ALMA & THE WOLF - Mark Reviews Movies

Alma & the Wolf, Republic Pictures

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Review by Mark Dujsik | June 19, 2025

Alma & the Wolf is more a character study than a horror tale, even though it involves a large wolf that stands on two legs, kills people and little dogs, and has a group of similar-looking goats following it. The beast is basically a werewolf, although this one can talk, making ominous statements and terrifying threats to Sheriff's deputy Ren (Ethan Embry). He doesn't know what to make of the thing, except that it needs to be killed before the wolf can do even more harm.

This turns out to be a very strange movie—part comedy (and not just because the sight of that talking wolf can be amusing), part horror story (and not simply because that wolf is also a bit frightening when it isn't speaking and suddenly appears stalking toward the camera), part serious drama about a thing that probably can't be mentioned here. The screenplay by Abby Miller toys with our expectations in a tantalizing way, because the wolf seems to matter less than the mystery and the exploration of its protagonist within this narrative.

That goes a long way as we learn more about Ren and how he seems doomed to by circumstance to remain stuck in place, both literally and figuratively. He doesn't want to be, but the guy's life hasn't amounted to what he wanted it to. Now, he has to deal with that and the weird talking wolf that keeps showing up to taunt or terrorize him.

The movie is playing a few games here, actually. Beyond the one involving expectations, there's also that tone, which shifts at almost will between the severity of its setup and the absurdity of that premise, and there's a bigger one, too, which eventually reveals why this wolf is around in the first place and how it fits into the real story Miller wants to tell. By the time that arrives, we're mainly left to wonder if the game has been worth it or if the overt manipulation being played here undermines the point. It certainly feels as if that second option is truer than the first.

That's mostly because the movie, directed by Michael Patrick Jann, is so weird and compelling until the third act transforms everything. The story simply follows Ren, who works as a deputy in the small town of Spiral Creek, which is a pretty appropriate name based on its reputation. At one point, Ren says that anyone who wants to leave this place is never able to do so, but that's a good thing for the rest of the world. Ren himself had dreams of escaping the town, playing baseball in high school, being scouted for college, but ending up with an injury that put an end to his prospects.

As of now, he's just doing his job, hoping to be promoted after his boss (played by Kevin Allison) retires, and trying to stay sober, although that's not going well at the moment. He and his wife (played by Dana Millican) have separated, and he only gets to see his teenage son Jack (Lukas Jann) on specific nights. A star pitcher, the boy has the same shot his father once had, so Ren at least has that to hopefully look forward to.

The wolf is surely less interesting than this stuff, especially because of Embry's performance. One wonders when Embry, best known for comedies during the 1990s and early 2000s, turned into more of a character actor, but his work here is genuinely impressive—balancing the weird humor of the story and Ren's mounting desperation with ease, while giving a palpable sense of how trapped this man has felt within his own life, as well as disappointed it, for as long as he can recall.

Still, the wolf and everything surrounding it is definitely eerie. It comes into play from the start, when Ren spots Alma (Li Jun Li) walking on the side of the road, covered in blood, and holding something in her jacket. Back at the police station, she explains that she and her dog were attacked by a wolf, accompanied by a herd of goats. Alma and Ren knew and seemingly dated each other back in high school, when life for both of them seemed so full of promise, and as a favor for those good times, she wants him to kill the wolf for her.

From there, the story shifts back and forth between Ren's hunt for the wolf, amplified as soon as someone is apparently abducted by the creature, and quieter scenes revealing more about who Ren is, why he feels this way about himself and his life, and hinting at the idea that his situation might have as much to do with his personality and actions as his circumstances. That latter part of the narrative is the real, increasingly darker part of this tale, so it's disappointing that the movie keeps pushing the supernatural, almost surreal element of the wolf.

To be fair, those two modes do come together by the end of the story, but the method of joining them leaves a lot to be desired. Without saying too much, Alma & the Wolf finds its resolution in an old and tiresome storytelling cliché. It gives us all the answers we need to make sense of this eccentric tale, but to do so, the movie has to sacrifice its one authentic element.

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