Twisted Thrill Ride of Intense ‘Big Bad Wolves’

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Average: 5 (1 vote)
HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 4.0/5.0
Rating: 4.0/5.0

“Big Bad Wolves” pulls no punches. It rips off toenails instead. This incredibly dark thriller, courtesy of the twisted folks who made the indie horror hit “Rabies,” built notable buzz at its Tribeca Film Festival and Chicago International Film Festival screenings but really took off when Quentin Tarantino named it his favorite film of 2013. It’s easy to see what QT loved here with the tonal balance between stunning violence, pitch black humor, and whodunit plotting. It’s the first excellent film of 2014 (even if QT may be going a bit overboard) with a gut punch of an ending.

Imagine an indie horror version of the thriller “Prisoners,” and you’ll have some of the foundation of the narrative of “Big Bad Wolves.” A cop on the edge named Micki (Lior Ashkenazi) is convinced that he has finally figured out the identity of the man who has been kidnapping and beheading local girls. And so Micki hires a couple of thugs to grab the main suspect, a teacher named Dror (Rotem Keinan) and beat him up for information. The move backfires when a clip of the police abuse pops up online and they have to let the suspect go. For now.

Big Bad Wolves
Big Bad Wolves
Photo credit: Magnet Releasing

Another young girl is found tortured and murdered in the woods and Micki knows he has to intensify his investigation. As he’s tailing Dror, the man he’s still convinced is the one, he discovers the hard way that he’s not alone. The father of one of the missing girls, whose head was discovered, a burly gentleman named Gidi (Tzahi Grad) has decided he’s tired of waiting for answers about what happened to his daughter. He kidnaps Dror, ties him up in the basement, and promises to do to him what he thinks Dror did to his daughter. At first, Micki goes along with the torture, playing bad-cop-bad-cop to get to the truth. And then he realizes Gidi is truly dangerous and ends up stuck in the middle of a lunatic looking for vengeance and the man he’s convinced is a sociopath child killer. Not a safe place to be.

Writer/directors Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado have crafted a tight, streamlined narrative that segues smoothly from character-driven drama to something Eli Roth might avert his eyes from to something altogether new. “Big Bad Wolves” works as well as it does because it never lingers too long in any of these movie archetypes. The story of a man torturing another one for information about the whereabouts of his daughter’s head, believe it or not, never gets melodramatic. And every time it feels like the narrative is pushing too far into “Hostel” territory, the writer/directors pull back for long enough to not make the film feel as overwhelming as it easily could have. Don’t get me wrong. There’s some amazingly dark shit in “Big Bad Wolves,” more than a lot of Hollywood horror movies, but it’s never approached in a way that feels over-the-top. It’s rooted in one man’s willingness to get the answers he needs.

Big Bad Wolves
Big Bad Wolves
Photo credit: Magnet Releasing

Believe it or not, “Big Bad Wolves” has a darkly humorous streak as well, which helps the film from sliding into melodramatic territory like “Prisoners” (a very good film that somehow feels tonally different than this one in almost every way even though both center on fathers torturing suspects for information). One music choice in particular, a decision to have a snack, the fact that Gidi’s parents get involved, and other minor and major beats have a Raimi-esque sense of humor. (Or Tarantino-esque, if you will). And the film never gets too far from its mystery. Is Dror guilty? And the final, horrifying few minutes will leave you rattled.

Finally, while “Big Bad Wolves” works mostly through the brilliance of its script, the film would never click without three great performers who give their all to these characters. I love the choices Grad makes with his buttoned-up sweater vest hiding the fact that this average-looking man might be the craziest one in that basement. And not unlike Dano in “Prisoners,” Keinan strikes such a meek tone that one wonders how he could be a serial killer. Ashkenazi is the perfect balance between the two, physically and in terms of personality.

Would you torture the man who you believed killed your daughter? Would you allow the torture if you were the cop who knew you had blown the case against your #1 suspect? Just to get the answers? “Big Bad Wolves” is a twisted little thriller with a pulse. It’s a great way to start the year at the arthouse.

“Big Bad Wolves” stars Lior Ashkenazi, Rotem Keinan, and Tzahi Grad. It was written and directed by Aharon Keshales & Navot Papushado. It opens Friday, January 17, 2014 in limited release, including at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago.

HollywoodChicago.com content director Brian Tallerico

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

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