Wolf Man

Leigh Whannell's The Wolfman is an absolute travesty, a film so bogged down by its own misguided ambition that it dares to insult its audience with every agonizingly slow, dialogue-driven scene. Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, while undoubtedly talented actors, are wasted on a screenplay that reads like a collection of rejected first drafts from a sophomore creative writing course. Whannell's attempt to craft a "thoughtful" horror film comes off as nothing more than pretentious navel-gazing, with long, tedious conversations that add nothing to the plot and suck all momentum out of the narrative.

The werewolf design is a disgrace, looking more like a cheap Halloween costume than a creature of terror. It's baffling how a film in 2025 can fail so miserably at something that movies from the 1940s did with more finesse. Worse still, Whannell has the audacity to forgo any meaningful visual transformation sequence. The transformation-a cornerstone of werewolf lore-is entirely absent, replaced by uninspired sound effects and a lazy cutaway. This omission is not only a colossal disappointment but also a blatant disregard for the source material.

Determined to strip The Wolfman of everything that made the original story iconic... Gone are the thrills, the action, and the horror. In their place, we're subjected to a plodding, self-important drama that's more interested in existential musings than delivering even a shred of excitement. The film feels like an insult to fans of the genre, a condescending lecture masquerading as art.

The pacing is excruciatingly slow, with the film grinding to a halt whenever the characters open their mouths. The dialogue is overwrought and meandering, more suited to a bad stage play than a feature film. Whannell tries to inject tension through strained metaphors and half-baked character studies, but it all comes off as hollow and forced.

What unbreakable did for super heroes movies, Wolf-man did for werewolf movies. Its execution felt similar. But much like Unbreakable I believe the reviews will dip lower than this movie deserves to be. I remember people hating Unbreakable because of the slowness and "seeming" anti-climactic nature of it but over time people began to realize the brilliance of it. This feels similar. The tension is great and atmosphere spot on. I kept waiting for a cringy or overtop moment make me roll my eyes but it never did and stayed the course it was on. Not the modern American werewolf in London I've been searching for but definitely an emerald I didn't expect to find while mining for diamonds. Go see it.

"Wolf Man" is the new adaptation of one of Universal's classic monsters, a different look at what "The Wolf Man" (1941) was, is what Leigh Whannell offers in his film directed and written by him, the script touches on folkloric elements of the werewolf myth and mixes them with a family drama, giving a good but not excellent result. Although Whannell had already brought another classic Universal monster in his version of "The Invisible Man" which was somewhat overrated in 2020, in 2025 his version of "Wolf Man" is more interesting than his aforementioned previous film. The performances of Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner are good, managing to portray a marriage in crisis. The cinematography is good, and it uses the werewolf's perspective to show us his visual change from human to animal, as is the sound design, which is incredible and also takes the audience to be part of the protagonist's auditory mutation. The prosthetic makeup special effects are realistic and nostalgic in an old-school way, giving a nice touch to the subgenre that the film touches on, that of body horror. Whannell manages to introduce suspense in several scenes and knows what he wants to show on screen. "Wolf Man" is not a perfect film, and it will certainly not be the best horror film of 2025, but it is an entertaining and well-made cinematic product.

This film is just alright, maybe a little better than that. But it's nothing to write home about: close, but no cigar.

It plays it too safe. Just when you think something interesting is going to transpire, it doesn't. The film is an adaptation of a decades-old story, and yet it doesn't break any new ground nor offer up any new ideas.

The cinematography and acting are the two standouts. The presentation of the Oregonian outdoors is beautiful, as is the use of lighting throughout. Abbott and Garner turn in great performances, but the actress playing their daughter is not very good to the point that she often took me out of the film. The film felt like it was leading up to something really climactic, but didn't really. Ultimately it ends up feeling rather generic. There are a few jump scares and creepy imagery, but overall it isn't all that scary.

That said, the film is worth checking out if you're looking for an entertaining, spooky little time. The runtime is short, and it clips along pretty nicely.

Let me start by saying that Christopher Abbott's performance was splendid. He stepped into this role with ease, and I would recommend this film based solely on his interpretation of the titular character.

That said, there were many things in this film that failed to work for me. Addressing Julia Garner's performance, I must say I think she is a lovely actress. In fact, she tends to steal any scenes she's in when it comes to most of her other work that I've seen. In Wolf Man, however, she is less than believable in the role of wife and mother, and, along with a lack of depth in the script, I found myself less than concerned about the fate of the family.

I was especially excited to see this movie after hearing it was being written/directed by Leigh Whannell, whose work on The Invisible Man was impeccable. Wolf Man fails where The Invisible Man succeeds in the way of character development and raw emotion. When it comes to the world of fantastical creatures like vampires, werewolves, zombies, etc., I think there should be a clear direction chosen between campy/outrageous and dark/serious when telling such stories. While Whannell seems to have chosen the latter, I felt the film was too tame to affect an audience and too surface-level to reach the heart.