Where wolves wander by way of a wilderness wonderland withdrawn from the whirlwind of widespread clouded worldviews of conquest crawling out of the woodwork while one watches out the window as wallflowers willingly would when requesting to get well before it unquestionably worsens for the wicked but is following the sheepish fellowship worthwhile when we’re wolves?

The Strange Case of Jacky Caillou is a new film from France brought to you by Dark Star Pictures. Jacky lives with his grandma, who is a local healer. The timid young man has an affinity for healing too. He takes over the business when his grandma suddenly passes away. One day a young woman, Elsa, comes in with a peculiar ailment (sick as a dog?) so he tries to cure her. Meanwhile, the nearby village deals with fatalities from vicious wolf attacks. Could the two occurrences be connected?

Director Lucas Delangle films the gorgeous countryside and picturesque villages in and around the French Alps in breathtaking wide shots. This creates a grand setting for a small story. The natural beauty of the landscapes is front and centre because he takes full advantage of the environment. Other experimental filmmaking techniques like utilizing different lenses for a disorienting effect are featured. The fisheye lens, for example, is used predominantly. For the most part, it’s shot in long takes ranging between wide to medium shots with a slow zoom-in effect until reaching a close-up. I like the practical effects for the gore. The wolf attacks happen off-screen but the aftermath is a glorious spectacle of realistic bloody wounds. I appreciate how they use real animals too. Rather than taking the easy way out with CGI, they went the extra mile for authenticity’s sake. That’s admirable.

Written by Lucas Delangle and Olivier Strauss, minimal dialogue usually works because less is more. In this instance, so much more could’ve been used. Without giving anything away, after the pair spend time together for so long in a secluded place the plot goes exactly how you think it would go. It’s a predictable “not evil just misunderstood villain” plot that’s more generic than interesting. I struggle to call this a horror movie because so little time is spent on suspense, gore, and world-building for my favourite folklore monster, Werewolves. As much as I love seeing folklore in films, most of the script is spent on a relentlessly implacable love story between the two main characters that isn’t believable in the slightest. It slows the movie down excruciatingly. It felt longer than 90 minutes.

Thomas Parigi plays Jacky Caillou. He’s great at being a mild-mannered, naive young man on the cusp of self-discovery. Lou Lampros plays Elsa, the afflicted girl. Her performance captures the fear of unknown danger looming around her yet she shows a vulnerability that makes her a sympathetic character. By themselves, they’re engaging but together they lacked chemistry.

Overall, The Strange Case of Jacky Caillou has stunning scenery accompanied by a lacklustre story that’s missing a heart. I enjoy seeing folklore as a subject in movies, but most of the narrative is devoted to a persistently merciless love story between the two main characters, which isn’t at all believable. I’m not sure this even qualifies as a horror film. It reminds me of Let the Right One In if more attention was focused on the love aspect instead of vampires. It touches on themes of prejudice, responsibility, fear of the unknown, mass hysteria, and transformation both physically and mentally. Perhaps a few more drafts of the script could’ve made room for more world-building around the folklore of werewolves and boosted the scare factors. As is, I wouldn’t recommend this. And remember, whatever doesn’t kill you, makes you stranger.