Tonight’s a full moon, which means Focus has decided it’s the perfect time to release the first trailer for Robert Eggers’ “Werwulf.” Here’s a filmmaker who has built a career around asking, “But what if everyone smelled terrible?”
The film stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson as a 13th-century man haunted by a terrifying transformation, with Lily-Rose Depp, Willem Dafoe, Ralph Ineson, and Bodhi Rae Breathnach rounding out the cast. No further plot details about “Werwulf” have been made available at this time.
“Werwulf” grew out of — what else — Eggers’ lifelong fascination with folklore and monsters. As always, a great deal of historical research went into the production. Set in 13th-century Britain, Eggers said he drew heavily from medieval accounts of werewolf lore. The dialogue is written in Middle English, with the help of two Oxford professors.
Eggers had originally planned to shoot the film in black and white but ultimately abandoned the idea in favor of color. It was shot on 35mm film in the Super 35 format and will be presented in a boxy 1.37:1 aspect ratio. To achieve its distinctive visual style, the production incorporated the grain structure of black-and-white film into the color photography.
Eggers is, of course, the man behind “The Witch,” “The Lighthouse,” “The Northman,” and “Nosferatu” — a filmography that has yet to feature a single character who could honestly describe their week as “pretty good.” This is one morose dude we’re dealing with here.
“Werwulf” is scheduled to hit theaters on December 25, 2026, via Focus Features.
It took the Audience Award at San Sebastián this weekend, won the People's Choice Award at TIFF just a week ago, topped the Telluride poll a week before that, and of course, won the Cannes best director prize.