The Wolf House (2018)

The Wolf House (2018)

A bone-chilling fairy-tale, as mortifying as it is breathtaking

7.9

Movie

Chile, Germany
German, Spanish
Animation, Drama, Fantasy, Horror
2018
CRISTÓBAL LEÓN, JOAQUÍN COCIÑA
Amalia Kassai, Natalia Geisse
75 min

What it's about

María, a girl from Colonia Dignidad, in Chile —a kind of sectarian community, tyrannically mastered by the ruthless Paul Schäfer, a German madman, religious fanatic and child predator, who would end up turning the place into a torture center at the service of the military dictatorship ruled by Augusto Pinochet—, is punished for having lost three pigs, so she decides to run away and take refuge in an abandoned house hidden in the forest.

The take

This mortifying stop-motion fairy-tale is inspired by the very real horrors of Chile’s Colonia Dignidad: a cult colony turned torture camp under the Pinochet regime. Presented as colony propaganda, the tale tells the story of Maria, a girl who runs away from the safety of the colony into the forest and takes refuge in a house with two pigs. What transpires is a gut-wrenching allegory for the rise of fascism, colonialism, and white supremacy. 

The staggering animation which seamlessly shifts mediums from paper mâché to painted walls is a bewildering sight to witness. But it’s the synthesis of this boundary-pushing art and the underlying horrors it depicts, that make this stand as an unmissable cinematic event.

Comments

Add a comment

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

Fruitvale Station (2013)

Compassionate filmmaking reconstructing a 24-hour police brutality story – with a stunning lead by Michael B. Jordan

9.7

Society of the Snow (2023)

J.A. Bayona remembers the humanity, not the sensationalism, of the Andes miracle

8.2

Familia (2023)

A tense and confrontational family gathering in an idyllic Mexican olive ranch

7.0

Holy Spider (2022)

A timely and terrifying noir that takes on systemic abuse and corruption in Iran

8.0

A Better Life (2011)

The illegal immigrant experience, portrayed with heart

7.6

The Kings of the World (2022)

A knife-sharp account of five kids' journey to land restitution and self-determination

8.4

I Don’t Expect Anyone to Believe Me (2023)

An eccentric Mexican crime thriller adaptation for the eccentric, satirical novel

7.0

Huesera: The Bone Woman (2023)

A well-crafted bone-breaking body horror inspired by the titular Mexican folk legend

7.6

Blanquita (2023)

A disorienting and difficult Chilean drama that reimagines the infamous Spiniak scandal

7.7

Argentina, 1985 (2022)

A gripping courtroom drama tracking the fall of Argentina's military dictatorship

7.9

Curated by humans, not algorithms.

agmtw logo

© 2024 agoodmovietowatch, all rights reserved.