The Wolf House

A film by Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña

2018 | Chile | 73 min | Color | Spanish, German with English subtitles

Maria, a young woman, finds refuge in a house in the south of Chile after escaping from a sect of German religious fanatics. She is welcomed into the home by two pigs, the only inhabitants of the place. Like in a dream, the universe of the house reacts to Maria’s feelings. The animals transform slowly into humans and the house becomes a nightmarish world. Inspired on the actual case of Colonia Dignidad, “The Wolf House” masquerades as an animated fairy tale produced by the leader of the sect in order to indoctrinate its followers.

Reviews

“The Wolf House is the best animated film of the year so far. A mind-blowing, stop-motion, Chilean vision grappling with the horrors of emotional manipulation via fairytale tropes. Astonishing.” —The Wrap

“The darkest animated movie ever made… This is powerful and uniquely disquieting cinema.” —IndieWire

“Its visual landscape is unlike any I’ve experienced.” —Ebert.com

“Utilizes stop-motion to conjure a level of surreal grotesqueness that would make Jan Švankmajer blush.” —Hyperallergic

“Strikingly unique… If an Orwellian fable were to be visualized by a surrealist in the vein of Salvador Dali, the result would look and feel something like The Wolf House, a jaw-dropping marriage of various animation techniques.” —Variety

Critic’s Pick! “Astounding… The film surprises, with incredible force.” —The New York Times

“The Wolf House gifts animation that strides the line between beautiful and grotesque, that builds and crumples as the camera rolls.” —Screen International

“The deeply uncanny pic makes for an unsettling viewing experience, a creative tour de force whose endlessly fascinating visuals are deliberately seductive and repellent in equal measure.” —The Hollywood Reporter