Wolf Man (2025)

The original The Wolf Man had themes of men's rage being a danger to their loved ones and Whannell has tapped into that, even more directly, to explore the idea through fantasy of how we can be the worst danger to our loved ones, and how this may be connected to our own family traumas. Whannell explored coercive control in his masterful remake of The Invisible Man and tackles more themes of abuse in his remake of Wolf Man, a film that may not be flawless but remains a tight thriller that has something powerful to say. 

I was struck by how many scenes felt like completely realistic depictions of dealing with domestic violence in families. There is a moment in the third act where Garner, who is the unspoken centrepiece of this film, stands her ground in a way I would expect in a domestic drama. Her performance is incredible, balancing complicated emotions and motivations and transcending the genre, helping to make Wolf Man about something other than lycanthropy. 

Perhaps those seeking a thrill ride might be disappointed. Whannell focuses instead of drama and relationships. The powerlessness in Abbott's performance as he hurts the ones he loves, the tensions he feels as his desire to be a better man are not met, even before any werewolf attack, are so wonderfully portrayed. The film has A Quiet Place vibes in how it both keeps the story narrowly focused and highlights the horrors of parenting in the real world while also managing to be about something fantastic. Wolf Man might be a bit too on the nose a couple of times, but I appreciated its effort so much I forgave it and allowed myself to be taken in by the tragedy. 

And I felt the film does a good job of getting "scary" when it goes for those moments. Whannell is quite good at building suspense and Wolf Man leans into that aspect of horror with less of a focus on gore or brutality. This is a calculated choice that I felt works well. If you are making a film deconstructing the impact of violence on families, having your film revel in violence is a bit of a contradiction. Instead the tension arises from all the conflicted emotions happening both by Abbott's character as well as Garner's and Jaeger's. The film even manages to have some underpinnings of the emotional labour women endure in response to male violence. 

Wolf Man is concise at only 103 minutes and I felt restrained in other ways as well. I liked how the film downplayed the transformation aspect because this isn't as much about transforming. The brutality isn't necessarily all foreign to our title character. There was something elegant in the film's economy, taking place pretty much all in one night allowing the relationships between the characters to be the focus. I'd be down for Whannell to continue taking these classic monster tropes and exploring modern violence if he's up for it. 

Wolf Man

Starring: Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner, Sam Jaeger 

Director: Leigh Whannell

Writers: Corbett Tuck, Leigh Whannell 

All We Imagine As Light (2024)

Kapadia's quiet yet subtly beautiful film that has garnered such international acclaim is well deserving. It's a lovely little rumination on the melancholy surrounding love. Kusruti's central character is painfully distant until her experience allows her to finally let go and Prabha's young nurse is desperate for passion and her pursuit of it is lovely and gorgeous. All We Imagine As Light is meditative but powerful and pays off with a climax filled with a delightful, peaceful, joy. 

Kapadia films her story in a verite style yet captures quite a bit of beauty in the real world she is filming. I loved how the film began, centring us in Mumbai while hearing the thoughts of random citizens as they make their way through the metropolis. We are introduced to our two protagonists and how the city is both surrounding them and alienating them. The two actors do such wonderful work, even if their characters both feel a bit stereotypical. Despite that, each is allowed to have strong moments where they break free from what we expect of them. 

For me it was the end scene that really made All We Imagine As Light so worthwhile. It first of all affirms what both the women we have followed have gone through, their passions, and their struggles. But it also gives them both some relief, perhaps not their wildest dreams come true, but they go into the future better off. 

All We Imagine As Light

Starring: Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam, Hridhu Haroon

Writer/Director: Payal Kapadia

Universal Monsters - The Wolf Man (1941)

A decade after Dracula kicked off Universal's successful series of legendary monster movies, they released The Wolf Man, the character that has become one of the big three iconic classic monsters. Far more modern feeling than the other two (Frankenstein's monster being the other) The Wolf Man painted a sympathetic portrait of a monster with Lon Chaney Jr.'s  pathos filled performance at its centre. He would go on to play the world's most famous werewolf 3 more times in cross over films (featuring combinations of different famous monsters) which would begin one of the first examples of what today we would call a "shared universe". Like the other classic monsters, this film sets out much of what we as modern audiences think of when we think of were-wolf mythology. 

The Wolf Man is a simple yet compelling story about a man who returns to his ancestral home to reconcile with his father after his brother's death only to be bitten by a wolf and then tormented by his transformations into a dangerous half man/half beast creature. Like many films of the time there is a dash of xenophobia in how this appears to be a curse brought to the UK by the Romani. The story has been seen as an allegory for many things but for me it works mostly as a tale of a man specifically unable to control his own violent tendencies, perhaps due to some past trauma, family trauma. This may speak to why the film remains so enduring after all these decades. The fact it features the great Claude Rains adds a certain gravitas to it as well. 

The movie, despite some of it's flaws, remains a compelling and entertaining watch, especially with it's short run time. In many ways it found the perfect recipe for the were-wolf legend in modern times, as evidenced by how much all were-wolf stories pay homage to it in some way and use it's lore. Chaney is a bit part of this. His performance is touching. Surprisingly the full moon aspect wouldn't come along until a sequel but a lot of what we think of when we think of were-wolves is here. 

Earlier Universal had attempted to make another were-wolf story with Werewolf of London. However this film has eclipsed that one by far both at the time and in our ongoing public consciousness. The story for Werewolf of London is quite different although very much in the Universal Monster style. It's script is very funny but the plot drags a bit for me, even at only 75 minutes. 

Universal remade the film in 2010 and again in 2025. The former is underrated in my opinion. It takes the original film's story and sticks to it while altering it, including moving the story to the late 1800s, to make it more gothic feeling. It still follows Larry Talbot returning to his ancestral home after his brother's death to reconcile with his estranged father but focuses more explicitly on the family trauma and cycle of abuse aspects. Talbot drinks heavily throughout suggesting a parallel to alcoholism without directly drawing that metaphor. It also hints at connections to Jack the Ripper made possible through the time it is set in. 

For me, The Wolf Man is a story of losing oneself to one's worst impulses, whether through addiction or patterns of violence. For a modern audience we might be surprised to see that theme be woven so cleverly through this monster tale from nearly 100 years ago. But, like it's sister films Dracula and Frankenstein, it is also just such a well made pulpy film that can capture the imaginations of generations. 

The Wolf Man

Starring: Claude Rains, Lon Chaney Jr., Bela Lugosi, Maria Ouspenskaya

Director: George Waggner

Writer: Curt Siodmak

 

Better Man (2024)

I struggle with biopics, especially those where the subject of the story is involved in the film's production, because there is a disingenuousness to them. There is A version of the story, usually one that is trying to make a certain perspective come through. Also I struggle cause most people's lives, even famous people's lives, are just not that interesting. That's why Better Man is such a breath of fresh air. It throws all pretence of being a "true story" out the window and just lets it be about Williams making his case for his journey. And despite the fact that most of his life story is a pop star cliche, the film is just damn well entertaining. 

Did we really need another movie about a pop star's rise to fame, being pulled into drug/alcohol addiction, and alienating themselves from their loved ones while wrestling with imposter syndrome. No we certainly didn't. There is little in Williams' story that isn't right out of every tabloid cliche you can imagine. Perhaps knowing this, Williams and director Gracey decided to do the absurd. This is about spectacle and its effects so lets tell the story in a spectacular way. 

The ape thing seems silly at first but very quickly the film proves its thesis. It takes the story out of the real and into something that allows Williams to express himself through this story. I honestly forgot at times I was watching an ape version of him instead of a real actor, but there were times I was pulled back into that when there would be less human and more animalistic behaviours, reminding me that I was watching and interpretation, a performance. And that frankness (no pun intended) was appreciated. In a way it made it all feel more human. The film's willingness to be unreal helped make it feel more real. It hard to get until you actually see it. 

Better Man is damn entertaining. Despite being rather predictable with most plot points being expected (even though I knew little about him or his life story before seeing this) the story grabs you and takes you along for the ride. The ape gives a pretty excellent performance. I don't know how Williams is as an actor but this monkey really knew how to make you believe in him. 

Better Man

Starring: Robbie Williams

Director: Michael Gracey

Writers: Simon Gleeson, Oliver Cole, Michael Gracey 

Favourite Films of 2024

The love of film is subjective. There are no “best” and what might be meaningful and entertaining for one might not be for another. And that’s what makes it so wonderful. Those of us who love movies love all sorts and have our own particular tastes. 2024 brought me 182 new movies that I experienced, some of them I adored, many I enjoyed, and some were just not for me. I rewatched an additional 100 films meaning I spent a total of over 540 hours doing what I love, watching film. 

This past year was one where I saw many films I enjoyed and found it very hard this year to narrow my favourites down to only 10. This year I truly enjoyed a host of films including Alien: Romulus, The Apprentice, Babygirl, The Beautiful Game, Blink Twice, Blitz, Civil War, Close to You, Conclave, Cora Bora, Cuckoo, Didi, Dogman, Drive Away Dolls, Fancy Dance, Flow, Furiosa, Gladiator II, The Great Escaper, His Three Daughters, Hit Man, Housekeeping for Beginners, Humane, Hundreds of Beavers, I am Celine Dion, In a Violent Nature, Inside Out 2, It’s Only Life Afterall, It’s What’s Inside, Kill, Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, Love Lies Bleeding, Monkey Man, The Piano Lesson, A Quiet Place Day One, Rebel Ridge, Rumours, Saturday Night, Sting, Super/Man, Twisters, Under Paris, Universal Language, Wicked, Wicked Little Letters, Will & Harper, Woman of the Hour, and yes even Joker: Folie a Deux. Yet none of those made my favourites list… although a few of them came close… 

After much internal deliberation I have picked the following 10 films as my favourites of the past year (plus a couple special mentions), each offering me something unique and different so they cannot be ranked against each other. I wouldn’t trade out one for another. I’ve listed them in alphabetical order with my favourite of the year at the end. I highly recommend them if you haven’t already seen these amazing films. 

Special Mentions:

Challengers/Queer

Luca Guadagnino pulled off a minor miracle with these two incredible if imperfect films, one which explores the inherently homoerotic nature of heterosexual male friendships, a bold and evocative premise, and the other a deep dive into queer self-loathing and alienation in the mid-20th century. Both are highly erotic and uncomfortable films which centre deeply divisive characters who still manage to tap into relatable emotions. Both are gorgeous examples of big swing film making that are unforgettable. I found this back to back release from a singular film maker to be deeply fascinating and reminded me why I love cinema in the first place.  

Here are my top ten:

Anora

A young woman who works as a stripper gets pulled into a hilarious and heartbreaking world of dysfunction when she marries the son of a Russian oligarch who she met in the club where she works. 

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; I have never met a Sean Baker film I didn’t like. Anora may be my favourite of his works yet (although Tangerine holds a special place in my heart). Yes Mickey Madison deserves all the glory she is receiving for this tour de force performance but the entire cast is truly remarkable. This reworking of the Pretty Woman scenario is funnier, more touching, and far more realistic than the famous film it is easy to compare it to. Anora, amongst all the laughter and empowerment, is also quite heartbreaking. I immediately wanted to watch it again… and again… and again…

Dune Part Two

Paul Atreides continues his rise to power against the Galactic Imperium in this epic adaptation of the famous “unfilmable” and seminal science fiction novel.

Director Villeneuve has pulled off the impossible by bringing this epic to the screen in such a compelling and captivating pair of films. He has addressed many of my issues with the source material yet stayed true to the spirit and vision of the novel’s author, while delivering a smart but accessible, earnest epic unseen since the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I can revisit Parts One and Two endlessly and still find beauty in this story, one he correctly sets out as a tragic deconstruction of the “hero’s arc”. 

Emilia Pérez

A musical, a crime saga, a journey of four women to assert who they are and who they love. Unlike almost any other film you might see.  

This is the sort of film that you should see with little to no information about it and just let the experience of it wash over you. I know for many it will be too much, but if you can be along for this ride, it is an emotional powerhouse and a singular thing of beauty. I felt so much each time I have watched it. At its core it is centered around the strong performances of the stars. But for me it is the sheer unexpected nature of it which keeps me so engaged in what a film Emilia Pérez is. 

Femme

After being gay-bashed while in drag, a young man seeks revenge against his closeted attacker. 

Femme is a thriller that had me on the edge of my seat right up to its end moments. It broke my heart, raced my pulse, and awoke some old wounds. Its nuanced and complicated characters make its story so powerfully satisfying. It features incredible performances by Nathan Stewart-Jarrett and George MacKay. The film’s twists and turns keep you wondering and make you question what you know and what you feel. 

Glitter & Doom

A juke box musical set to the song catalogue of the Indigo Girls about a clown and a song writer falling in love. 

I am not sure you could tailer-make a movie more for me than this movie feels like it was. Some of my favourite music and a sweet little oddball gay love story all filmed like it was directed by the love child of Baz Luhrmann and Julie Taymor. Visually stunning, deliciously weird, and overloaded with cuteness, G&D has me smiling throughout while I hum along. 

The King Tide

After a mysterious baby washes up on the shores of a remote island, the people begin to experience incredible prosperity and health… until she grows older and it stops. 

This sort of Black Mirror/Twilight Zone style thriller is my horror genre vibe. A cautionary tale about how societies collapse in on themselves. Beautifully shot and powerfully acted, The King Tide is chilling in its unflinching take with a brave ending that will wipe you out. 

Memoir of a Snail

A young woman loses her family but makes herself a new life in this gorgeous stop motion animated story told to her pet snail. 

I have a soft spot for Claymation and I haven’t seen it done this well in so long. But it’s the story at the heart of Memoir that is just so powerful and well told. It ranks right up there with the other films on my list in terms of an emotional punch. Just because it is animation does not mean it is for small children, Memoir is filled with adult themes and some of the most mature explorations of relationships of any film I saw all year. Memoir is easily one of the most moving and touching films of the year. 

National Anthem

A young man looking for work finds himself a chosen community on a queer ranch and explores himself in rodeo and drag. 

Gilford’s meditative and melodic coming of age (and identify) tale is gorgeous and loving. Plummer is so exciting to watch and deserves to be a big star one day while Park steals so much of the show as a calming and caring nurturer. I just felt so affirmed watching this story. It’s about community and finding one’s way in a world that often doesn’t set out a path for you. 

Sing Sing

Convicts in the titular prison find rehabilitation through theatre during their incarceration. 

Cast mostly with real former convicts who were part of the program this story is based on, Sing Sing is in no way inspiration porn. It is gritty and real and explores the humanity of those we don’t want to see as human. Domingo is at his best here reminding us why he is one of the best working actors of the day. But it is the film’s unflinching look at real people that makes Sing Sing so damn powerful. 

And now my favourite film of 2024:

I Saw the TV Glow

Two strangers bond over their love of an old TV show and find connection that takes them out of this world. 

I knew I was watching something special the first time I watched I Saw the TV Glow and each time I have watched it since it has moved me with its powerfully abstract yet groundedly familiar story. It is a glimpse a bit into madness but also into liberation. Perhaps the two are related. Not since the work of David Lynch has a film tore at reality in such a way as to reach inside to find truth. Shoenbrun has made a masterpiece and it’s touching and lovely and terrifying all at once. It has haunted me and stuck with me more than any other film in 2024. 

I wanted to highlight some of my favourite performances of the year including leads such as Daniel Craig (Queer), Kirstin Dunst (Civil War), Lily Gladstone (Fancy Dance), Elliott Heffernan (Blitz), Caleb Landry Jones (Dogman), Mickey Madison (Anora), Elliot Page (Close to You), Charlie Plummer (National Anthem), Zoe Saldaña (Emilia Pérez), Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice), and Megan Statler (Cora Bora).

There were also supporting performances which were incredibly memorable for me such as Enrico Colantoni (Humane), George Mackay (Femme), Mason Alexander Park (National Anthem), Adam Pearson (A Different Man), Hunter Schafer (Cuckoo), and Cory Michael Smith (Saturday Night).

And that’s a wrap for 2024, a year when loving movies was as satisfying a passion as ever. Here’s to what’s coming in 2025!  

 

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (2024)

Vengeance Most Fowl is a feature length sequel to the 1993 short film The Wrong Trousers featuring the return of Feather's McGraw and a continuation of the "Blue Diamond" heist. In many ways it is also a return to the true spirit of the Wallace & Gromit stories after having separated from Dreamworks who produced The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and Chicken Run, famously conflicting with Aardman creator Nick Park. Here you can see Park just enjoying telling these stories again. 

Vengeance is a fun and wacky little tale that sticks to the W&G format which sees Gromit fixing Wallace's inventions' catastrophes and seeing their connection as life long friends. Park enjoys spoofing pop culture and there is a good deal of that here, including an inspired Cape Fear tribute near the beginning.  

I felt meeting the feature runtime did feel like stretching this story a bit in the middle. After some dragging the film picks up for a very satisfying final act which is heartwarming and perhaps sets up a third chapter in what could be a fun trilogy. I'd recommend watching Trousers and then Vengeance. Hopefully there will be more in their pursuit of McGraw in the future. 

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

Starring: Ben Whitehead, Peter Kay, Lauren Patel, Reece Shearsmith 

Directors: Nick Park, Merlin Crossingham

Writer: Mark Burton

Universal Monsters - Dracula (1931)

Bram Stoker's novel has been the inspiration for many legendary films from the unauthorized german Nosferatu (inspiring multiple remakes itself) to endless official versions over the decades including the huge 90s hit from exalted director Francis Ford Coppola. But the first Hollywood adaptation from 1931 remains the iconic piece of film history, also kicking off the Universal Monster series of films, a film series hard to match in terms of influence over time. 

Based mostly on the stage play adaptation of the novel and "modernized" to the present (1930s) day Dracula became a sensation which has burned certain iconography into mainstream culture. It remains quite terrifying even to this day, partially because of the downright creepy performances of Legosi and Frye but also the moody, atmospheric cinematography and the deliciously pulp approach to Browning's story telling. It is a wonderfully watchable film with simple themes and an easy to appreciate story. 

Dracula in the film is pure evil, unlike many of the misunderstood monsters of the other Universal films like the Frankenstein Monster or the Wolf Man. Like the previous film, Nosferatu, the vampire represents an insidious invading force. It plays on our fears of the other. Many years later vampires would be rehabilitated as more sympathetic in the works of Anne Rice or other popular novels and films but here they represent something terrible coming to undermine us.

Some sympathy for the vampire does show up in the original film's direct sequel, Dracula's Daughter, a film which implies a homoeroticism which would become common in vampire stories but told from the time's fear of queerness. The film focuses on a sort of "conversion therapy" gone wrong but does give its central character a sympathetic view. 

The next sequel Son of Dracula is also a surprisingly satisfying sequel about losing one's love to something dark. Together the three films, made over the more than a decade, create a rather solid trilogy. Certainly the sequels are not nearly on the same level as the classic first film, but still remain quite enjoyable to this day. 

Stoker's story has been adapted many times since, often incorporating elements from the 1931 film (or the silent Nosforatu) directly even more than elements of the novel. For me Coppola's gothic epic adaptation remains a personal favourite with its lush operatic approach to the story. Christopher Lee's famous Hammer Films series is almost as iconic as Universal's originals and many love Frank Langella's 70s take on the legend. However all of these pay their tribute to Legosi and Browning's film monster. It isn't just the direct revisiting of the story that owe so much to Browning's film, but vampire films in general who all pull from it in some way. It's hard to name too many films that have had more of an impact on cinema and popular culture than this legendary film. 

Dracula

Starring: Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler, Dwight Frye, Edward Van Sloan

Director: Tod Browning

Writer: Garrett Fort