Werewolves

Werewolf is a 2016 film directed by Ashley McKenzie.  It had originally premiered in Baltimore, in 2017 with the Maryland Film Festival.  I screened it however, in March, 2018, when it had more of a theatrical release, and when it came back to the Parkway Theater.  I feel like that this movie has a bit of a misnomer for a title.  I had originally had avoided this with the film festival, merely based on the title, thinking it was going to be something more like Twilight.  Despite this notion, the title can be illusionist of the concept of changing into someone or something new.

Werewolf is a movie that follows Blaise and Nessa, a young homeless outcast couple in a small town.  They relationship is the classic codependent addict relationship.  They go door to door, begging to cut people's lawns in the small town, frequently resorting to a run-down bus on the outskirts of town to live out of.  TThey are using their earnings to work towards methadone treatments.  Nessa, the stronger, and younger of the two, creates a plan to get better and out of the small town.  She slowly tries to chip away at her dream to leave the small town, as Blaise spirals back on the brink of addictions.  He starts to hinder Nessa's progress, and you can't help but wonder, if she will break the addiction cycle.

While most movies circulating the drug addictions, I feel like most build on notions of platitudes or a variety of judgement in one field or another.  Werewolf was refreshing in the sense, as you watch this couple struggle, and the viewer can only hopes that Nessa is able to continue towards her path of betterment.  It's a film that centralizes around the ideas and themes of there being no right answers or development in the area.  The balance between the vulture who circulates around bad habits, and those that reach several road blocks, was refreshing and different than many other drug abuse films.  I appreciated the struggle between the two, and the nature of their relationship.  Not being a drug addict, the movie gave me a different appreciation for those that are struggling to get their lives together. 

The movie lags at times, and I felt that McKenzie drew out some scenes a bit more than I cared for, but overall, I appreciated the smaller approach.  The codependency of the relationship I think is something that is not explored as much.  The length was short, and I'm sure a challenge to really work on developing certain themes or story-lines more.  I would have liked to have seen more of Nessa's development or progression that would have gotten her started or mixed in with Blaise's concepts.  There were some differences in characters, which I'd like to think were a driving attraction to the two starting.  Despite this, I would have liked more of a frame of mind of a bit before or after the projected story line.  The movie was apparently filmed just under a month, and was loosely based on an actual couple's life.  I think McKenzie was able to really capture the small town feel,  and the struggle to overcome addictions well.  The storyline I found interesting, and I'd be interested to see  what McKenzie develops later.