UNFROSTED

Stars: Jerry Seinfeld, Melissa McCarthy, Amy Schumer, Jim Gaffigan, Hugh Grant, James Marsden, Dean Norris, Jon Hamm, Sarah Cooper, John Slattery, Maria Bakalova, Max Greenfield, Mikey Day, Kyle Mooney, Peter Dinklage, Christian Slater, Bill Burr, Dan Levy, Thomas Lennon, Jack McBrayer and Bobby Moynihan.
Writers: Jerry Seinfeld, Spike Feresten, Barry Marden, Andy Robin.
Director: Jerry Seinfeld

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

For die-hard fans of the series Seinfeld, there is a clear point of distinction in the show’s creative trajectory in the wake of co-creator Larry David’s season 7 departure. As we’ve come to understand, David is a master of snark and bitterness that plays hilariously within his lead character’s jaded world perspective, as well as being brilliant at narrative construction. His buddy Jerry, on the other hand, likes things lighter and sillier, and that’s what Seinfeld became under the stand-up’s guidance - ‘The Contest’ is the classic David/Seinfeld mash-up; the one where George naps under his desk, that’s all Jerry.

I never loved seasons 8 or 9 (aka, ‘The Jerry Years’), but I’m going to take a weekend to rewatch them having seen Unfrosted, the new Netflix feature that affords Seinfeld’s silly side unbridled freedom. Very loosely inspired by the origin story of America’s favourite breakfast baked good, the Pop-Tart (see the real-world timeline here), Unfrosted unleashes ‘Jerry Seinfeld, auteur’ and the result is one of the most wholly enjoyable movie-watching experiences in recent memory. Silly as a clown car, of course, and no less bursting with giggly energy.

Seinfeld directs, co-writes and stars in Unfrosted as Bob Cabana, the marketing/R&D guru at Kelloggs in 1963, a moment in time when the cereal giant dominated the first-meal-of-the-day market. Alongside CEO Edsel Kellogg III (Jim Gaffigan), Cabana’s life is one of success-after-success; he dreams of the perfect American lawn and sending his kids to the kind of elite college that charges $200 in annual fees. But there is a cloud over his upper middle-class dreams; a cloud, in the shape, of a fruity gelatinous-filled treat in development at Kellogg’s competitor, Post.

Under highly-strung and devious boss Marjorie Post (Amy Schumer), the underdog outfit plans to gazump Kelloggs with their new breakfast line, changing forever the war for America’s early-morning counter space. Cabana gets a sniff of Post’s pastry plans and snaps, crackles and pops into action, rehiring eccentric cereal visionary Donna Stankowski (Melissa McCarthy) to share in the uphill battle to rush-launch their own sugar-filled breakfast super-sandwich.

This is the framework upon which Jerry Seinfeld (not averse to the pleasures of a milky bowl of grain-based crunch, as fans of his series know) constructs his pastel pastiche of early-60s ephemera, all the while exhibiting an inspired degree of nuttiness that recalls the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker oeuvre with a splash of Pee Wee Herman-esque alternate realism. The sweet, bright palate envisioned by veteran DOP Bill Pope harkens back to 1995’s Clueless, where his lovely eye for colour and texture added immeasurably to that film’s endearing, enduring qualities.

The parade of Seinfeld’s comedy sector buddies is too numerous to mention, suffice to say that, quite remarkably, none hit a bum note, with each delivering a vivid characterisation and/or some perfectly-pitched laughs. That said, it might be the cast’s loftier acting names, among them Peter Dinklage, Christian Slater and especially a grrreat Hugh Grant, who all but steal the show.

Also remarkable are the occasional issue-based moments that Seinfeld and his seasoned writing team of Spike Feresten, Barry Marden and Andy Robin (all collaborators on Seinfeld) work into the mix. At various points, Unfrosted tackles in its own amusing way Big Business’ shady dealings with international influences; the never-not-relevant gender divide in America’s boardrooms; and (and I can’t believe I’m saying this), the poisonous hive-mind that led to the January 6 insurrection riots.

Unfrosted represents the work of a filmmaker aligned with his narrative’s period and people as filtered through a finely-honed understanding of comedic beats. While it is perhaps too sweet a confection to suggest that this was the film that Jerry Seinfeld was born to make, it clearly captures a storyteller who delights and excels at exquisite embellishment. Seinfeld has finally, even triumphantly, emerged from under the weight of his own name, with a work of superb silliness.

SWEDE CAROLINE

Stars: Jo Hartley, Richard Lumsden, Celyn Jones, Ray Fearon, Fay Ripley, Alice Lowe, Rebekah Murrell and Aisling Bea.
Writers: Brook Driver.
Director: Finn Bruce, Brook Driver.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ½

The world of Big Vegetable Competitions is a dirty business if the true-crime doco send-up Swede Caroline is anywhere near the truth (and if it’s not, it sure feels like it is). Targeting British eccentricity is low hanging fruit for any satirist worth their weight in compost, but injecting humanity and warmth into the inherent daftness of men and women dedicated to maximising marrow growth is just one of the many virtues this fun, feel-good charmer offers.

In a delightfully low-key but humanely hilarious lead performance, Jo Hartley stars as Caroline, the marrow grower with the magic touch who finds herself at the centre of ‘Marrow-gate’ - a controversial turn of events that sees her disqualified from the 2019 competition. This sets in motion a series of sinister coincidences and strange circumstances that ultimately reveal the small-town folk to be not at all the community-minded friends that Caroline and her clingy neighbour side-kick Willy (Celyn Jones) assumed.

On hand to capture all the increasingly ‘capital-C’ criminality and Caroline’s sleuthing prowess is documentarian Kirsty (Rebekah Murrell), whose unobtrusive camera style (and pretty incredible mic tech, if the coupling of wide shots and audio clarity are to be believed) bring out the personalities of the village. These include Caroline’s very shouty conspiracy theorist husband Paul (the terrific Richard Lumsden); the local private investigators Laurence (Ray Fearon) and Louise (Aisling Bea…swoon), whose legendary swingers party are not new to Caroline; and, softly-spoken Linda (Fay Ripley), who may know more than she’s letting on.

Co-creators Finn Bruce and Brook Driver expose the ugliness of unchecked ambition in the most satirically warmhearted way possible, acknowledging both the working class foibles of their heroine and the middle class sense of entitlement of their villains. But Bruce and Driver clearly have a fondness for their characters, unlike the similarly-themed Australian ‘classic’ The Castle, which was an ugly film that punched down upon its view of suburbia. Swede Caroline celebrates that which makes us feel good, even if it is an odd passion for giant gourds or monstrous melons, and its sense of sweetness will grow on you.

AS WE KNOW IT

Stars: Taylor Blackwell, Mike Castle, Oliver Cooper, Danny Mondello, Chris Parnell and Pam Grier.
Writers: Brandon DePaolo, Christopher Francis, Josh Monkarsh.
Director: Josh Monkarsh

Rating: ★ ★ ★

The well-manicured rock gardens of L.A.’s suburban hills are flowing red thanks to Agnes oat milk, a dairy substitute that’s turning Los Angelinos into ravenous zombies in Josh Monkarsh’s As We Know It. This giggly throwback to the teen buddy comedies of the late 90s subs in Mike Castle, as struggling novelist James, and Oliver Cooper, the film’s MVP as oafish stoner Bruce, for ‘Jason Biggs and Seann William Scott’ types; mismatched mates facing off against the undead uprising in a low-key but winningly likable rom-zom-com.

Monkarsh and his co-writing posse of Brandon DePaolo and Christopher Francis don’t leave the connection to chance, setting their story in the late 1990s and riffing on such decade-specific artefacts as Kevin Costner’s Waterworld, brick-like portable home phones, pre-smart TV TVs and those bastions of smallscreen journalism, Geraldo Rivera and Phil Donahue. Also of the period is the Pixie Dream Girl archetype, embodied here by Taylor Blackwell’s doe-eyed and endearingly sassy Emily.

James is in a deep funk, having recently split with Emily; so distracted is he from real life, not only has his writing stalled but he has also failed to cotton-on that his hometown is in the grip of an extinction event. It takes Bruce banging on his front door to bring him into the present; they make to hightail it out of town, but a syphoned gas tank means they have to bunker down in James’ pad (beautifully set decorated by Asiah Thomas-Mandlman and production designed by Lorus Allen).

The ‘rom’ revs up when Emily drops by to say a final goodbye before driving to Seattle with her girlfriends. When the girls meet an ugly demise, Emily is left to survive alongside her ex and his bestie, with whom she also shares an awkward past. In the mix are a food delivery guy on the turn (Danny Mondello), a sexy neighbour (the iconic Pam Grier, clearly having some fun) and SNL alumni Chris Parnell cameoing as an LA affiliate newshound.  

The bittersweet conclusion gels ideally with that particularly late-90s sense of foreboding that the impending new millennium held. Between the lad’s comic chemistry and the occasional teeth-on-flesh ickiness, Monkarsh focuses on the missed opportunity for a soulmate pairing that James and Emily let slip. True love doesn’t quite conquer all in As We Know It, but it is at the centre of this warmly funny spin on the old “better to have loved and lost, than never…” refrain. 

HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS

Stars: Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, Olivia Graves, Wes Tank, Doug Mancheski, Luis Rico and Jay Brown
Writers: Mike Cheslik, Ryland Brickson Cole Tews
Director: Mike Cheslik

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ½

 Screening: SYDNEY UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL, Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th of September at Dendy Cinemas Newtown.

When his turn-of-the-19th-century applejack distillery is razed from under his ruddy nose by some of the titular critters, our hero Jean refocusses his life goals in the giddily adorable Hundreds of Beavers, director Mike Cheslik’s impossibly winning spin on love in the time of Castor canadensis.

From the ruins of his booze factory, Jean (played by Ryland Brickson Cole Tews with the kind of honed comic timing that Oscar should note, but won’t) is cast into the north-eastern snowscapes of the USA, every effort he undertakes to resurrect his capitalistic dreams thwarted by the buck-toothed rodents (as well as rabbits, raccoons, wolves, fish and a pesky woodpecker). 

It is only when Jean falls for ‘The Furrier’ (an exotic Olivia Graves) and tasked by her father (Wes Bank) to deliver one hundred beaver pelts if he wants her hand in marriage, does the down-on-his-luck but always upbeat woodsman find the drive to succeed. The whole gloriously madcap, ‘Looney Tunes’-y spectacle ends on a scale so grandly inspired, its exalted status in film history is assured.

Pummeling elegantly through slapstick setup, sight gag and lo-fi effects mastery over the course of their delirious romp, Cheslik and writer/leading man Tews craft a monochromatic masterwork ripe with the DNA of the silent film classics of Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd. 

The pair earned a cult following amongst the indie crowd and cryptid fanatics with 2018’s Lake Michigan Monster, an equally daft no-budgeter that only unravelled when the dialogue delivery couldn’t match the visual magic. Almost entirely spoken-word free, Hundreds of Beavers will up the cult numbers hanging on their every frame considerably, as well as convince critics and audiences that there is strong pulse left in the ambitious filmmaking flourishes of yesteryear. 

THE LOST CITY

Stars: Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Oscar Nuñez, Patti Harrison, Bowen Yang and Brad Pitt.
Writers: Oren Uziel, Dana Fox and Adam Nee
Directors: Aaron Nee and Adam Nee

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ½

There is something so refreshing in watching true movie stars give their bigscreen charisma room to breathe, and Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum take some very deep breaths in the jungle adventure, The Lost City.

Bullock, who looks absolutely stunning in a way she hasn’t exploited in many of her films, plays Loretta Sage, a bestselling romance novelist who’s just about had enough of her own vacuous airport reading. She’s ready to kill off her franchise staples, including ‘Dash’, her broad-chested, blonde adonis hero brought to life by cover model Alan (Channing Tatum). Not what Alan wants to hear, with his shirtless public appearances being his primary source of income.

But in Loretta’s latest pulp writings are clues to a hidden city and jewelled headdress that don’t go unnoticed by scumbag billionaire Abigail Fairfax (a very funny Daniel Radcliffe). Abigail kidnaps Loretta, assuming she’ll guide him to the buried treasure, and setting in motion a rescue attempt by Alan that borders on buffoonish.

When chemistry is strained and the material is weak, these sort of romps look and feel like Dwayne Johnston and Emily Blunt in Jungle Cruise, but in the hands of a gifted comedienne like Bullock and a goofball hunk like Tatum, The Lost City occasionally feels like the Michael Douglas/Kathleen Turner classic-of-its-kind, Romancing the Stone. When our leads aren’t on screen, and the story has to be moved along, the very thin and silly veneer of a plot becomes obvious, but as a means by which to get to the next Bullock/Tatum giggly bits, it’ll do.

Of added benefit is Brad Pitt in an extended cameo as an ex military black-op who is called upon to lead the snivelling Alan in the early stages of the rescue mission. Pitt riffs on his own physical assets with as much energy as Channing Tatum, and while it’s all very broad schtick, it is also very funny.

THE ADAM PROJECT

Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Zoe Saldana, Walter Skobell, Jennifer Garner, Mark Ruffalo, Alex Mallari Jr. and Catherine Keener.
Writers: Jonathan Tropper, T.S. Nowlin, Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin.
Director: Shawn Levy

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ½

At the risk of putting offside all the theoretical physicists who read Screen-Space, time travel is stupid, can’t exist, doesn’t work…except in the movies. So movies can make up whatever rules they want about time travel, and that’s fine by me, as long as it forges its own logical path and, in doing so, is entertaining.

Which brings us to The Adam Project, the latest high-concept action/comedy/thriller to draw from the Ryan Reynold’s charm and sarcasm trough like it’s a bottomless resource. This Netflix blockbuster is the latest pairing of Reynolds and director Shawn Levy, who last pulled off this critic’s favourite Hollywood hit of 2021, Free Guy.

In 2050, a 40-ish Adam is a pilot, who steals a ship so that he can make the jump to 2018, stop his dad Louis (Mark Rufalo) from inventing a hard drive that makes time travel possible and foil his colleague Maya Sorian (Catherine Keener) from betraying their goals for her own personal gain. But 40-ish Adam punches in 2022 instead of 2018 and finds himself face-to-face with his 12 year-old self (Walter Skobell), a smart mouth mini-Reynolds who is coping with the sudden death of his dad by making life hard for his mum, Ellie (Jennifer Garner).

Banding together because they share the DNA code that overrides his starship's security, the starship that will carry him back to the future, Adam 2050 and Adam 2022 pair up with love interest Zoe Saldana (future-Adam's wife Laura, who travelled back previously to make sure...oh, never mind) to derail villainy.  

Like Free Guy, The Adam Project takes a convoluted fantasy premise and turns it into an engaging, exciting romp with more effortless likability and heart than one should expect from stuff like this. Which is all on Reynolds, who somehow combines a Jimmy Stewart warmth with a Burt Reynolds aloofness to pull off a rather unique leading man type - he’s still the handsome, funny movie star who projects larger-than-life to us, but he also connects to audiences through empathy and emotion. Tom Hanks did it in Splash; Jim Carrey did it in The Truman Show. Reynolds has it in spades.

The first half is pure ‘80s-era Amblin-inspired set-up and adventure, and it’s the best part of the film. The second half gets clunkier, a bit too special effects-y and loses touch with its characters in favour of some heavy-handed plot resolution. But it plays out nicely, recovering that deft storytelling touch and sleight-of-hand human emotion that sneaks up on you when all the time travel malarkey is cleansed from the narrative.

DEADLY CUTS

Stars: Angeline Ball, Erika Roe, Lauren Larkin, Shauna Higgins, Aidan McArdle, Victoria Smurfit, Thommas Kane Byrne, Aaron Edo and Ian-Lloyd Anderson.
Writer/Director: Rachel Carey

Rating: ★ ★ ★

Life is pretty shite for the women in Pigslingtown, and especially shite for the lasses of the Deadly Cuts Hair Salon. This Irish working class enclave is ruled over by a gang of misogynistic bullies, violent scumbags who extort money from the local businesses, crippling an already struggling sector, and the four plucky gals find themselves in the crosshairs (the puns just write themselves!).

Erika Roe plays Stacey, the 2IC of the salon, a twenty-something with grand dreams of taking on Ireland’s best stylists at the AAHHair Show and turning around the shop’s fortunes. Her scissor sisters include the boss, Michelle (the still-stunning Angeline Ball, who most will remember as the blonde back-up singer in Alan Parker’s The Commitments); fiery redhead Gemma (Lauren Larkin); and, the timid but primed for a big heroic moment, Chantelle (Shauna Higgins).

One evening, brutal gang leader Deano (a truly terrifying Ian-Lloyd Anderson) pushes the four friends too far and…well, let’s just say the town of Pigslingtown doesn’t have a gang problem any more. The path to hair show glory and a new destiny seems assured for the women of Deadly Cuts, if they can keep a secret even as the webcams of FabTV follow their every move.

In her feature debut, writer/director Rachel Carey shows a lovely eye for character and crisp ear for working-class banter, but struggles with the tone of her film. Shifting gears from aspirational, feel-good drama to bawdy girl-power ode to smalltown murder black-comedy, Deadly Cuts is never all those things in the single scene. It also wants to be a little bit of a piss-take of the hair stylist hierarchy and affectatious twats that anoint themselves industry leaders, which it does sporadically but without any incisive focus.

Nevertheless, there is a lot of fun to be had in just spending time with the four friends. The chemistry between the actresses, with Roe out front as the group’s heart-and-soul and Ball pulling focus like a true movie star every time she’s on-screen, negates the film’s other shortcomings. Be warned, though, that a) a couple of acts of violence are staged with alarming detail, and b) no fecking quarter is given in its embrace of the Oirish brogue. I understood about 60% of the dialogue, so thickly accented were the characterisations.

DEADLY CUTS is in limited release in Ausstralian and New Zealand cinemas from March 17 through Rialto Distribution.

STUDIO 666

Stars: Dave Grohl, Pat Smear, Taylor Hawkins, Rami Jaffee, Chris Shiflett, Nate Mandell, Will Forte, Jeff Garlin, Jenna Ortega, Whitney Cummings, Jason Trost and Marti Matulis.
Writer: Jeff Buhler and Rebecca Hughes, based on a story by Dave Grohl
Director: BJ McDonnell

Rating: ★ ★ ★

Foo Fighter fans get the 80s-style horror-comedy they’ve been screaming for Dave Grohl to make since NEVER with Studio 666. Yes, it’s a real movie and a pretty good one, as far as ‘possessed recording studio massacre’ movies go, and it’s in Australian cinemas for a limited time before heading to streaming, where you can watch it with mates between bong hits, as it should be seen.

The Foo-eys have a contractually obliged 10th album due and, no matter how much foul-mouthed record company CEO Jeff Garlin yells at them, they can’t get inspired to write some songs. So Garlin sets them up at a secluded mansion in Encino, hoping the long history of hits that have emanated from the site will rev up the group. But the mansion is home to more than just music history; it is a portal to demonic terror and soon Grohl is having nightmares about red-eyed entities, growing a gnarly set of fangs and killing bandmates in the most ridiculously gruesome way possible.

Everyone’s having fun, unburdened by any expectation that musicians need to be actors (there’s Will Forte, Whitney Cummings and, briefly, Jenna Ortega pulling acting duty). Mature-age men Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel, Pat Smear, Chris Shiflett, and Rami Jaffee are asked to channel ‘stupid teenagers’ in pulling off this lark, none more so the Grohl himself, who’s a funny, fierce leading man.

On the scale of ‘Rock Star Vanity Projects’, with The Beatles’ A Hard Days Night at one end and Neil Diamond’s The Jazz Singer at the other, Studio 666 falls somewhere in the middle, which’ll be good enough for the band’s fans. Gorehounds will dig the R-rated splatter, too; it’s all directed by BJ McDonnell, who last did the very bloody Hatchet III, which feels about right.

CLASS REUNION 3: SINGLES CRUISE (LUOKKAKOKOUS 3 - SINKKURISTEILY)

Stars: Jaajo Linnonmaa, Aku Hirviniemi, Sami Hedberg, Ilona Chevakova, Eino Heiskanen, Niina Lahtinen, Antti Luusuaniemi, Pihla Maalismaa, Mari Perankoski, Jukka Puotila, Kuura Rossi and Pertti Sveholm.
Writers: Renny Harlin, Aleksi Bardy and Mari Perankoski; based on characters created by Claudia Boderke and Lars Mering.
Director: Renny Harlin.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ 

The low-brow hijinks of middle-aged man-children has been a comedy staple the world over, nowhere more so than Finland. There, two bawdy, lamebrained romps - Luokkakokous (Reunion, 2015) and Luokkakokous 2 (Reunion 2: The Bachelor Party, 2016) - earned Finnish blockbuster status, boasting over 800,000 admissions. And when the words ‘Finnish’ and ‘blockbuster’ are paired up, the words ‘Renny’ and ‘Harlin’ aren’t far behind.

And so we find the action veteran making his first film in his homeland since 1986’s Born American, a forgotten B-action lark that was inventive enough visually and successful enough commercially for L.A. to notice. Soon, with the cult horror pics Prisoner (1987) and A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: Dream Master (1988) to his name, he would become Hollywood’s hottest director - Die Hard 2 (1990); Cliffhanger (1993); The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996); and, Deep Blue Sea (1999) represented a run of hits few directors experience (not to mention that cinematic asterisk, 1995’s Cutthroat Island, which was a whole other experience entirely).

For his homecoming present, the Finnish industry has gift wrapped Harlin a surefire hit in Luokkakokous 3 - Sinkkuristeily (Class Reunion 3: Singles Cruise), only asking in return that he brings his consummate style in service of jokes about catheterization, masturbating, flatulence, urinary retention, laxatives...you get the idea. Reuniting for #3 and leaving no doubt as to why the Reunion franchise is a crowd favourite are original cast members Jaajo Linnonmaa, the most popular breakfast radio host in Finland; Aku Hirviniemi, one of Finland’s acting superstars; and Sami Hedberg, the nation’s most popular stand up comedian.

Our immature mature-age trio are facing the hard truths of growing older. Antti (Hedberg) is fat and lonely, jerking off to infomercial hostesses and seeming barely coping with anything adult, like interacting with his young son (Kuura Rossi) and estranged wife (Ilona Chevakova). Tuomas (Linnonmaa) remains a free-spirited rock’n’roll wannabe, imagining life a non-stop party and sex with his wife to be far more spectacular than it is. By far the most interesting character development involves Niklas, aka ‘Nippe’ (Hirviniemi), who is sensing that his latent bisexuality may finally need acknowledging.

To get Antti some action, they decide that a singles cruise is the best option. Clearly, the film was conceived and greenlit pre-COVID while somewhat ironically, was one of the few that completed principal shooting during the pandemic. On the high seas, and with Antti’s senile father (Pertti Sveholm) doin’ alright with the ladies...to a point, the lovely Pilve (Pihla Maalismaa) falls for Antti; Tuomas almost scores with two Swedish poledancing influencers; and, Nippe goes full-Winslet with a handsome steward (Eino Heiskanen) in the cargo hold. 

Much of Class Reunion 3 is very beautiful to look at, with Harlin employing DOP Matti Eerikäinen to fill the screen with eye-popping colour and opulent sets, often bathed in smoky sunlight. It is a lot of effort to capture glistening gold fountains of urine or a shit-smeared bedroom wall, but this is where the Reunion films make their money (and likely a hefty sum for the director). There is a fun through-line in nostalgia, with oddly-placed but warmly recognisable references to the Village People, The Love Boat, The Shining and, rather distastefully, Carl Douglas’ gimmick-hit Kung-Fu Fighting. Just as much fun is had in spotting Harlin’s nods to his own career highlights, with none-too-subtle shout-outs to Cliffhanger and Die Hard 2.

Every repugnant moment and non-PC aside seems so calculated to offend as to make the very effort to upset redundant. Instead, there’s a goofy charm to the antics of the three friends; such is the level of their blokish idiocy, the joke is mostly on them. And when it’s not, the barbs are aimed at the most deserving - vulgar tourists, boorish stepdads, shrill social media types. This isn’t uncharted territory for Harlin - with shock comic Andrew Dice Clay, he upset everybody in 1990 with The Adventures of Ford Fairlane - and watching him once again indulge in humour puerile and extreme will be a guilty pleasure for many.

WEREWOLVES WITHIN

Stars: Sam Richardson, Milana Vayntrub, George Basil, Sarah Burns, Michael Chernus, Catherine Curtin, Wayne Duvall, Harvey Guillén, Rebecca Henderson, Cheyenne Jackson, Michaela Watkins, Glenn Fleshler.
Writer: Mishna Wolff.
Director: Josh Ruben

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

A proposed pipeline creates divisions within the small town of Beaverfield and a snowstorm traps its residents together inside the local inn, all within the zippy first act of Werewolves Within. The newly-arrived forest ranger Finn (Sam Richardson) and postal worker Cecily (Milana Vayntrub), must try to keep the peace and uncover the truth behind a mysterious creature that begins terrorizing the community in director Josh Ruben’s spin on that most precarious of sub-genres, the feel-good horror romp.

Keeping that peace is a lot harder said than done - just about everyone in the snowbound township has a beef with each other. Hillbilly mechanics, environmental scientists, nature-be-damned capitalists, conservative suburbanites and the only same-sex couple in the village end up stuck together in the cosy bed-&-breakfast, with not only a rampaging lycanthrope but also a gun-toting mountain man to deal with.

Ruben returned to his rural roots to tell this story; from the press notes, he grew up in the in and around a landscape just like the setting for Werewolves Within. He clearly loves this milieu and loves these characters, but he’s also got in scriptwriter Mishna Wolff (yep, that’s her name) a wordsmith that can supply the ensemble with crackling dialogue and a very funny, twisty narrative, the best of it’s kind since Knives Out.

Sam Richardson steps up to likable leading man status after his sidekick stints, notably in Veep, and he shares a lovely chemistry with the cherubic Milana Vayntrub. The small-town setting, trope subversion, expertly-etched bit players and zippy camerawork make this the best Edgar Wright film Edgar Wright didn’t make; it’d fit very nicely alongside any of the Cornetto trilogy, especially Hot Fuzz. 

In werewolf movie history, it’s got less hairy, bone-cracking transformation moments than classics like The Howling or An American Werewolf in London, but that seems deliberate; as the title suggests, Werewolves Within is less about the monster manifested and more about the beast within us all. On its own terms, it’s hugely enjoyable and certainly earns its place amongst the best of the genre.