Tribeca 2021: Werewolves Within Review

This will be one of several reviews from this year’s Tribeca film Festival. To follow our coverage, click here.

Monster films have often served as allegories for the times in which they were made and in the case of Werewolves Within, based on the video game of the same name, it is no different but as much as it is about that, it is also a blast of a horror comedy though not without its own problems. For a short film, clocking in at around the 90 minute mark, it does take a while to get going and find its rhythm and the right balance between horror and comedy. However when it does, it is a blast to watch as its impressive comedic cast and their chemistry help make up for some of the film’s flaws. While not particular scary, just watching them riff off of one another is still compelling to watch as in the end, the film works better as a comedy than a horror with the writing not leaving it as an empty experience.

Werewolves Within follows the happenings within the small northeastern town of Beaverfield where a snowstorm has trapped its residents within a local inn. Meanwhile, a newly-installed ranger named Finn (Richardson) and a bubbly postal worker named Cecily (Vayntrub) were forced to keep the peace and the eccentric personalities of the residents in check while a mysterious creature terrorizes the community. Not as strong as a fish-out-of-water tale with Finn in a new town as the other characters beyond he and Cecily were lacking, most will be left waiting for the creature to catch up with the rest of the story. Having a group of characters isolated in a single space and attempting to solve a mystery leads to inevitable comparisons to Knives Out. Unfortunately, the lack of character development means that the humor doesn’t land on a consistent basis and the film fails to give viewers enough of a reason to care about them as they are merely more or less fodder for the creature.  

At the end of the day, the best part of Werewolves Within was Richardson and Vayntrub as Finn and Cecily. It was just a shame that we didn’t get more of them. That being said, they and their chemistry are more than enough of a reason to check this one out.

still courtesy of IFC Films

If you liked this, please read our other reviews here and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter or Instagram or like us on Facebook.

Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.