The boy who cried wolf should have been the title for this movie, though I guess Wolf will do. That story has a wolf in sheep’s clothing, but this movie is about a wolf in human clothing. Lycanthropy is a rare disease (between 20-40 cases in medical journals), but it makes for a fascinating lens through which to study people, er, mammal behaviors in Wolf.
At the outset, we see Jacob (George MacKay) completely absorbed by his wolf persona, out in the woods in the place he feels he belongs, howling and being his true self. Dismayed and worried for their son with no other options, they place Jacob into a psychiatric hospital with other lycanthropic individuals like himself: a Wildcat (Lily-Rose Depp), a German Shepherd (Fionn O’Shea) and a Parrot (Lola Petticrew) among others. The hospital is run by a man referred to as the Zookeeper (Paddy Considine), who is single-mindedly determined to “fix” this curse these people feel, by any means necessary.
It’s best to view Wolf as the more modern version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Wolf has this gaggle of societal outcasts forced together inside a build built upon rules and codes of behavior. And at the top of the power pyramid is the Zookeeper, who’s warped since of how the world works clashes wildly with these people he has no desire to really understand, only control. Writer/Director Nathalie Biancheri gives us that basic plot and works lycanthropy into the story. We get some opening shots that are meant to draw us into the story with humor at the really strange circumstances Jacob finds himself in, and then we dive into the disease itself: how deep traumas can influence this type of behavior to surface. Biancheri’s story works best when each of these individuals find the limits of their beliefs, if at all at some points. Wolf has too many plates in the air to fully gel into something special, but Biancheri’s story is always moving, and mostly quite enthralling to think about.
Sneakily, George MacKay has been in a couple of my more beloved films of the last 10 years. Though not a superstar actor yet, MacKay carries inner turmoil better than most thespians out there, and really commits to whatever role he’s given. That commitment really makes Wolf work. Like the creature he believes himself to be, MacKay really inhabits the movements and posture of the nocturnal animal; there’s these amazing shots of him walking through intermittently lit corridors that really sell his transformation and internal strife. As a scene partner, Lily-Rose Depp is solid here too, aptly projecting feline movement. She’s best before the big climax, when MacKay and her are trying to figure each other out. And props to Paddy Considine for really going for it as our Nurse Ratched, oozing icy control and menace.
I was very happy to see that there are not thousands of lycanthropy cases out there to be treated. Wolf really shows how all encompassing that belief is for the person, and perhaps what cruel methods people have probably tried and failed to use to break people out of what they think is a “delusion.” Kinda like a more off the beaten path pray the gay away. Bummer. I hope all these diagnosed patients find the peace and balance they are looking for.