Werewolf (2018 film)

The film begins with a soldier telling eight children that they should beware of the Werewolf when they will flee Gross-Rosen concentration camp in 1945. Following a successful escape, the kids are orphaned and have no place to go other then an abandoned manor which is used as an orphanage by Jadwiga. When Jawiga suddenly dies, the children realize that they have a potential to escape, but with dogs circling the mansion and supplies running low, they must figure out how to escape this place, and settle in Warsaw alive.

• Kamil Polnisiak as Wladek
• Nicolas Przygoda as Hanys
• Sonia Mietielica as Hanka
• Danuta Stenka as Jadwiga
• Werner Daehn as SS soldier
• Jakub Syska as 'Siwy'
• Helena Mazur as 'Ruda'
• Krzysztof Durski as 'Czarny'
• Maksymilian Balcerowski as 'Chudy'
• Julia Slusarczyk as 'Duza'
• Matylda Ignasiak as 'Mala'
• Oleksandr Shcherbyna as Lonka
• Eugeniusz Malinowski as driver
• Radoslaw Chrzescianski as Red Army soldier
• Wojciech Namiotko as Krepak
• Barbara Pigon as Prisoner

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds 94% approval rating based on 18 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10.[4]

David Hughes of Time Out wrote "It takes considerable chutzpah to make a horror film set during the Holocaust, but there's nothing exploitative about Werewolf, which succeeds as a straight genre film, an allegory about the false dawn of Polish liberation, and a study of human behaviour and resilience under extreme duress".[5]

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian called the film "a disturbing [and] challenging drama",[6] while Wendy Wide of The Observer mentioned about "choppy editing", that, according to her, "adds to the sense that this picture is struggling to achieve a tonal balance and work out exactly what it is trying to say".[7]

According to Kevin Maher of The Times, the film is "stunningly shot [and] soaked in sylvan shadow with a bravura slow-mo finale worthy of Brian DePalma at his best. The child cast, often blank-eyed and emaciated, are uniformly excellent too".[8]

THN's Kat Hughes called the film "A well written and superbly acted tale",[9] while Terry Mesnard of Gayly Dreadful wrote "[the film is a] powerful reminder of retaining, and more importantly, reclaiming humanity in the face of overwhelming adversity".[2]

Werewolf also got rave reviews from foreign press. Sergio F. Pinilla of Spanish language magazine Cinemanía praised the direction and cinematography of the film, calling it "superbly made and directed film".[10]

• Werewolf at IMDb