''Werewolves Within'' is a 2021 American
mystery
Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters
*Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange''
Films
* ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film
* ''Mystery'' ( ...
comedy horror
Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary genre, literary, television genre, television, and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as able to be categorized under three ty ...
film directed by Josh Ruben from a screenplay by
Mishna Wolff, based on the
video game of the same name from
Red Storm Entertainment
Red Storm Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and studio of Ubisoft based in Cary, North Carolina. Founded in November 1996 between author Tom Clancy, manager Doug Littlejohns, and software development company Virtus Corpo ...
. It stars
Sam Richardson,
Milana Vayntrub
Milana Aleksandrovna Vayntrub ( , Russian language, Russian: ; born March 8, 1987) is an American actress, comedian, and activist. Born in the Soviet Union to Jewish parents, she began her career as a child actress shortly after immigrating to ...
,
George Basil
George William Basil is an American actor and producer.
Early life
Basil grew up outside Baltimore in Essex. After his family moved to Greece, being of age he stayed and worked briefly as a chef after graduating high school.
After seeing a flye ...
,
Sarah Burns
Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch and prophetess, a major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a pio ...
,
Michael Chernus
Michael Louis Chernus (born August 8, 1977) is an American actor. He has acted on film, television, and the stage. He is perhaps best known for his role as Cal Chapman on the Netflix original comedy-drama series ''Orange Is the New Black'' (2013 ...
,
Catherine Curtin
Catherine Curtin is an American actress. She is best known for her role as correctional officer Wanda Bell in the Netflix comedy-drama series ''Orange Is the New Black'' (2013–2019). Her other notable recurring roles include ''Insecure (TV s ...
,
Wayne Duvall Wayne Duvall (born May 29, 1958) is an American actor known for appearing as Homer Stokes in ''O Brother, Where Art Thou?'', as well recurring roles as the television series ''Billions'', ''The District'', ''The Leftovers'', '' BrainDead'', ''The ...
,
Harvey Guillén
Javier "Harvey" Guillén (; born ) is an American actor who is best known for his role as the human familiar Guillermo de la Cruz in the 2019 television series ''What We Do in the Shadows''.
Career
Guillén has appeared in recurring roles on a ...
,
Rebecca Henderson,
Cheyenne Jackson
Cheyenne David Jackson (born July 12, 1975) is an American actor and singer. His credits include leading roles in Broadway musicals and other stage roles, as well as film and television roles, concert singing, and music recordings.
After beginni ...
,
Michaela Watkins
Michaela Suzanne Watkins (born December 14, 1971) is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for starring on the Hulu series '' Casual'' and on the short-lived sitcoms '' The Unicorn'' and ''Trophy Wife'', as well as being a cast memb ...
, and
Glenn Fleshler
Glenn Fleshler (born September 5, 1968) is an American actor. On television he is noted as a recurring cast member on ''Boardwalk Empire'' who portrayed real-life bootlegger George Remus, for appearing on '' Billions'', and as Errol Childress in ...
, and follows a group of people in a small
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
town who get trapped in a snowstorm only to suspect one of them is a
werewolf
In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely or ...
.
Plans for a ''Werewolves Within'' film adaptation began in October 2018, with Wolff writing the script and
Ubisoft Motion Pictures
Ubisoft Film & Television (formerly known as Ubisoft Motion Pictures) is a French-American film and television production company and a subsidiary of video game publisher Ubisoft based in Montreuil and Los Angeles. The company was founded on 27 ...
producing it. Cast was announced in early 2020 and
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 February 2020.
''Werewolves Within'' had its world premiere at the
Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...
on June 16, 2021, and began a
limited theatrical release
__FORCETOC__
Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...
in the United States on June 25, 2021, followed by
video on demand
Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...
on July 2, by
IFC Films
IFC Films is an American film production and distribution company based in New York. It is an offshoot of IFC owned by AMC Networks. It distributes mainly independent films under its own name, select foreign films and documentaries under its S ...
. The film received generally positive reviews from critics for its screenplay, characters, and humor. It holds the highest-rated critic scores on
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
and
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 ...
for a
film based on a video game.
Plot
Forest ranger Finn Wheeler is assigned to cover Beaverfield, a small town where the residents are divided over a pipeline proposed by businessman Sam Parker. Upon arriving, Finn befriends mail carrier Cecily Moore while also meeting Trisha Anderson and her unfaithful husband Pete, wealthy couple Devon and Joaquim Wolfson, blue collar workers Gwen and Marcus, and isolationist Emerson Flint. That night, a blizzard knocks out all power in Beaverfield, forcing the residents to take refuge in a lodge owned by Jeanine Sherman. The power outage occurs right before Trisha's dog is killed by an unknown assailant, which increases tensions in the town. Further conflict arises when Finn discovers that all of Beaverfield's generators were sabotaged and the body of Jeanine's missing husband Dave is underneath the lodge's porch.
The residents attempt to barricade themselves in the lodge for safety, but Pete has his hand bitten off by the same unknown assailant. Environmentalist Dr. Jane Ellis, an opponent of the pipeline, concludes that the assailant is a werewolf who is one of the lodge's current inhabitants. After announcing her findings, Dr. Ellis dies in front of Parker under ambiguous circumstances; Parker claims she committed suicide.
Those remaining in the lodge initially consider staying together to force the assailant out of hiding, but ultimately all but Finn and Cecily leave for their homes. However, with tensions having reached a boiling point in Beaverfield, the residents begin to kill each other. After nearly all the townsfolk are killed, Finn is attacked by Parker, who has armed himself with a crossbow and silver
bolts. Parker accuses Finn of being the werewolf because he worked in locations where previous attacks occurred. Finn counters that there is no werewolf and Parker intentionally caused the paranoia gripping Beaverfield in order to have his proposed pipeline approved. Parker gains the upper hand against Finn, but a dying Joaquim manages to kill him.
While Finn and Cecily recuperate in the town's bar, Finn learns that Dave was Beaverfield's previous mail carrier. He then realizes Cecily is the werewolf. Confronted by Finn, Cecily acknowledges she turned the residents against each other to make feasting on them easier. She subsequently attempts to kill Finn in her werewolf form, but Emerson arrives and saves Finn and then helps Finn seemingly kill Cecily. Still alive, Cecily makes a final effort to attack Finn and Emerson before Jeanine finishes her off with a silver crossbow bolt from Parker's crossbow.
Cast
Production
In October 2018, it was announced ''
Werewolves Within
''Werewolves Within'' is a multiplayer Social deduction game, social-deduction Virtual reality, VR game for Oculus Rift, Microsoft Windows, Windows, and PlayStation VR, developed by Red Storm Entertainment, published by Ubisoft, and released on 6 ...
'' was being developed as a feature film, with
Mishna Wolff set to write the screenplay for the film, while
Ubisoft Motion Pictures
Ubisoft Film & Television (formerly known as Ubisoft Motion Pictures) is a French-American film and television production company and a subsidiary of video game publisher Ubisoft based in Montreuil and Los Angeles. The company was founded on 27 ...
would produce. Director Josh Ruben joined after his first feature film, ''
Scare Me
''Scare Me'' is an 2020 American comedy horror film written, directed, and produced by Josh Ruben. It stars Aya Cash, Ruben, Rebecca Drysdale and Chris Redd.
It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2020. It was re ...
'', got the attention of
Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', ''Far Cry'', '' ...
, who provided him with "a V.R. thing to play
he game
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
" he said.
In January 2020, it was announced
Sam Richardson had joined the cast of the film and would serve as a producer, with Josh Ruben to direct. In February 2020,
Michael Chernus
Michael Louis Chernus (born August 8, 1977) is an American actor. He has acted on film, television, and the stage. He is perhaps best known for his role as Cal Chapman on the Netflix original comedy-drama series ''Orange Is the New Black'' (2013 ...
,
Michaela Watkins
Michaela Suzanne Watkins (born December 14, 1971) is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for starring on the Hulu series '' Casual'' and on the short-lived sitcoms '' The Unicorn'' and ''Trophy Wife'', as well as being a cast memb ...
,
Cheyenne Jackson
Cheyenne David Jackson (born July 12, 1975) is an American actor and singer. His credits include leading roles in Broadway musicals and other stage roles, as well as film and television roles, concert singing, and music recordings.
After beginni ...
,
Milana Vayntrub
Milana Aleksandrovna Vayntrub ( , Russian language, Russian: ; born March 8, 1987) is an American actress, comedian, and activist. Born in the Soviet Union to Jewish parents, she began her career as a child actress shortly after immigrating to ...
,
George Basil
George William Basil is an American actor and producer.
Early life
Basil grew up outside Baltimore in Essex. After his family moved to Greece, being of age he stayed and worked briefly as a chef after graduating high school.
After seeing a flye ...
,
Sarah Burns
Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch and prophetess, a major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a pio ...
,
Catherine Curtin
Catherine Curtin is an American actress. She is best known for her role as correctional officer Wanda Bell in the Netflix comedy-drama series ''Orange Is the New Black'' (2013–2019). Her other notable recurring roles include ''Insecure (TV s ...
, Wayne Duvall,
Harvey Guillén
Javier "Harvey" Guillén (; born ) is an American actor who is best known for his role as the human familiar Guillermo de la Cruz in the 2019 television series ''What We Do in the Shadows''.
Career
Guillén has appeared in recurring roles on a ...
and Rebecca Henderson 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 on February 3, 2020.
While the videogame is set in a medieval village, the movie is set in the modern day and was shot in New York State's
Hudson Valley
The Hudson Valley (also known as the Hudson River Valley) comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to ...
, near the town of
Woodstock
Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...
.
Locations included Main Street in
Phoenicia, New York
Phoenicia is a hamlet (and census-designated place) of Shandaken in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 309 at the 2010 census, making it the highest populated community in the town. The village center is located just off ...
, and The Phoenicia Belle bed-and-breakfast,
plus
Cooper Lake,
and The Golden Notebook bookstore in Woodstock.
The historic Fleischmanns Yeast family estate, now the retreat center, Spillian, in
Fleischmanns, New York
Fleischmanns is a village in Delaware County, New York, United States. The population was 351 at the 2010 census. The Village of Fleischmanns is within the town of Middletown and is named after Charles Louis Fleischmann, a Hungarian manufactu ...
, served as the Beaverfield Inn, and as production headquarters.
Ruben said the film's low budget prevented it from being able to afford to license the
U.S. Postal Service
The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U. ...
logo, resulting in cast-member Milana Vayntrub playing a postal worker for the "'National Mail Service' or something." He also explained that the cast's wardrobe was deliberately exaggerated: "I wanted the wardrobes to look like they might get turned into action figures. Someday, someone may want to dress up as these characters for
Halloween
Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...
."
Release
After
IFC Films
IFC Films is an American film production and distribution company based in New York. It is an offshoot of IFC owned by AMC Networks. It distributes mainly independent films under its own name, select foreign films and documentaries under its S ...
acquired distribution rights to the film, ''Werewolves Within'' had its world premiere at the
Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...
in June 2021. The film received a
limited release
__FORCETOC__
Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...
on June 25, 2021, followed by
video on demand
Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...
on July 2, 2021.
Reception
Box office
The film grossed $575,783 in the U.S. and $416,115 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $991,898.
[
In North America, ''Werewolves Within'' opened in 270 theaters in its opening weekend and grossed $250,811. In its second weekend it made $115,250 from 209 theaters; it was also the most-rented film on the ]iTunes Store
The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
's independent, horror, and comedy charts.
Critical response
On review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film reports an approval rating of 86% based on 148 reviews, with an average rating of . The site's critics consensus reads, "''Werewolves Within'' is the rare horror comedy that offers equal helpings of either genre -- and adds up to a whole lot of fun in the bargain." According to 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 assigned a weighted average score of 66 out of 100 based on 17 critics, the film received "generally favorable reviews". It is the highest-rated film based on a video game.
''Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' said that "despite all the severed, bloody body parts ... ''Werewolves Within'' is more playfully thrilling than scary in tone" and that the screenwriter "fashions all her characters with memorable attributes and plenty of social observations, yielding a compelling range of suspects none of which you can write off entirely." The ''L.A. Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' called it " th funny and snappy," and that its "catchy concept is made even more entertaining by a cast of accomplished comic actors." But, it said, there was "an overall lack of urgency or danger, related to the comedic tone. Because the characters are a bit silly, it's hard to become too invested in whether or not they get disemboweled."
Calling the movie "Clue
Clue may refer to:
People with the name
* DJ Clue (born 1975), mixtape DJ
* Arthur Clues (1924–1998), Australian rugby league footballer
* Ivan Clues
* Tim Cluess
Arts, entertainment, and media ''Clue'' entertainment franchise
* ''Cluedo'' ...
with werewolves," ''The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' said Ruben's "sensibilities shine lunar bright through the way the film privileges collisions of personality in contained spaces over creature-feature thrills."
See also
* List of films based on video games
This page is a list of film adaptations of video games. These include local, national, international, direct-to-video and TV releases, and (in certain cases) online releases. They include their scores on Rotten Tomatoes, the region in which they ...
References
External links
*
* {{IMDb title, 9288692
2021 films
2021 comedy horror films
2020s monster movies
2020s slasher films
American comedy horror films
Films set in Vermont
Films shot in New York (state)
LGBT-related black comedy films
LGBT-related comedy horror films
IFC Films films
Live-action films based on video games
American werewolf films
2020s English-language films
2020s American films