January is notorious for being the time for directors to release movies that otherwise would not be very successful or competitive in the cinematic world. It is considered a bad month to release a movie because it is typically when bad weather starts, like the snowstorm experienced in Springfield, MO and the cold seeming to last forever.

People might find January also called “dump month” in the movie world which is quite fitting in my opinion as I have seen movies in January. The last movie I vividly remember seeing that was released in January was Then Bye Bye Man released in 2017. I remember all the memes made about this movie that were more entertaining than the actual movie. It also got poor reviews, having a 4.3/10 on IMDb and an 18% on Rotten Tomatoes.

But this review is not about that movie, this movie is about an okay-to-decent movie, Wolf Man released January 17, 2025, in the USA. It is a rated-R horror movie directed by Australian filmmaker and actor, Leigh Whannell who has also directed films like The Invisible Man (2020), Upgrade (2018), and Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015). It was also produced by Blumhose Productions, a production company responsibly for movies like the Paranormal Activity series, M3GAN, Happy Death Day, and Five Nights at Freddy’s.

While researching this movie, I learned that the movie was supposed to be part of the Dark Universe that Universal Pictures was trying to create. The Dark Universe was supposed to be a shared cinematic universe for movie monsters. While Wolf Man was originally announced in 2014, it did not end up working out as multiple other films in the Dark Universe were not working out. It was not until the success of The Invisible Man that Universal was beginning to see hope in the monster franchise.

Surprisingly, Ryan Gosling pitched another attempt at Wolf Man. The project ended up falling through and Ryan Gosling ended up pulling himself out of the movie that he was originally going to star in. That is when Whannell took over directing and recast the movie.

This movie stars Chrisopher Abbot (It Comes at Night, Possessor), Julia Garner (Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Assistant), and Matilda Firth (Subservience, Disenchanted) as the misfortunate family of three.

While sculpting the script, Whannell pulled influence from the experience of Covid-19. That feeling of isolation and claustrophobia in this small house came through to me while watching the movie. It was always a relief when the characters would attempt to run away by going outside although it was considerably more dangerous as there was no longer a barrier between them and the “wolf”.

The “wolf” is one of the issues the movies is faced with, and it is supposed to be their main antagonist. Without spoiling much, there is a twist as to who and what the “wolf” is, but the movie just seems to tell you everything. Which is nice leaving the theater feeling like you understood everything. But sometimes I think half the fun is looking online at what people interpret certain things to be.

While they did not leave a lot to the imagination, I thought they had a cool and unique take on their werewolf. It might be difficult to make something unique while still making it recognizable to the trope or previously known work, but I thought they did a good job. I did think the “wolf” looked a bit goofy, but hey, it was released in the dump month, I do not think they liked it either.

Theatrical Release Poster courtesy of Universal and Blumhouse Productions