MAN was pretty tame in terms of scares and action. The film relies on jump scares for the most part, using the sound design to jolt audiences. But no one in my showing really fell for any of them, which is telling in how much they worked. And while some of the gore is pretty gnarly at times, Whannell seems to shy away from it quite a bit. Some people get murdered or eaten and we just see the aftermath, which is a shame. Plus, there are action moments - including one between two wolf people - that should be the film’s highlight. But instead, they’re cut pretty short and just feel like an afterthought. Maybe it’s because of the budget or Whannell was going for something with broader appeal, but it takes away the energy and intensity from WOLF MAN.

Fortunately, the film does have things going for it. The actors all do well with what they’re given. I feel Julia Garner kind of got the short straw here, as she’s reduced to playing frightened mother and wife for the most part. But she handles it well and convinces you that she’s confused and terrified by what’s going on. Matilda Firth could have played Ginger as a kind of annoyingly precocious child, but she gives the character a level of intelligence that makes her fit with the adult actors. She handles fear well, but also has a charm about her that makes you care for her relationship with her parents. She’s good in the role. The real star here is Christopher Abbott as Blake, who is game for anything asked of him. He plays a great dad. He plays a husband fighting for his marriage. He plays a man struggling with his two lives. And as he transforms into the Wolf Man, he becomes scarier and more intense as he goes from man to beast within a short time. Walking on all fours is kind of goofy, but Abbott goes for it and I respect it. Plus, I liked him in the makeup [even if I have mixed feelings on the look] and thought he conveyed his metamorphosis well. Solid actors who needed a better script to play around with.

I also liked some of Whannell’s directorial choices. The use of the wolf powers was actually a cool idea. It had a superhero origin vibe, where the subject is realizing he or she is becoming something else by realizing they have abilities no human should have. The loud sounds and the gurgling of sound when people talk to Blake was a nice touch. I also loved the wolf sight that would come in and out, reminding me of Detective Mode in those Batman Arkham games. I feel Whannell was more focused on the style of the film rather than the substance here. I mean, that’s fine for some horror directors but we’ve seen Whannell stand out because of the substance in his works. So while I liked the film visually [it’s a nice looking movie], he’s capable of better.

THE FINAL HOWL

If you’re going into WOLF MAN looking for a traditional werewolf movie, you’re going to be seriously disappointed. If you’re looking for something different, you’ll still probably be disappointed but maybe you’ll get something out of it. The issue with this film is that it plays things way too safe. It has a strong commentary about the sins of the father and how their actions affect their children, but it never really goes deeper than that, preferring to predictably play things out on the surface without any subtlety. Same with the relationship between the characters, as their dynamic has no depth other than they have issues that need to be worked on. Also, the film isn’t scary at all and when cool action happens, it’s cut away to something else.

But at least the performances are pretty good, especially by lead Christopher Abbott, who gives his all as both human and wolf-man. And the film has a good visual style going for it, especially when the wolf powers [or “Detective Mode”] come into play. The body horror aspect had some gnarly moments that picked up the film’s intensity at times. It’s also paced very well, as this film blew right by despite my issues with it. And I respect a new way of looking into the Wolf Man character, even if it doesn’t fully work for me. 

Considering what Leigh Whannell has done in the past, his version of WOLF MAN is pretty weak and disappointing. Considering how much I loved THE INVISIBLE MAN, I felt that this was a severe drop in quality. Maybe some of you will get a kick out of this adaptation, but I don’t think it’s really anything to moon over. It’s fine at best.

SCORE

2.5 Howls Outta 4

(6 out or 10)