Wolf
focus featuresSociety is in a modern state of self-examination as nearly every form of identity has come under question. What does it mean to be a human? What is fact and what is fiction? These are questions that are being asked every day with cinema clearly showing a reflection of this. Especially when it comes to creating allegories, media and cinema have a long history of reflecting the modern human condition. Nathalie Biancheri's Wolf feels no different. Following a young man named Jacob (George MacKay) who gets sent to a special school for species dysphoria, as he feels as if he really is a wolf trapped in a human body, Wolf builds a dangerous attempt at social commentary which never quite finds its footing.
Clearly inspired by the works of Yorgos Lanthimos, Wolf attempts to blend comedy with dark tragedy hoping to find a final product that is uncannily human. This is where the problems of Wolf start. It is clear that the film is biting off far more than it can chew when it comes to tone, and the film almost immediately loses control of its own identity. It is unclear at nearly every stage if the film is trying to evoke laughs to tears; it naturally feels quite funny to see a man run around howling, but at the same time it feels uncomfortable and wrong to find humor in this. This is especially true as there is a real tragedy within these characters who desperately want to get better, yet when a major emotional moment has a guy with a full squirrel tail crawling around in the background, it just doesn't come together.
This is tragic largely because of how much effort George MacKay puts into his role. MacKay has quickly grown to have an impressive filmography up to this point, but it is hard to say that he has ever expressed the conflict of inner demons as strongly as he does in Wolf. His character Jacob so badly wants to find peace and it is almost painful to see how this eats him alive. It doesn't matter to him if that peace is found with him accepting that he is a human or wolf, he just needs to find it. While the film ultimately fails his effort, MacKay can be seen as nothing less than a victim here and easily is the best part of the film. Both Lily-Rose Depp and Paddy Considine are also quite solid as the tormented and the tormentor, respectively, but neither are quite given the same emotional depth as MacKay to allow them to shine in the same way.
Outside of the performances, the visuals of Wolf are also rather strong. The school they live at is smartly built to highlight an almost beauty that is put in juxtaposition with its more brutal ideals. The school has a forest area on the inside with gorgeous views of the forest outside creating some really beautiful shots and all around adding to the uncanny nature of the film in a similar sense to something like Black Mirror. On a technical level, the uneasy feeling of Wolf does work quite effectively and again feels reminiscent of the overall energy of something Lanthimos would make, especially with projects like The Lobster.
Sadly this playground of strong performances and filmmaking is castrated by the story. While species dysphoria is a real condition, it is clear that Wolf is trying to use it to create a larger statement against other marginalised groups. The idea of having a school to get rid of something society has claimed unwelcoming is nothing new. From Indigenous people to the LGBTQ+ community, this is a loaded setup and it is impossible to not feel like the film is more than aware of this. The film attempts to create a message that it is the society that is messed up instead of these patients and that tolerance is the real key to happiness, but the comparison is naturally flawed. To compare the identity of someone saying they are a wolf to the complexities of gender identity, sexuality, and race is far from perfect and almost feels disrespectful at points. The film fails to have the craft to build a strong and clean thesis resulting in a problematic feature that simply doesn't seem to understand the perspective it is trying to represent. Then, the added layers of the film having comedic moments where it feels clear that it wants the audience to laugh at the subjects it is looking at takes on a new gross life that only adds to the uncomfortable viewing experience which is Wolf.
By the end of the film's 98-minute runtime, the audience isn't on the side of the characters as they try to find freedom from those telling them they need to change but rather simply just want competent help for them. The school that these characters find themselves in is one of the most confusing and incompetent institutions ever seen on film. Without giving everything away, the logic of getting someone to accept they are not a wolf by keeping them in a cage and on a leash makes no sense. It doesn't feel like the school is working for improvement or using logic, which fundamentally ruins the world the story is building. These characters are not being hurt because of people trying to help them get better, they are hurt by incompetent people trying to help them get better. It is so confusing to try and keep track of what the film is trying to say, and once it adds on the layers of the ties to other marginalised groups, it just becomes a mess. It bites off way too much to chew and feels flawed on nearly every level of logic.
Wolf is a film that leaves the audience in a bizarre state of confused, concerned, and angry. Trying to be something more, Wolf falls down a rabbit hole of social commentary, tragedy, and humor with no idea of where to go or what to do. It sails the audience into a hurricane and jumps off the ship leaving the audience alone at the mercy of the storm. While not everything is terrible, nothing feels like it works to its full potential. It is projects like Wolf that remind why strong social commentaries deserve to be recognised and rewarded. When it goes wrong, it goes very wrong. Wolf proves that more than anything else.
