- Directed by Joshua Nelson
- Written by Joshua Nelson
- Stars Tony Murphy, Suzanne Johnson, Katie Raulerson
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG6v0nLQwKk
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
Life coaching from a motivational speaker can help the meek and afraid find the animal inside them. Maybe sometimes it works really, really well and takes things a little too far. This was a fine piece of indy work that we enjoyed.
Synopsis
We open with a girl running through the woods. It’s not a monster; it’s her boyfriend, who isn’t primitive or manly enough for her. She wants to be dragged through the woods and gone through like a knife through butter. She wants to be scared! When she hears the howl of a wolf, she smiles– that’s more like it! “That wasn’t me,” says her boyfriend. When the werewolf shows up and kills them both, she looks really scared.
Credits roll as real wolves stalk the snowy woods and fight over meat.
Two girls talk about one of them sleeping with the other’s boyfriend; this sounds like a good idea to exactly one of them. This friendship looks more than a little one-sided as one girl is really greedy.
Detective Wagner walks through the woods, investigating the dead bodies of the couple from before the credits. She finds part of a face, along with a business card.
A woman tries to throw out her pregnant step daughter, even though the daughter pays all the bills. We soon cut to the same pregnant girl in a classroom where Terry begins talking about “Terry’s Transformations.” “How many of you don’t feel good enough?” Everyone raises their hands. They talk about Darwin and “Survival of the Fittest.”
We cut to an office where the woman boss tells an underling to come over to her house this weekend when her husband is away. Veer comes in, wanting to be the best man at his brother’s wedding Saturday, but she tells him no, he can’t have the day off. She’s not a great boss.
Another young couple is out in the woods talking about having sex; something watches them from the trees. They hear growling. Then they become meat.
We cut back to the Terry’s Transformations group, where we see most of the people that we just saw being taken advantage of. Terry brings in Vinnie, who is not prey, he’s a predator. Nobody messes with Vinnie, and he’s not afraid of anyone. “They knew I was an animal!” Ella talks about her abusive boyfriend in Alabama.
Terry’s been talking about changing, but he hasn’t really demonstrated anything. Then it’s time. He gets very excited and starts howling.
The pregnant girl gets yelled at by her cursing mother again. Elsewhere, Miles gives an impassioned speech about hating how non-confrontational he is and that he hopes Terry’s lessons will help him.
Detective Wagner gets called to another crime scene; this one is much like the first one. One of the women from the group asks her gaslighting husband if he’s having an affair. All of these things come up at the next meeting of Terry’s group. This all goes on just a little too long and stretches into the realm of TMI.
Terry eventually tells them their problem is that they aren’t “Aware of the Wolf.” He makes everyone get up out of their seats and to attack their guest speaker. They kill him and Terry cheers them on with glee.
The young pregnant girl gives birth, but afterward, she’s once again berated by her nasty mother. The baby is a werewolf– Nope, just a dream.
The girl with the greedy friend comes back for money after wrecking her car, and the first girl starts howling. The other girl walks away, getting nothing.
It’s time for the final meeting, and Terry pours a liquid into goblets decorated with wolf-heads. “This will complete your transformation, so drink.”
The two women detectives talk about a self-defense course, and one of them talks about self-help courses and “Transformation Therapy.” could something like that be related to the bodies they’ve been finding in the woods? The “therapist” from that old case was never caught; it was “Mike’s Metamorphosis.”
Afterward, they all complain about their $2500 fee. Nothing happened. “It’s time to get ready to get rid of the people who are holding me back. We hunt in a pack.” The whole group goes out.
Nasty mother gets confronted in her hallway. The woman with the cheating husband bakes him a cake as a peace offering. Yeah, it’s drugged, which leads to him being eaten. Veer substitutes with Rick for his unwanted weekend “date” with his boss. The girl with the greedy roommate finds her with her own boyfriend, which leads to much growling.
Ella gets angry at Terry for ripping her off and raping her, and she goes berserk; her eyes turn yellow.
Meanwhile, the police come to question Terry. He says he “helps” people all over the country. Detective Wagner ends up shooting her own partner. She yells at Terry for choosing such weak people to take his classes. Turns out she and Terry are brother and sister. As they leave, they hear growling outside, and she’s killed by a full-on werewolf. Terry runs, but another one gets him.
I guess the lessons worked!
Commentary
The half-face they found in the woods is really effective. The werewolf masks aren’t as great, but they work well enough.
The lighting and sound are well done and everything looks good here. The acting and dialog are just hilarious. The self-confidence speeches and motivational stuff goes on way too long, but overall, it was fun.
You know from the beginning where it’s headed, but it’s a good time getting there. I’d rate it higher if they’d have cut out just a little of the talky bits in the group sessions, but overall, I liked it!