Warning: This article contains spoilers forWolf Man.
In the classic franchise tradition, 2025’sWolf Manframes its horror story through the lens of a tragic romance — but this time, it doesn’t work, and there are a few key reasons for that.Wolf Manis director Leigh Whannell’s second retooling of an iconic Universal Monsters property afterhis 2020 redo ofThe Invisible Man. Much like withThe Invisible Man, Whannell connectsWolf Man’s horror tropes with a real-world social issue. WhereThe Invisible Mantied an invisible stalker to an abusive relationship,Wolf Manties a father-son werewolf duo to generational trauma.
ButWolf Man’s blend of horror and drama doesn’t work nearly as well asThe Invisible Man.Wolf Mansets up two interesting dramatic narratives drawn from the history of theWolf Manfranchise — a doomed love story and an estranged father-son relationship — but neither of them lands effectively. The twist of the father-son story can be seen coming from a mile away, and the couple at the heart of the love story don’t have any chemistry.The ending ofWolf Manis supposed to be a tearjerker, but the emotions just aren’t there.
Tragic Romances Are A Key Part Of The Wolf Man Movies
Larry Talbot’s Love For Gwen Conliffe Was The Emotional Core Of The Original Wolf Man
Tragic romances have been a crucial part ofThe Wolf Manand its sequels and remakes from the very beginning. George Waggner’s original 1941 movie,The Wolf Man, is a love story between Lon Chaney, Jr.’s Larry Talbot and Evelyn Ankers’ Gwen Conliffe. Gwen is the proprietor of the local antique shop that Larry falls for. Gwen continually rejects Larry’s proposals for a date, because she’s engaged to a man named Frank. When Larry transforms, his werewolf form attacks Gwen, the last person in the world he’d want to hurt. The whole thing isa monstrous metaphor for unrequited love.
1941’sThe Wolf Manwas Universal’s second werewolf movie after the less successfulWerewolf of Londonin 1935.
Joe Johnston’s 2010 remake,The Wolfman, put even more emphasis on the romantic element. In this version, Benicio del Toro plays Larry and Emily Blunt plays Gwen, and Gwen is the former fiancée of Larry’s late brother Ben. Larry initially sends Gwen away to avoid hurting her in his werewolf form, but they both eventually confess their love for each other. At the film’s climax, Larry’s werewolf form chases Gwen through the woods and corners her, forcing her to shoot him. As Larry dies in Gwen’s arms, he reverts to human form,ending their love story on a heartbreaking note.
It’s what makes an otherwise standard monster movie unusually sad. It’s what makes the audience care about the human being underneath all the fur.
The main focus oftheWolf Manmoviesis, of course, the werewolves themselves. Whenever a newWolf Manmovie comes out, there’s a lot of discussion about the creature design, and that is important (the underwhelming creature design in the new film is a big reasonwhyWolf Man’s reviews are so mixed). But the romance is just as important, if not more so, because it’s the emotional undercurrent of the story. It’s what makes an otherwise standard monster movie unusually sad. It’s whatmakes the audience care about the human being underneath all the fur.
Telling The Werewolf Transformation Story As A Tragedy About A Strained Marriage Could’ve Worked Really Well
2025’sWolf Mantakes a vastly different approach to its tragic romance, but that element is still prominent in the story.Wolf Manisn’t about Larry Talbot; it revolves around a brand-new character, Blake Lovell, played by Christopher Abbott. Blake had a deeply unhappy childhood on an Oregon farm, because his hot-tempered father was obsessed with tracking down the fabled local werewolf. 30 years later, Blake lives in San Francisco with his daughter Ginger, who he’s determined to raise better than his dad did, and his miserable, workaholic wife Charlotte, played by Julia Garner.
2025’s Wolf Man Finally Makes A Werewolf Change That Was Long Overdue
2025’s Wolf Man movie is another film about the classic monster, but it does make one great change to how the werewolf’s story is told.
When Blake’s father is finally declared legally dead, he’s tasked with driving back to the farm and packing up his dad’s things. Since his marriage has been on the rocks, he suggests that Charlotte come to the farm with him for a makeshift vacation. There was a lot of potential in this setup. Bringing a married couple to an isolated location isa great dramatic tool to bring their marital tensions to the surface. Stanley Kubrick used that tool to deeply disturbing effect with Jack and Wendy Torrance inThe Shining. But inWolf Man, it didn’t work.
Christopher Abbott & Julia Garner Lacked Chemistry As A Married Couple
They’re Great Individual Actors, But They Have No Chemistry
Individually, Abbott and Garner are two of the finest actors working today, who have each given fantastic performances in other projects. Garner rose to iconic status with her phenomenal turn as Ruth Langmore in Netflix’s crime dramaOzark; she played Ruth as an authentically tough-as-nails badass, while still maintaining an underlying vulnerability that made her human and relatable. Abbott, on the other hand, has given three-dimensional performances in all kinds of movies and TV shows, ranging from psychological thrillers likeIt Comes at Nightto pitch-black comedies likeCatch-22andOn the Count of Three.
Benedict Hardie
Derek
On paper, Abbott and Garner seemed like the perfect choices to leadtheWolf Mancast. They have the dramatic chops to elevate a well-worn horror story with depth and nuance. But the problem is that they just don’t share any on-screen chemistry. Abbott shared palpable romantic chemistry with Allison Williams inGirls, while Garner shared palpable romantic chemistry with Tom Pelphrey inOzark. Buttheir romantic chemistry with each other inWolf Manjust isn’t convincing. When they’re in scenes together, they both seem like they’d rather be anywhere else.
Wolf Man’s Story Held Back Blake & Charlotte’s Romance From Working
Wolf Man Didn’t Give The Characters A Chance To Connect
The lack of chemistry between Abbott and Garner isn’t enough to hold the movie back on its own. Since Blake and Charlotte are supposed to have gradually grown apart and become emotionally distant, the lack of chemistry might have been an intentional creative choice. But that’s not the only problem withWolf Man’s love story. There’s also the issue with the scriptnot giving the characters a chance to feel really connected. It dives into its werewolf story too quickly to explore their romantic difficulties in any real depth.
It dives into its werewolf story too quickly to explore their romantic difficulties in any real depth.
In its first act,Wolf Mancuts right to the chase. Blake and Charlotte don’t even make it to the farm before they’re attacked by a werewolf, and Blake is infected with the lycanthropic disease before he even knows what hit him. By that point, Abbott and Garner have only had two generic, cliché-ridden scenes to show the strain on their relationship. After being infected, Blake becomes a monster who can’t communicate for the rest of the movie, so there are no more opportunities for the characters to connect on an emotional level (and, as a result, they don’t).
Wolf Man
Cast
Wolf Man, released on August 09, 2025, follows Blake and his wife Charlotte as they visit his secluded childhood home in rural Oregon. After a mysterious animal attack, they become trapped inside, and Charlotte is forced to confront Blake’s disturbing transformation amidst growing tension and fear.
