Wolf Garden
Written & Directed by Wayne David
Starring Wayne David, Sian Altman, Grant Masters, Jake Wood, Maddy Miles
Runtime: 1 hour, 29 minutes
Available digitally February 28

by Joe Carlough, Staff Writer

During the past week, my partner took a course on editing memoirs; she shared a few points with me that, while directed towards memoir specifically, I feel can be applied to most mediums. The point that stuck with me the most was to ask,“What feeling or information do I want the reader to get out of my work?” Once one can clearly define that, it’s about ensuring the audience gets that feeling or information. I couldn’t shake this question throughout Wolf Garden, an upcoming horror drama about selfless love, loss, sanity, and werewolves from Lightning Strike Pictures, the production company helmed by Wayne David, the film’s writer, director, and lead. I spent much of this film feeling like I knew what David wanted me to get out of it–but never quite getting it. 

Wolf Garden follows William (Wayne David), an unintentionally unlikable lead harboring a lonely secret. The film flits between past and present, wrapping the audience in a story that at times feels as confused as it must in William’s mind while he sorts through his memories, past traumas, and desperate daily survival, the details of which we get to know more intimately as the film moves along. The clues as to what exactly is going on swirl into the movie in dribs and drabs, leading to satisfying a-ha moments. The werewolf bits are the best of the film, the most exciting and filled with the most life. It’s a shame that they’re so short. The monster makeup looks good, and the tense moments are appropriately tense. As far as I’m concerned, the movie could have used more werewolf and less walking and talking. 

There are a few weak links in the film, mainly in the scriptwriting and David’s acting. The characters trade a lot of chichéd vagaries: escaping the rat race, boring is good, etc., without letting us into their actual lives–which rat race are they escaping? Why are they looking for something boring? Who are they as people? A few more details could have helped shape the narrative without giving away any twists in the plot that arise later. The main character William too often comes across as snide and charmless, lacking the warmth that bubbly Chantelle (Sian Altman) can’t help but exude toward him. William’s constant complaints and sarcastic quips–being dragged to the cabin in the woods, the terrible coffee at the local cafe, teasing Chantelle for hearing noises in the forest, criticizing her for lighting the fireplace, and on and on–have too much of an edge to them. I believe that they were meant to be said winkingly, but it’s constant, and Wayne David as an actor never quite hits the mark on them. 

Maybe if I’d gotten to understand what the characters actually liked about each other, these quibbles would be easier to digest. As it stands, the couple seem to have nothing in common and little chemistry between them, which is far too important to the central theme of the film–selfless love–to be missing. It just wasn’t there for me. There’s a lot of pressure on each actor to bring a lot to the screen when the bulk of the action rests on the shoulders of just one or two characters. 

Wolf Garden is a decent indie burner that asks how far someone would go to keep a promise to a loved one. The movie keeps the audience on the hook until the end, even if the final reveals aren’t quite as satisfying as I’d like. I had fun watching it, though, and I will keep an eye out for whatever Wayne David does next, which I feel is an excellent accomplishment for a first foray into feature length film. Not all directors can convince me to come back for more.