Werewolf (2018)

Children liberated from a Nazi concentration camp have to overcome hunger, thirst and vicious dogs in an abandoned mansion surrounded by the forest.

Director:

Adrian Panek

Writer:

Adrian Panek

Stars:

Kamil Polnisiak, Nicolas Przygoda, Sonia Mietielica

11 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kamil Polnisiak	...	Wladek
Nicolas Przygoda	...	Hanys
Sonia Mietielica	...	Hanka
Danuta Stenka	...	Jadwiga
Werner Daehn	...	SS Soldier
Jakub Syska	...	'Siwy'
Helena Mazur	...	'Ruda'
Krzysztof Durski	...	'Czarny'
Maksymilian Balcerowski	...	'Chudy'
Julia Slusarczyk	...	'Duza'
Matylda Ignasiak	...	'Mala'
Oleksandr Shcherbyna	...	Lonka (as Oleh Shcherbyna)
Eugeniusz Malinowski	...	Driver
Radoslaw Chrzescianski	...	Red Army Soldier
Wojciech Namiotko	...	Krepak

Storyline

Summer of 1945. A temporary orphanage is established in an abandoned palace surrounded by forests for the eight children liberated from the Gross-Rosen camp. Hanka, also a former inmate, becomes their guardian. After the atrocities of the camp, the protagonists slowly begin to regain what is left of their childhood but the horror returns quickly. Camp Alsatians roam the forests around. Released by the SS earlier on, they have gone feral and are starving. Looking for food they besiege the palace. The children are terrified and their camp survival instinct is triggered.

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Plot Keywords:

world war two | nazi | concentration camp | dog training | dog | 

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | War

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Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site [Poland]

Country:

Poland Netherlands Germany

Language:

Polish German Russian

Release Date:

29 March 2019 (Poland)

Also Known As:

Werewolf

Filming Locations:

Table Mountains, Dolnoslaskie, Poland

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$3,564

Company Credits

Production Co:

Balapolis, Telewizja Polska (TVP), Rosco Polska

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

User Reviews

Opening in Gross-Rosen, a labour camp in south-west Poland

Opening in Gross-Rosen, a labour camp in south-west Poland, Adrian Panek's realist drama/allegorical fairytale sees eight children liberated by the Red Army in the final days of World War 2, only for the kids to face yet more terror when they're stashed in a crumbling mansion. Within the walls, things get a bit Lord Of The Flies as the kids jostle for position. Outside, in the forest, lurks the threat of a rapist Russian, hunkering Nazis, and a pack of feral dogs. The werewolf of the title is metaphorical, with the starving youths' bestial behaviour quickly established as they fight over a tin of dog food. Most of the pack are barely characterised as Panek's script focuses on one girl, Hanka (Sonia Mietielica), and two guys, Hanys (Nicolas Przygoda) and Wladek (Kamil Polnisiak). They form a love triangle, of sorts, but played dour and downbeat - so don't expect the Polish Twilight. Werewolf is, however, rather like an arthouse Cujo in its second half, only with several German shepherds throwing themselves at a building rather than one St. Bernard headbutting a Ford Pinto. It's tense in places, and certainly an interesting idea to transform the horrors of the Holocaust into literal monsters. But Werewolf, for much of its running time, lacks bite.