Premise: A girl who was trapped in an attic her whole life gets free after her father attempts suicide, and she starts going through some unexpected changes.
For some reason, I've been thinking way too long about what to say about this movie. It's a decently forgettable werewolf-ish movie. I liked Bel Powly in it. She's great with wide-eyed, taking-in-the-world-for-the-first-time stuff. The movie has some interesting themes and ideas. Comparing puberty to turning into a monster isn't exactly a new idea or all that subtle, but the movie plays with it well, especially in relation to some feminist ideas.
The movie has trouble picking a lane though. It's from a first-time feature director/writer, who is also German, I believe. A lot in this movie seems both lost in translation and like he tried to fit all of his ideas in it. Early on, it's a movie about a girl being raised in an attic to stay safe from a wildling. It turns into a movie about her getting out and learning about the real world. It's a romance of sorts. It's a chase movie. There's myth-building. It's a story about self-acceptance. It has to race through all of these things, and it's not nimble about it. A lot of the individual ideas are good. I'd kind of like to see the 4-part Netflix limited series about it*. That would give every part more time to breathe. As is, it's stuck having a lot of scenes with the subtext "You've seen a monster movie before. We'll assume you already know what's going on or where this is going". I spent most of the movie waiting for one more twist, because the "she's a wildling" thing was pretty obvious from the start.
*Ep 1 - Her childhood. Lots of scares about what goes bump in the night and mysteries about what the wildling is. Ends with her "father" attempting suicide.
Ep 2 - She gets introduced to the new world. The mystery grows as she starts going through changes and gets to know her foster family. Ends with her killing someone but not remembering it.
Ep 3 - Her changes intensify. She has more blackouts. More people go missing. She tries to research her own history quietly before anyone else can start making connections. This one ends with her very publicly killing someone and going into hiding.
Ep 4 - She's on the run and learns about her history. Climaxes with the hunters finally catching up to her where she embraces her inner-wildling or whatever.
To sum it up even more: The story moves at the pace of a thriller but it's executed like a cerebral movie. This creates the odd sensation that it's a slow movie happening quickly. Bel Powly mostly keeps it watchable. It's nice seeing Liv Tyler pop up too (I maintain a new level of respect for her after her work on The Leftovers). I just wish it was either more exciting or atmospheric.
Verdict: Weakly Don't Recommend
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