Time of the Wolf (2003)

62% of critics liked it
(53 reviews)
66% of users liked it
(4,530 ratings)

On the heels of his award-winning, emotionally devastating 2001 drama The Piano Teacher, German filmmaker Michael Haneke weaves this disturbing tale of a family forced into a harrowing confrontation with a group of strangers set against the backdrop of a global apocalypse. In the aftermath of an… More On the heels of his award-winning, emotionally devastating 2001 drama The Piano Teacher, German filmmaker Michael Haneke weaves this disturbing tale of a family forced into a harrowing confrontation with a group of strangers set against the backdrop of a global apocalypse. In the aftermath of an unseen but catastrophic global disaster, a shaken family slowly makes their way to the presumed safety of a holiday home in the French countryside. Upon arrival, the family discovers their home inhabited by a woman and a horrified man. When a shot rings out, a life is taken, and time seems to stand still. In the aftermath of unspeakable violence, it appears that the only hope for a band of desperate refugees lies in a nearby train station and a locomotive that -- despite their most optimistic hopes and prayers -- may never actually arrive. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 49 min.
Directed By: Michael Haneke
Written By: Michael Haneke
Genres: Art House & International, Drama

In Theaters: Jul 2, 2004 Limited
On DVD: Dec 14, 2004
Studio: Palm Pictures

Critic Reviews

Martha Sheridan, Dallas Morning News
Although the scenes are often dark and shrouded in mist, the film is replete with cinematic portraiture that sears itself into memory.
Robert Denerstein, Denver Rocky Mountain News
A gravely realized and often chilling look at what might happen to ordinary people if all their support systems suddenly collapsed.
Desson Thomson, Washington Post
The French-language film traipses through such familiar territory, it's hard to be as moved and devastated as we're clearly supposed to be.
Stephen Hunter, Washington Post
More than watchable, if less than compelling.
Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle
Subtlety is one of the tools utilized by the brilliant Haneke, who wisely learned from the masters instead of the hacks.
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
Chilly, tense corker.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
[Dawn of the Dead] manages to comment with wit and excitement on the same ideas that Time of the Wolf treats so seriously and glumly.
Nick Schager, Lessons of Darkness
Has a feral intensity.
Rudy Joggerst, Reel.com
...a harrowing and agonizing piece of art that is as painful to endure as it is captivating to watch
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Couldn't be more boring and less entertaining, though it certainly was masterfully photographed.
Jules Brenner, Cinema Signals
It has the effect of a game in which the viewer needs to fill in the missing pieces.
Matt Bailey, Not Coming to a Theater Near You
When money, class, position, name, and education no longer mean anything, how do people relate to one another?
Duane Dudek, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Time of the Wolf is 28 Days Later without the zombies and Deep Impact without the meteor shower.
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com
Does nuclear aftermath have to be this boring?
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone, TheMovieChicks.com
A minimalist story about a minimalist future - it's just not very entertaining.
Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central
It's a time travel film, in a sense--not into the future, but into the undifferentiated past.
Erik Lundegaard, Seattle Times
The questions the film raises are more interesting than the film itself.
William Arnold, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
When, after the fact, that missing fifth reel was shown, it made what was intriguingly vague now seem obvious, trite and drawn out.
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul), St. Paul Pioneer Press
What it comes down to is this vital question: When the world ends, will there still be compassion, or will it have died much earlier?

Read all 19 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Anthony L

Time of the Wolf is certainly a refreshing take on a apocalyptic theme but unfortunately I think The Road may have topped it. That said, thanks to Haneke's devilish mind, this is film without happy endings, in fact the final devastating message of this film is disguised as a… More
Time of the Wolf is certainly a refreshing take on a apocalyptic theme but unfortunately I think The Road may have topped it. That said, thanks to Haneke's devilish mind, this is film without happy endings, in fact the final devastating message of this film is disguised as a happy ending. How sadistic is that? I bloody love Michael Haneke though, tell it like it is, hope can be far more damaging than truth. Bleak but beautiful and bloody brilliant.
_kelly .

Of course it is bleak, slow, and ambiguous - it's Michael Haneke! I did indeed like this one, though only having seen Funny Games, Funny Games, and this, I do believe Haneke to be obsessed with the themes of home invasion and "bourgeois" people forced into humility.… More
Of course it is bleak, slow, and ambiguous - it's Michael Haneke! I did indeed like this one, though only having seen Funny Games, Funny Games, and this, I do believe Haneke to be obsessed with the themes of home invasion and "bourgeois" people forced into humility. I CAN tolerate what some will describe as unbearable "slowness" and over-calculation of shot composition that many accuse Haneke guilty of, but mostly because I am sick of seeing shoddily edited, overcut, and underthought movies that will always flood the market. It's tough to be a legitimate film maker, because then you actually have to meet standards, which is why I imagine so many people to be very callous in regards to assessments of Haneke's work. I am always pleased to see apocalyptic/end of society films done in this realistic tone, especially in today's flooded market of action apocalyptica and sensationalized armageddon. This film most closely reminds me of Threads with its bleak presentation and closeness to reality. A wonderful film, but you must be a patient fim viewer (read: not an ADD crazed artificial adrenaline junkie plucked from the teeming masses). I must confess that I dislike the ending, not because it is ambiguous; indeed I like to think I know what awaits the characters after the reel ceases to roll, and I delight in imagining the specifics of how they will deal with yet another difficult and wholly new situation. I dislike the ending not for the final shot, but for the scene right before it, and the haste with which all of the dangling storylines are abandoned for this overhanded symbolic moment which will contribute to many viewers feeling similarly abandoned and befuddled by the director's choice, but as is often the way with Haneke, that mau be indeed precisely what he wants the audience to feel. Viewed from that perspective, I can accept that scene, but I cannot accept the countless storylines which were just moments ago being adequately nourished and developed, but are now suddenly left desperately open to interpretation.
Drew S

Sorry, I couldn't really handle this one. My patience imploded about halfway in. I may try and finish it later in the week...or I may not and I'll never get around to it again. Easily Haneke's flattest directing (Funny Games, for all my problems with it, was… More
Sorry, I couldn't really handle this one. My patience imploded about halfway in. I may try and finish it later in the week...or I may not and I'll never get around to it again. Easily Haneke's flattest directing (Funny Games, for all my problems with it, was strikingly filmed); the surety of aesthetic and tone belie the fact that there's really nothing to take in here. This is a worse job of creating post-apocalyptic scope than The Signal. And it's a crying shame to take a prize actress like Huppert and give her absolutely nothing to interact with outside of about four interesting scenes. Whatever, I'm a plebe and you guys can take me off your friend lists now.
Alec B

Haneke does come up with some interesting post-apocalyptic scenarios, but for the most part the film is boring and the characters are flat as can be.
Marcus W

This film is SO subtle. It's impossible to not compare it to The Road - only this film manages to be far more downbeat, and less heavy-handed. It has a gritty realism that works in it's favour and is completely captivating. If you get impatient or easily depressed watching… More
This film is SO subtle. It's impossible to not compare it to The Road - only this film manages to be far more downbeat, and less heavy-handed. It has a gritty realism that works in it's favour and is completely captivating. If you get impatient or easily depressed watching films, steer clear, otherwise it's beautifully bleak.