The Wolf Hour

I found this movie under the category "Fright Fest" on Kanopy, and I should seriously consider suing them for false advertising. This is the least frightening movie I've ever seen - I've seen Tom & Jerry cartoons that were more suspenseful. I don't want to give anything away, but what's most frustrating of all is that the one ongoing situation that is supposed to be creating the terror is never explained and basically just forgotten. It feels as though the filmmaker here was trying to make some kind of social statement in addition to the alleged thrills and chills, but it fails on basically every imaginable level. Watts tries hard - maybe too hard. The performance feels very "effortful" for lack of a better word. Other characters come and go for a scene and are never heard from again. The background of Watts' character is briefly mentioned but not enough to believe the transition at the end. It feels like a one-act off-off Broadway show that closed after 5 performances. All in all, a very unpleasant experience. And, again, not a scare to be found for miles. Just irritation.

Filme claustrofóbico, angustiante, triste e solitário... Tão pertinente ante a quarentena de COVID, uma boa analogia e referência utilizando-se da onda de calor e blecaute acontecido em 1977 e tempos atuais, bem como o assédio referenciado na época dos acontecimentos do "verão de Sam" um serial killer... As cenas, amareladas, opacas e quentes, pessoas suadas, nos dá calor e angústia em alguns momentos... Muito, embora lento, quase monótono...

Naomi Watts is one of the most gifted and underrated actresses of our time. She commands this role as a depressed author sheltered in a Manhattan tenement apartment during the height of the Son of Sam murders. She is being tormented by a stranger, or is she? As the story unfolds we learn that her novel caused a family uproar and may have contributed to her father's death. The attention to dated details is very, very good. The cinematography is well done. The sense of heat, humidity, and filth in Watts' apartment is palpable. This is more like a play than a movie in some ways. The movie is a one woman show and, while Watts is commanding, I do see how one might find it slow as it was advertised as a thriller and is more of a psychological drama with the emphasis on drama.

These two stars are for Naomi Watts alone. She was great, but sadly it wasn't enough to carry a severely lackluster plot and flat story-arch. The first 2/3rds of the movie felt like one big red herring; by the end it was totally disjointed. It was billed as a mystery/ thriller but the only mystery it poses is, ‘what's the point?'

Despite such an interesting premise, the film's a drag. For all the time devoted to a paranoid build up, it doesn't even pay off. Its just a great bag of nothing.

Omg it was sooooo boring. Nothing really happened. And I mean nothing!

The struggle for the protagonist (Naomi Watts) is sadly out done by the struggle for the film to find substance. It lacks power, emotion and motivation from the get go and never really climbs to any heights. Unfortunately if anything just frustrating the viewer into wonder why I'm still watching. 1⭐️

Great movie. Keeps you a little on edge till the end. Will watch again and recommend.

The acting of Naomi is , as usual, amazing! The visual is on point! The emotions are really there! But the storyline , or the lack of, is the reason for my 3 stars rating.

Very very boring and bad