Jonas Govaerts' Cub is a grim, horror tale about a group of rambunctious scouts who finds their weekend in the woods turn deadly when they discover that they are being stalked in the woods by a violent, feral boy. The story is centered around 12-year-old Sam, a socially awkward member of the scout group who becomes infatuated with the local stories of this killer "werewolf boy". A loner who is routinely picked on by the other boys in the scout group, Sam spends much of his time alone in the woods, where he begins to catch glimpses of something in the wilderness watching over their camp ground. As Sam begins to realize that Kai, a violent, feral boy may be the one behind the local legend, his attempts to warn his fellow scouts fall on deaf ears, leading to further carnage and an increasing body count. Jonas Govaert's Cub is a Belgian horror film which is best described as some twisted combination of Jeff Lieberman's Just Before Dawn and Home Alone, having a decent amount of ingenuity but unfortunately failing to deliver a true sense of atmosphere and terror. Cub's horror and violence should appease many junkies of the genre, but the films cynical viewpoint on humanity is what stands out, being a very grim tale of a young boy's transformation into a monster. As its story progresses, it becomes clear that Sam and Kai, the feral child, have more in common than meets the eye, each being outcasts from society in one way or another. Sam has never fit in among the other scouts and even finds himself tormented by one of the scout leaders, and his budding relationship with Kai offers up a very twisted story of acceptance, which inevitably leads Sam towards a similar path of violence and brutality, as it becomes one of the only things which Sam is familiar with. The film's psychology isn't exactly profound but it's somewhat compelling, as by the end of the film Sam has transformed into a brutal character himself, with the filmmakers using this character to make a slight, albeit important statement of the importance of nurturing young, impressionable individuals. While Cub wasn't quite the brooding, atmospheric horror film I was hoping for, the film's unique narrative and compelling setting make it a solid entry in the horror genre.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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