werewolf is the latest Blumhouse horror film to grace our screens, with horror director Leigh Whannell returning to showcase his take on the classic Universal monster movie. He has done it before with The invisible manpresenting it as a story of domestic abuse and domestic abuse, and her view of werewolf tells a similar, emotionally devastating story, making it a great entry into this year’s new films.
Speaking to TechRadar, lead actor Christopher Abbott talked about why Blake’s transformation into the horrific title character means the horror is as much a tragedy as anything else, as the theme of loss runs throughout the narrative.
When asked if any other performances influenced his, he told us: “Yes, I would say the fly, Elephant manthere’s a little David Lynch there. I guess there’s a kind of tragic element with those two monstrous creatures, you know, and I think this has that.”
This was one of my most anticipated horror movies of 2025 and it really delivered. While, yes, it was terrifying and the nervous moments were effective, I found myself more disturbed by the psychological torment and emotional moments, especially when it came to the breakup and complete loss of communication between Blake and his wife and daughter (played by Julia Garner and Matilda Firth, respectively).
It’s a big reason why I wanted to make the movie because when I first saw the designs, I thought there was something very tragic about the monster.
Christopher Abbott, actor
werewolf features some brilliant scenes where the point of view switches from the wolves to the humans, so we can see both sides of the situation. His inability to communicate and understand each other makes Blake’s transformation deeply sad, as he has transformed into something completely unrecognizable, mirroring the ways in which we cannot communicate with any species but our own. That feeling of isolation and the primitive animal instinct that takes over is the true horror at the heart of werewolf. The audience already knows that Blake and his wife Charlotte’s marriage is strained, and now their ability to talk about it has been taken away from them.
Abbott added: “They’re communicating poorly. They’re talking to each other, they’re not communicating well. You just need that idea to then help set up something more fantastic, where, where then they take the communication away from you. And so how do you communicate when You’re not even physically capable of doing it?
Not only did the bond between husband and wife break, but also between father and daughter. Abbott praised his young co-star Matilda Firth, who played his on-screen daughter Ginger, revealing: “She had a strange experience. It felt like she had a strange experience. I loved her, but it was almost unpleasant. She felt too very “I felt like I was working with an 80-year-old theater veteran, but she just takes it in stride. She’s there to play. You can throw something at her and she’ll do it or he’ll try.”
werewolf It’s in theaters starting Friday, January 17.
