Robert Eggers is going all-out to depict a world completely removed from our own in Werwulf. We're familiar with ideas of werewolves, but there'll be no silver bullets and infection through bites in this tale. Instead, Aaron Taylor-Johnson's character is facing a curse in 1300s-era England, which will slowly turn into something unrecognisable.
Speaking with Esquire, Eggers described the movie in detail, giving us some idea of what to expect when we view the trailer or Werwulf in full. "It's a really brutal, unforgiving, merciless, grotesque world. More than ever, it's mud and blood and dung and rain and pain and suffering," Eggers said.
A lot of England's history is scattered during this period, but we do know it takes place before wolves were made extinct in the country. Eggers is going fully into the history of the setting, as he reveals that all the dialogue is in Middle English. "We worked with two Oxford professors on the dialogue, which is in Middle English, and then worked extensively with a dialect coach on a way to temper the pronunciation in a way that would be understandable to modern audiences," Eggers said.
Aside from Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who is playing our werewolf, we also know Willem Dafoe is returning to work with Eggers, and it's clear he's a hunter. Lily-Rose Depp is also back working with her Nosferatu director, and Eggers says her character is the "heart of the movie."
Werwulf releases on the 25th of December in cinemas.
