EIFF 2024: To Kill a Wolf

Little Red Riding Hood gets a modern retelling in Kelsey Taylor's restrained psychological drama To Kill a Wolf

Film Review by Carmen Paddock | 21 Aug 2024
  • To Kill a Wolf
Film title: To Kill a Wolf
Director: Kelsey Taylor
Starring: Ivan Martin, Maddison Brown, Kaitlin Doubleday, David Knell, Michael Esper

The stunning, foreboding rural Oregon landscape is the backdrop to director Kelsey Taylor’s modern retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. An unnamed woodsman (Ivan Martin) lives in a reclusive cabin and spends his days walking through the woods springing traps the local land baron (David Knell) sets for the native wolves. When he finds the teenage Dani (Maddison Brown) passed out in the woods, he takes her home, gives her some stew, and teaches her how to free wolves from traps. But after a few days of silence and no questions, he insists she returns home to her family – and both characters’ tortured pasts come to light. 

After these reveals – portioned out through ‘Acts’ corresponding to fairy tale archetypes – To Kill a Wolf loses some of the mythic mystery that makes its first half so compelling. However the excellent performances elevate the rote material. Martin’s central performance captures a man whose survival depends on rituals both noble and humorous, and each acknowledgement of his demons is profoundly poignant. Brown often comes across as frustratingly wooden, but she proves herself capable of holding the emotional centre as the plot unfolds. As Dani’s uncle Carey, Michael Esper takes the idea of “therapy speak” to a terrifying new level.

Adam Lee’s cinematography brings out Oregon’s ageless beauty. Composers Sara Barone and Forest Christenson create a haunting folk-inspired score, with all musicians named in the rolling credits. To Kill a Wolf may not offer surprises or new takes, but it finds its own magic through this alchemy.


To Kill a Wolf had its world premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival