WOLF MAN is a new horror movie out in theaters now. As revealed by the title, it’s a werewolf story, but quite different. In fact, it’s more psychological body horror than a classic action monster movie. Read our full Wolf Man (2025) review here!
WOLF MAN is a new werewolf story from Leigh Whannell, and you can watch it in movie theaters now – which you should. It’ll probably be a movie you’ll be pleasantly surprised by or disappointed in. This isn’t your typical werewolf movie.
While watching it, I was thinking more of iconic body horror movies than classic monster films. And that is not a bad thing. It just probably isn’t what many expect. Some expectation management is necessary so don’t expect a stereotypical werewolf movie.
Continue reading our Wolf Man movie review below. Find it in theaters from January 17, 2025.
From childhood trauma to adult nightmare
In Wolf Man, we first meet Blake Lovell when he’s a boy who goes hunting with his father. On this hunting trip, they have a violent experience that affects both of them. However, his father is harsh, and their relationship is not very good. It wasn’t before and certainly isn’t after.
Then there’s a time jump and it’s 30 years later. Blake (Christopher Abbott) is now married and the father of a little girl. He has become a modern “soft” man taking care of their daughter, while his wife, Charlotte (Julia Garner), is the household breadwinner.
The marriage isn’t entirely good, but their daughter Ginger (Mathilda Firth) is happy and healthy, so it’s not all bad. Still, Blake jumps at the opportunity for a getaway as a family. It’s on a sad backdrop as it’s due to his father finally being declared dead after he disappeared long ago.
The Wolf Man in the Woods
The small family goes to Blake’s childhood home in the great forests of Oregon. His father’s house needs to be cleaned out, and otherwise, the plan is to just enjoy time together alone as a family. There is also no cell phone coverage, so it’s time free of interruption.
However, the lack of a phone will become a serious problem, as they are attacked by a mysterious wild animal before they even get to the house. And yes, the attacker is a Wolf Man. Just as it was when Blake was out in the woods with his father as a child.
Blake is wounded, but they manage to reach the house and barricade themselves as best they can. We then watch a violent and strangely terrifying evening and night unfold in ways none of them could have ever expected or prepared for.

A different take on werewolves
In Wolf Man (2025) we get a completely different story for the werewolf universe. A story where the title reveals the first different element; It’s about a wolf man rather than a “classic” werewolf.
There were parts of this movie where I thought significantly more of the iconic Cronenberg body horror film The Fly than any other werewolf film I have ever seen. And I loved this! Also, the entire main story of Wolf Man plays out over just one day. Mostly an evening and a night.
So forget all about the classic full moon hysteria and a man who becomes a wolf and transforms back again.
I also really liked how we get to experience how the “transformation” happens from both the healthy uninfected people’s point of view and from the infected man’s side of everything.
This gives a different but also very violent experience, as we see how he experiences his world drastically changing. Both his vision and hearing begin changing, which we also get an idea of through the experience from his point of view, and it’s all very confusing to him. Obviously.
Watch Wolf Man in theaters now
Leigh Whannell is the director of Wolf Man. He once again delivers a solid genre film. His previous movies as a director are The Invisible Man (2020), Upgrade (2018), and his directorial debut Insidious 3 (2015).
We are rarely disappointed when Leigh Whannell is in the driver’s seat. Preferably both as a writer and director. With Wolf Man, he is also the co-writer of the script together with Corbett Tuck, who makes her debut as a writer here.
However, she has appeared in several films (including a couple of Insidious films). She is actually married to Leigh, and they have three children together, so it is a collaboration that works on all levels.
A QUICK COMMENT…
I personally found this marriage duo works better than James Wan and his wife, Ingrid Bisu, when they came up with the story for Malignant together. And things are still going extremely wrong for Neil Marshall, who makes one awful movie after another with his girlfriend Charlotte Kirk.
As usual, both Christopher Abbott (who becomes somewhat disgusting to watch along the way) and Julia Garner are absolutely fantastic in their respective roles. Julia Garner could have been given a little more to work with, but this is Wolf Man, so she’s more of a witness to the title character.
If you’re expecting a classic werewolf movie with a full moon and wild transformations, you’ll probably be disappointed. I wasn’t expecting anything specific and was genuinely excited while watching this movie.
If you’re ready for a different werewolf or wolfman story, then you have to check out Wolf Man in theaters now.
Wolf Man is out in US theaters from January 17, 2025.
Details
In Theaters: January 17, 2025
Director: Leigh Whannell
Script: Leigh Whannell, Corbett Tuck
Cast: Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner, Matilda Firth, Sam Jaeger
Plot
A family at a remote farmhouse is attacked by an unseen animal, but as the night stretches on, the father begins to transform into something unrecognizable.
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