"True Adventures of Wolfboy" a special, gentle discovery of a fairy tale

The True Adventures of Wolfboy (2020)

Tales about werewolves usually fall into the genre of horror (“The Howling”), comedy (“Teen Wolf”), or somewhere in between (“An American Werewolf in London”). But what if it was told as a coming-of-age story about owning and embracing our differences that make others stare? An oddball tall tale based in a stark reality and divided into fabled storybook chapters complete with whimsical illustrations, “The True Adventures of Wolfboy” is sincere and gently touching. It's for anyone who has ever felt like a freak, needed to learn self-love, and deserves to be seen while wearing their oddity like a badge of honor.

Jaeden Martell (2020’s “The Lodge”) is achingly wonderful as Paul Harker, a boy not only dealing with a broken home but with his condition known as congenital hypertrichosis that has given him an abnormal amount of hair on his face and body. Hiding behind a ski mask, he lives with the fact that he looks like a werewolf and gets mocked by kids his age. When his father (Chris Messina) doesn’t know how else to help his son and suggests sending him to a boarding school for children like him, Paul ends up running away on his 13th birthday. Having received a map from the mother (Chloë Sevigny) who abandoned him, Paul tries setting off from New York to Pennsylvania, looking for an explanation as to why he looks the way he does. Arson, robbery, and a lot of adolescent angst ensue.

Director Martin Krejcí, making his feature debut with a screenplay by Olivia Dufault (who has written for TV’s “Preacher” and “Legion”), finds a magical beauty in burlesque bars, dilapidated swimming pools, and empty lighthouses. From exploitative carnival showman Mr. Silk (John Turturro), to teenage bubble-blowing dancer Aristiana (newcomer Sophie Giannamore) and pink-haired, eyepatch-wearing robber Rose (Eve Hewson), “The True Adventures of Wolfboy” is a road quest paved with offbeat characters who could be seen as archetypal mermaids and pirates. Trans actress Giannamore makes the most lingering impression as Aristiana, conveying such a confident and fully written character, and Stephen Henderson brings gravitas to a lovely scene late in the film as someone with a similar condition as Paul. Audiences need to see and sing the praises of this sweet, special little discovery about compassion and self-acceptance. 

Grade: B +

Vertical Entertainment is releasing “The True Adventures of Wolfboy” (88 min.) on video on demand and digital October 30, 2020.