We Are Wolves

We are Wolves is a psychological thriller/horror movie about BDSM. This is at once a very intruding premise to me as well as one that comes with a lot of pitfalls. I regret to inform you that We Are Wolves fell into more than one pit. There’s some intriguing ideas here. But there’s a lack of follow-through and an even bigger lack of successful execution.

Fenix leaves her boyfriend to return to her previous situation, living as a full-time submissive to Miss Selena. But Fenix is not Selena’s only live-in submissive. The other sub, Needles seems a lot less willing to forgive than their shared mistress. And there’s possible some attraction between Fenix and Needles outside of Miss Selena. The scenes Miss Selena puts Fenix through are already intense. But things kick up another notch when Selena leaves Needles as the mistress in charge of Fenix.

First problem with this movie is that it looks like porn. And i don’t mean because of all the kink, nudity and young women in specific outfits. Though that is obviously a factor. Whatever location they rented to film We Are Wolves looks like quite a lot of mainstream porn: a generic and almost sterile-looking house ready for a woman in a maid’s outfit to experiment with bondage. And this setting is only indicative of much of the movie overall. So much of what is very extreme kink also feels oddly sterile and unlived in. For women as deep into BDSM as all three are, they cast a pretty wide net with kink and often, none of the three seem to bring enjoying themselves.

This movie lacks in the horror or thriller department. Sure, many of the scenes these women do are things I would not enjoy. But if that’s the basis for making something a piece of horror then any given straight romance is horror to me. The psychological competent feels dampened which would really take some of the admittedly extreme moments up to another level. The more characters acknowledge that things are extreme, the less scary it is. Plus, there’s more than one instance in the movie where you think something is non -consensual and therefore, literal torture only for one participant to break that illusion and acknowledge it’s a scene with safe words and an end. This break in the illusion also breaks any tension. This BDSM probably isn’t safe or sane, but I can’t get overly upset about what three women do in the privacy of their own home.

The film also can’t decide if it’s supposed to be sexy or not. Or at least, how sexy. Most of the nudity in the movie is just the women changing clothes. When they do extreme stuff, they’re usually fully clothed, nipples safely away. This feels cowardly to me. It’s a movie about an unhealthy BDSM lesbian polycule! Why do I care about some woman changing clothing! It’s like the movie knew many of the BDSM scenes wouldn’t be sexy or were supposed to serve a different purpose. So just in case, they added in some very vanilla nudity. Personally, I admire when a work is very sexual but not sexy. That’s also a great place for horror to live. We Are Wolves wasn’t willing to commit to this. Instead, we get Fenix looking at herself in the mirror topless and then getting fully outfitted to receive a nightmareish enema.

I love the idea of stories about it BDSM relationships that become thrillers if not outright horror stories. We Are Wolves is one of many that miss the mark. This movie isn’t that strong on a technical level. The “looks like porn” complaint extends to camera movements, sound quality and a staggering lack of atmosphere. Also, it just wasn’t fucked up enough. If you’re gonna play in the BDSM as horror/thriller space, I’m gonna need some really no-flinching nastiness. Also, more of a focus on the psychology of the characters that got them to such a place. If you’re not going to do either of those things, you might as well just make porn to begin with.

Overall rating: 4/10

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