With Werwulf approaching its Christmas release, the first reactions are giving Robert Eggers fans plenty to look forward to. The response to early footage has been strongly positive, with particular excitement around Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s painful transformation and the film’s oppressive medieval atmosphere.

Those impressions come from previews rather than complete-film reviews, but the details suggest Eggers is making the human suffering behind the werewolf curse especially hard to watch.

That sounds like a promising direction after Nosferatu. A transformation can be impressive for a few minutes and still leave a movie struggling once the creature starts running around.

What interests me here is how much of the early discussion concerns the man enduring it and the miserable world he has to return to afterward.

The Transformation Is Driving The Strongest Reactions

At CinemaCon, JoBlo’s Chris Bumbray came away wondering whether Werwulf could become the greatest werewolf film since An American Werewolf in London. His report from the presentation describes an emphatic response in the room. That is a substantial compliment to attach to promotional footage, even allowing for the excitement these presentations encourage.

Later accounts give that enthusiasm something more concrete. Reporting from the Lumière festival, Euronews’ David Mouriquand described an opening transformation involving vomiting and audible bone damage. The sequence apparently makes the change exhausting and physically degrading, while only briefly exposing the resulting creature. Eggers also confirmed that further transformations follow.

The prospect of having to endure that repeatedly makes the curse feel particularly cruel. The body eventually returns to something recognizable, but the person inside it knows another night is coming. There is room for real dread in the hours between changes, especially when other people have to live with the consequences.

Germain Lussier’s preview describes a cursed farmer drawn into the hunt for the creature he becomes. That premise makes the hunt uncomfortable before anyone even raises a weapon.

The Medieval Setting Makes The Horror Feel Inescapable

Eggers and co-writer Sjón place Werwulf in England during the 1300s. Some early coverage described the setting as the 13th century, but Eggers’ subsequent interviews establish the later period. The distinction also helps clear up the language discussion surrounding the film.

At Sitges, Filmdienst’s Jörg Gerle responded to an eight-minute excerpt by emphasizing its severe imagery. His account describes a nearly square Academy frame and an ashen landscape that feels unusually hostile. The narrow composition sounds well suited to a story about someone with very little freedom. Even an outdoor scene can become cramped when the frame leaves a suffering body nowhere comfortable to settle.

Eggers has also explained that the dirt and misery are deliberate artistic choices. He is building a specific nightmare of medieval life. Treating every muddy surface as a claim about how everyone actually lived would miss the way the setting is being used to intensify the farmer’s ordeal.

The folklore gives that approach a disturbing human connection. In discussing his research, Eggers has described historical accounts in which communities understood extreme human behavior through accusations of lycanthropy. That leaves the film with more to draw on than an animal attack. Suspicion can spread through a village long before anyone gets a clear look at the beast.

The Cast Gives The Curse Someone To Hurt

Taylor-Johnson’s physical performance appears central to the film’s appeal. In BFI’s London Film Festival coverage, Eggers explained that he wrote the part for the actor and emphasized the athletic demands of his movements. The same discussion described his work with Sjón as beginning with a feeling and an atmosphere that needed to become a story.

That combination is encouraging. A performer can make an unnatural movement distressing through the effort it seems to require. Holding on to the man’s awareness during the change could make even a familiar transformation difficult to sit through. Body horror gets particularly uncomfortable when someone can still recognize what is happening to them. The Substance is a perfect example of exploring this through its divided sense of self.

Lily-Rose Depp’s role should matter just as much once the immediate spectacle passes. Eggers has described her character as the emotional center of the farmer’s world. Willem Dafoe plays a hunter, with Ralph Ineson also among the cast. The family relationship gives the pursuit a personal cost that a convincing creature alone could never provide.

Dafoe has offered his own enthusiastic reaction after seeing the film. In his JustWatch interview, he praised its unsettling quality and beauty while suggesting it takes an unusual approach to werewolf stories. He also spoke about how completely he can enter Eggers’ imagined worlds. His affection for their collaboration is part of that endorsement, and it makes sense to weigh his praise as a participant’s response.

The Classic Comparison Sets A Demanding Standard

The reference to An American Werewolf in London carries a lot of history. Rick Baker’s work on John Landis’ 1981 film earned the first competitive Academy Award for Makeup. Its transformation remains such a formidable reference point partly through the time it spends making David’s body feel horribly vulnerable.

Eggers has said he wanted a different approach to that sequence. He has also discussed a practical creature design and the value of withholding the monster, drawing on Alien and Jaws. Anticipation can make a brief appearance much more effective, something horror built around an unseen threat understands very well.

The early reports make that balance worth watching. Eggers can show the agony of becoming something monstrous while preserving uncertainty about the thing itself. I hope the eventual reveal gives the performances enough room to remain disturbing after the audience understands what it is looking at.

The First Impressions Still Leave A Full Film To Discover

The dialogue has attracted some conflicting descriptions, too. Bumbray initially found it more ordinary than the advance reports suggested. Eggers has since explained that it is Middle English with pronunciation adjusted for contemporary understanding, as detailed in his Esquire interview. Accessible speech and period language can coexist here.

Anonymous test-screening claims about sweeping camera movements and an exceptional creature design remain unverified. The named preview accounts already provide enough reason for interest without folding those rumors into an apparent consensus. The completed film still has to sustain its atmosphere and give the family’s ordeal the weight these excerpts promise.

Focus Features lists the US theatrical release for December 25, 2026. For now, the most encouraging detail is how consistently the reactions return to the suffering involved in the transformation. If Eggers makes us care about the man who has to survive it, those scenes could become much harder to shake than a brief glimpse of a snarling wolf.