A Werewolf Boy is basically Edward Scissorhands and Beauty and the Beast with wolf transformations and K-drama cinematography. As such, the fantasy romance can be quite predictable. But this doesn't mean that A Werewolf Boy is a bad movie. The film subtly contemplates the sorrow of having left one’s home country, as Kim Sun-yi has lived her adult life abroad. There's also no coincidence that it’s set after the Korean War, with Chul-soo speculated to be one of the many orphans left behind by the military. Thus, the lycanthrope element stands in place for what made these kids stand out from society. So even as the film plays familiar moments, the tropes fit its unique themes, bundling up certain issues in Korea with universal coming-of-age concerns. A Werewolf Boy won’t be for everyone, but it’s bound to charm YA fantasy romance fans with its tear-jerking ending.
Synopsis
An unexpected phone call brings an elderly woman to her childhood country cottage, and memories of an orphan boy she knew 47 years ago come flooding back to her.
Storyline
After receiving a call about the sale of her old family home, Kim Sun-yi remembers her childhood, when her family moved to the countryside and found a feral boy they call Chul-soo.
TLDR
Twilight, whomst'd've?
What stands out
The werewolf element, of course. The CGI is pretty decent, but the film mostly works because of how it understands lycanthropy as a metaphor of otherness on multiple levels, not just in the ways YA fantasy has done, but in a way unique to Korean society.
