Robert Eggers’ forte is a perfect blend of historical accuracy and horror that crawls under your skin across films like The Witch (2015), The Lighthouse (2019), The Northman (2022), and Nosferatu (2024). He has always been fascinated by folklore, and this is exactly what we are getting in his upcoming film, Werwulf.

It cleanly deviates from a typical werewolf film and delivers a nightmarish experience, as shown in its latest trailer from Focus Features.  

Set in the 13th-century’s curse-plagued English countryside, a farmer (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) is cursed with lycanthropy after he followed a man into a cave when he was young. He comes out changed after a possible demonic ritual inside the cave and now finds salvation through his wife’s (Lily-Rose Depp) love, while a terrifying beast lurks in the foggy village. 

The ensemble includes Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Lily-Rose Depp, Willem Dafoe, Ralph Ineson, Ritchi Edwards, Bodhi Rae Breathnach, Ned Dennehy, and Kate Dickie. 

Speaking with Empire Magazine, Eggers said werewolf cinema has long shown these creatures either through human actors in suits or increasingly artificial-looking CGI. He went back to historic folklore to bring originality to the story, since the tropes differ, rather than diving into the genre’s tediously cliché tropes. That’s why his wolf transformation in Werwulf is as unsettling as he found it in some old English texts and Icelandic literature.

He goes on in the interview to say he finds the monster in the Alien (1979) movie extremely terrifying, because the surrounding mystery and barely glimpsed presence made it so effective. With Aaron in the picture, it became much easier, as his physical and athletic skills enabled the body work crucial for wolf transformation and celerity. 

Eggers went on to reveal to Esquire what went on behind the scenes, including working with wolf-dog hybrids. The lead wolf, Aaron, spent time with a real wolf to learn his behavior, which helped him incorporate a lot into his performance. He spent most of his time in snow and water, and was covered in blood. According to Eggers, this might be Aaron’s “best performance,” praising the emotional intensity and commendable extremity of his physical transformation. 

But Aaron wasn’t the only performance pushed to extraordinary extremes. Lily-Rose Depp already outdid herself in Nosferatu, and we thought that was the most explosive performance she could ever give. But we were proved wrong when Eggers called Lily the “heart of the movie,” saying she was “truly transformative,” making her a completely different character than she has ever played.  

Eggers’ commitment to authenticity extends beyond performances. Every structure was built from scratch for the film’s production sets. While several churches still exist in Old England, the film’s churches are different from those.

The film is shot on 35mm film and uses orthochromatic treatment to make the skin textures of the characters realistic. The team also managed to infuse the grain structure look of black-and-white film to give it a unique look. Amidst all these striking visual elements, Eggers and his repeat co-writer from The Northman, Sjón, the Icelandic author and musician he describes as “imaginative and inspiring”, have crafted an immersive world that is every bit as frightening as the werewolf itself. 

The entire film is in Old English, for which they worked with two Oxford professors on the dialogue and a dialect coach to obtain perfect temper in pronunciation that is easily understandable for modern audiences. Hence, the medieval feel is deeply rooted from the very first shot. And apparently, “medieval” isn’t quite medieval enough for Eggers unless you can smell it. The director said that you need to smell “all the shit and mud in the street,” and if you are not, “you’re not experiencing this movie properly.”   

Who needs Santa when you have a werewolf? Robert Eggers’ Werwulf is coming to theatres on December 25, 2026. 

Update Courtesy of Madiha Ali

Feature Image Credit to Focus Features