Jacob (George MacKay) dreams of living like a wolf, loping naked along the vibrant green forest floor as leaves rustle and light streams through the trees \u2014 both gorgeously captured in Michal Fojcik\u2019s sound design and Michal Dymek\u2019s cinematography. His real life is far drabber, as he stares out the window in a bland room with an empty expression. When his parents drop him off at a treatment center for species identity disorder, his mother (Helen Behan) begs him, \u201cPromise me you\u2019ll try.\u201d Initially, he appears to be on the more \u201cnormal\u201d side of the patients\u2019 spectrum in the clinic\u2019s rooms that encourage animal play (props to Joe Fallover\u2019s production design). There\u2019s a girl who thinks she is a parrot (Lola Petticrew), who wears bright red feathers and a beak, and a would-be squirrel (Darragh Shannon) gives himself a nasty injury while the celebrated Dr. Mann, aka The Zookeeper (Paddy Considine), berates him into trying to climb a tree. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, while the daylight version of Jacob promises that he doesn\u2019t want to be a wolf, his true self emerges and escapes from his room nightly. He stalks down the empty corridors on all fours, where he encounters Wildcat (Lily-Rose Depp, perfectly cast for the feline angles of her face), who encourages him to howl into the dark. They form an intimate connection in their animal forms, but Dr. Mann blurs the lines between therapy and abuse in his attempts to push them and the other patients toward human behavior. The Zookeeper continually espouses the superiority of humans, but all the benefits of consciousness contrast with Mann\u2019s \u2014 and man\u2019s \u2014 capacity for cruelty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Wolf<\/em> holds together due to MacKay\u2019s almost purely physical performance. Other than his growls and howls, Jacob is largely taciturn, requiring an incredible bodily commitment to the role. He does a bear crawl whose form would please even the pickiest of fitness instructors. Terry Notary (who also has a small on-screen part in the film) served as movement choreographer<\/a>, and the result looks like something out of a David Attenborough documentary series. Mackay snarls and sniffs, and his gait is eerily lupine. Whether in 1917<\/em><\/a> or True History of the Kelly Gang<\/em><\/a>, he always does authentic, attention-drawing work, but this raw performance still feels like an evolution for the talented actor. His character challenges assumptions and doesn\u2019t invite affection, but he still gains our compassion throughout his trauma at the hands of the Zookeeper. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite the impressive performance at its heart, Wolf<\/em>\u2019s off-putting approach still keeps its audience at a remove. Biancheri\u2019s script and direction have a coldness and detachment that fit the film if you view it as a modern-day fable (or if you see those with species identity disorder as incapable of human emotion), but it all keeps the audience from fully engaging with the experiences of those on screen. Biancheri never fully fleshes out its characters and concept more thoroughly, even while the visuals and acting create a world that promises more than the script delivers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Biancheri\u2019s film never fully coalesced for me, but there\u2019s still a lot to like and recommend here. By its nature and inventive premise, this isn\u2019t the type of film that will be widely seen, but MacKay\u2019s performance and the craft visible on screen elevate it into something interesting. “Wolf” is out Friday in theaters.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/wolf2-1024x549.jpg\")
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