Content Advisory: Animal cruelty or animal death, Excessive or gratuitous violence
A hunting trip becomes a fight for survival following an attack by a pack of wolves in Out Come the Wolves. Sophie (Missy Peregrym) has brought her journalist fiance Nolan (Damon Runyan) up to her family’s cabin in the wilderness, as the latter is writing an article about the effects of hunting. With Sophie now a vegan, having given up hunting, she calls her childhood friend Kyle (Joris Jarsky) over to take Nolan out. The tensions are high between Nolan and the jealous Kyle, which is made worse when the two encounter a pack of wolves in the wilderness.
Out Come the Wolves Synopsis
Out Come the Wolves is a wilderness survival horror film directed by Adam MacDonald (Pyewacket), which can be described as a spiritual sequel of sorts to his 2014 debut feature Backcountry, with MacDonald reuniting with that film’s star Missy Peregrym as the protagonist Sophie. The film costars Damon Runyan (Star Trek: Discovery) and Joris Jarsky (God’s Country) as Sophie’s fiance Nolan and childhood friend Kyle, respectively. Tensions grow after Kyle learns of Sophie’s engagement to Nolan, leading to a drunken confrontation between Nolan and Kyle the night before they go on a hunting trip.
While tracking a deer, Nolan and Kyle encounter a wolf feeding on one of the carcasses left behind. When the single wolf is revealed to be part of a full pack, Kyle, fueled by envy and jealousy, ends up leaving Nolan for dead after the latter is attacked. This results in a furious Sophie being forced to grab her hunting gear and head into the wilderness to save her fiance.
My Thoughts on Out Come the Wolves
Similar to what Adam MacDonald did with Backcountry, Out Comes the Wolves features some very intense wilderness survival horror. On top of the vicious wolf attacks, which get quite bloody, the film also features a particularly nasty scene involving a dislocated wrist, which makes very good use of Foley sound effects. Out Come the Wolves also does a good job of balancing the horror with a love-triangle narrative, the building tensions of which make up most of the first half of the film.
One of the allegories mentioned in Out Come the Wolves is that hunting reveals who you really are. While the film doesn’t necessarily play heroes and villains, both Nolan and Kyle are made to look more antagonistic at different parts of the story. Stuck in the middle of all this toxic masculinity is Sophie, who is arguably the best hunter of the three, even though her morals have resulted in her giving up having to kill animals until it is necessary for the film’s third act.
Much of Out Come the Wolves was shot in Dundas, Ontario near Hamilton and features some quite exquisite wilderness footage, including the film’s opening drone shot. It is also interesting to note that the actors were never actually on set with the wolves, with that footage shot separately in Alberta. As such, I have to say it’s quite seamless how the film combines this footage, with the help of on-set puppetry.
While not as brutal or intense as Backcountry was a decade ago, Out Come the Wolves still makes for a satisfying companion piece to that film. Even though he delved into supernatural horror for his second film Pyewacket, Adam MacDonald has made a career for himself by showing the very real reasons why going into the wilderness is not always a good idea. Also, the film shows good musical taste with an Our Lady Peace record drop in the first act.