''Wolf'' is a 2021

psychological drama Psychological drama or psychodrama is a sub-genre of drama that places emphasis on psychological elements. It often overlaps with other genres such as crime, fantasy, black comedy, and science fiction, and it is closely related with the psychologi ...

film written and directed by

Nathalie Biancheri Nathalie Biancheri is an Italian film director and screenwriter based in London. She is known for directing the films ''Wolf (2021 Irish-Polish film), Wolf'' and ''Nocturnal''. Career Nathalie graduated from King's College London and began her c ...

. An international co-production of Ireland and Poland, it stars George MacKay,

Lily-Rose Depp Lily-Rose Melody Depp (born 27 May 1999) is a French-American actress and model. Depp began her acting career with a small role in ''Tusk'' (2014), and went on to star in the period drama '' The Dancer'' (2016), in which she played Isadora Dunc ...

Paddy Considine Patrick George Considine (born 5 September 1973) is an English actor, director, and screenwriter. He frequently collaborates with filmmaker/director Shane Meadows. He has received two British Academy Film Awards, three Evening Standard Britis ...

Eileen Walsh Eileen Walsh (born 16 April 1977) is an Irish actress. Biography Born and raised in Cork, Ireland, Walsh was raised in a Catholic household, and had no intention of becoming an actress, until she followed in the footsteps of her elder sister ...

, Fionn O'Shea and

Lola Petticrew Lola Petticrew (born 26 December 1995) is an Irish actor. They starred in the films '' A Bump Along the Way'' (2019) and ''Dating Amber'' (2020). On television, they are known for their roles in ''Bloodlands'' (2021–) and ''Three Families'' (20 ...

. ''Wolf'' had its world premiere at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival on September 17, 2021. It had a limited theatre release in the United States on December 3, 2021 by

Focus Features Focus Features LLC is an American film production and distribution company, owned by Comcast as part of Universal Pictures, a division of its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal. Focus Features distributes independent and foreign films in th ...

. The film received mixed to negative reviews from critics, who praised the performances of Mackay, Depp, and Considine, but Biancheri's script and direction were unanimously criticized.

Plot

A boy named Jacob who suffers from

zoanthropy Clinical lycanthropy is a rare psychiatric syndrome that involves a delusion that the affected person can transform into, has transformed into, or is, an animal. Its name is associated with the mythical condition of lycanthropy, a supernatural ...

, believing he is a

wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

, is committed to a

mental asylum The lunatic asylum (or insane asylum) was an early precursor of the modern psychiatric hospital. The fall of the lunatic asylum and its eventual replacement by modern psychiatric hospitals explains the rise of organized, institutional psychiatry ...

following an attack on his brother. There he meets and befriends the other patients, who also believe themselves to be animals, including Rufus, who believes he’s a

German Shepherd The German Shepherd or Alsatian is a German breed of working dog of medium to large size. The breed was developed by Max von Stephanitz using various traditional German herding dogs from 1899. It was originally bred as a herding dog, for he ...

. He forms a close bond with Cecile, an enigmatic patient nicknamed "

Wildcat The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while the ...

", and together they roam the hallways at night. After witnessing the brutal methods of treatment performed by the head of the asylum, Dr. Mann, the

Zookeeper A zookeeper, sometimes referred as animal keeper, is a person who manages zoo animals that are kept in captivity for conservation or to be displayed to the public.Hurwitz, Jane. Choosing a Career in Animal Care (World of Work). New York: Rosen Gr ...

, Jacob becomes frustrated and attacks an orderly, resulting in him being caged and gagged. Cecile sneaks into the room where he is caged one night and makes love to him, but they are caught by Dr Angeli and Jacob is punished with a

cattle prod A cattle prod, also called a stock prod or a hot stick, is a handheld device commonly used to make cattle or other livestock move by striking or poking them. An electric cattle prod is a stick with electrodes on the end which is used to make catt ...

, causing the other patients to lash out at the Zookeeper. Disgusted by Zookeeper and Angeli, Cecile frees Jacob from his cage, allowing him to escape into the forest where he can live in freedom as a wolf.

Cast

* George MacKay as Jacob (Wolf) *

as Cecile (Wildcat) *

as Dr. Mann (Zookeeper) *

as Dr Angeli * Fionn O'Shea as Rufus (German Shepherd) *

as Judith (Parrot) * Senan Jennings as Duck

Production

In February 2020, it was announced George MacKay and

had joined the cast of the film, with Nathalie Biancheri directing from a screenplay she wrote. In September 2020,

, Fionn O'Shea,

and Senan Jennings joined the cast of the film.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

began in August 2020. Production was initially set to begin in April 2020, but was delayed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Principal photography ended by October 2020.

Release

acquired distribution rights to the film in October 2020. The film had a theatrical release in the U.S. on 3 December 2021, after premiering at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

on 17 September 2021 as the entry for

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Reception

Box office

In the United States and Canada, the film earned $82,640 from 308 theaters in its opening weekend and $15,160 in its second before ending its theatrical run.

Critical response

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which uses a weighted average, the film has a score of 52 based on 15 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

References

External links

* * * {{YouTube, id=c7tT71ZKIWY, title=WOLF Q&A / TIFF 2021 / The team behind WOLF in conversation with TIFF in advance of its premiere at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival. 2020s psychological drama films Irish drama films Polish drama films English-language Irish films English-language Polish films Film productions suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic Films impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic Focus Features films 2021 independent films 2020s English-language films