A Werewolf Boy

Somewhere on the West Coast, Kim Sumi gets a phone-call which summons her back to Korea… to a reunion with her granddaughter and a trip to the weird old mansion (“a place fit for a monster”) where she lived as a young woman 47 years before. The memories flood back. She recalls her awkward relationship with Jitae, the family’s obnoxious benefactor, who expects to marry her—and her even more awkward relationship with Cheolsu, the feral boy they found living in one of the sheds. The wolf-like boy needs to be taught to speak, to wash, to dress, in short, to become civilized. The 19-year-old Sumi gradually overcomes her fear and disgust and begins to care for the lad. But others don’t overcome their fear and disgust, and there’s a dark secret in Cheolsu’s past.

How can the idiosyncratic talent which gave us Don’t Step Out of the House! (VIFF 09) and End of Animal (VIFF 10) translate his vision to a commercial movie? A Werewolf Boy is how. The first big-budget feature from Jo Sunghee finds the unexpected middle-ground between Truffaut’s L’Enfant sauvage and Marvel’s Wolverine. This remarkable entertainment features an undying love, suspense, a sci-fi mystery, tenderness, fur… and some very jagged teeth.

— Tony Rayns