Direction: Tomm Moore / Ross Stewart
Country: Ireland / UK / other
Wolfwalkers, the third installment of Tomm Moore’s animated Irish Folk Trilogy, provides an enriching experience with a 17th-century tale that involves wolves, humans and magic (wolfwalkers are humans that turn into wolves in their sleep). Following The Secret of Kells (2009) and Song of the Sea (2014), this gorgeous animation written by Will Collins from a story by Moore and co-director Ross Stewart, shows a deep criticism of religious fanaticism and an admirable respect for the Earth’s living creatures put in danger by ignorant men.
The young apprentice hunter Robyn (voice of Honor Kneafsey) is too lively and curious to be confined at home as her father (Sean Bean), an experienced English hunter tasked to kill all the wolves in the Irish town of Kilkenny, instructed her. Instead, she befriends Mebh (Eva Whittaker), a junior wolfwalker in search of her long-gone mother. After being bitten by the latter, Robyn becomes a wolfwalker herself, which raises an obvious question: how can her father exterminate the wolves when his daughter became one of them?
Without being flashy, the animation is workmanlike at best, and the fantastic story has a lot to like. Just sit back and enjoy, because this is not just a delightful film but an important one.
