| Viking Wolf | |
| Director: | Stig Svendsen |
| Producer: | Ellen Alveberg John M. Jacobsen |
| Screenplay: | Espen Aukan Stig Svendsen |
| Starring: | Liv Mjönes Elli Rhiannon Müller Osborne Arthur Hakalahti Sjur Vatne Brean |
| Music: | Bjørnar Johnsen Kjetil Schander Luhr |
| Cinematography: | Trond Tønder |
| Editing: | Elise Olavsen |
| Studio: | Filmkamatere A/S REinvent Studios |
| Distributor: | Netflix Streaming Services |
| Runtime: | 97 minutes |
| Country: | Norway |
| Language: | Norwegian |
| Gross: | $57,727 |
Viking Wolf (Norwegian: Vikingulven) is a 2022 Norwegian horror/thriller film directed by Stig Svendsen, written by Espen Aukan and Stig Svendsen, and starring Liv Mjönes, Elli Rhiannon Müller Osborne, Arthur Hakalahti and Sjur Vatne Brean. It tells the story of a 17-year-old girl who gets bitten by a werewolf and slowly transforms into it as her police officer mother is unaware of her daughter's condition. The movie was primarily filmed in Notodden, Norway.[1] [2]
During a Viking raid on a monastery in Normandy in 1050, the raiding party discover a wolf cub behind a locked door which they believed held treasure. As compensation for the absent gold and silver, the vikings take the cub to Norway. By the time the ship reaches the Norwegian coast, all vikings have been killed by the wolf and it escapes into the Norwegian wilderness.
Meanwhile, in the present day Norwegian town of Nybo, 17 year old Thale Berg (Elli Rhiannon Müller Osborne) has recently moved into her new home with her family after her mother Liv (Liv Mjönes) transferred from her former job as a police officer in Oslo, to the local Nybo police force following the death of Thale's father. Thale partially blames her mother for her father's death and doesn't get along well with her stepfather Arthur (Vidar Magnussen). The only person she's still close with and cares for is her deaf little sister Jenny (Mia Fosshaug Laubacher).
While watching a horror movie with her, Thale receives a text from her high school friend Jonas Larson (Sjur Vatne Brean), inviting her for a party in the woods near the bay with the other Nybo youth. Things don't go well at the party and Thale decides to leave early when she spots Jonas talking with Elin Gran (Silje Øksland Krohne), the local Mayor's daughter, in the woods by the bay. During their talk, Elin gets attacked by a creature in the dark and is injured. While Jonas backs away in fear, Thale attempts to help Elin only to get injured herself as the beast slices her shoulder. Elin is dragged screaming into the woods and the local police and paramedics show up to the scene. While Jonas and Thale receive treatment, the police force including Thale's mother Liv and police chief Eilert Sundas (Øyvind Brandtzæg) search for Elin, finding only a bloody phone and a big torn-off claw.
The following day all people who attended the party, including Jonas and Thale as key eyewitnesses, are questioned by the police . However, they claim not to know what kind of beast attacked them despite Liv's suspicion that the beast might have been a wolf. In the meantime, Elin's mutilated body is found and undergoes an autopsy. The autopsy reveals that a big beast was responsible for the attack. However, it could not be determined whether it was a wolf or not. To be sure, the police force calls in the help from an expert from the veterinary college William Nordvaag (Arthur Hakalahti). But before he can arrive, a mysterious one-armed man named Lars Brodin (Ståle Bjørnhaug) visits the police station and claims to Liv that the beast is a werewolf which he had been tracking his entire life throughout Scandinavia. Liv does not believe the man and calls his claims disrespectful against the victim and her family before dismissing him. The man leaves, but not before giving her a silver bullet and telling her it is the only thing that can kill the beast. After the arrival of the vet and his conclusion that the murderous beast could indeed be an unusually large wolf based on the injuries of the victim and claw found on the scene, the victim's mother and Mayor of Nybo Tove Gran (Anna Drowak) vows vengeance against the beast and sends out a hunting party to kill it.
While the hunting party under the command of Liv and Eilert search the woods with the help of a tracking dog, Thale begins to have strange dreams and visions as her senses also seem to sharpen. In the meantime, the hunting party locates a headless corpse and determine it to be the beast's work. Liv orders two hunters to stay behind and guard the body as she and the rest of the party press on, following their tracking dog. The group are lead to an abandoned mine and Liv enters it, climbing down the mine she finds the missing head of the body they found earlier. At the same time, the beast attacks the two hunters and the dog who were left behind near the body, killing them both along with the dog. The group hear their screams. Before they can react, the beast reaches them and kills two more members of the hunting party and seriously wounds Eilert. As Liv is climbing out of the mine, she stumbles upon the beast, now revealed to be a large, mangy wolf, at the top of the ladder. The wolf lunges at her, causing her to fall down the mineshaft, breaking her wrist. The wolf stalks her as she crawls away, leading to Liv grabbing her gun and shooting the wolf, hitting it multiple times to no avail. Without ammunition, Liv finds herself at the mercy of the wolf until she remembers the silver bullet which was given to her by Lars. She loads it into her gun and fires it just as the wolf lunges in to attack her.
Liv and Eilert are taken to the hospital where Liv gets a cast for her wrist and Eilert is revealed to be in a coma. The body of the wolf is examined by William who reveals to Liv that the lead bullets which she had hit the wolf with had had no impact on the wolf whatsoever, despite hitting the wolf's heart and lungs. It is then revealed that the only fatal injury the wolf sustained, came from the silver bullet she had fired, leading Liv to believe they had indeed encountered a werewolf. Believing the nightmare to be over, Mayor Tove gives a media statement alongside Liv, ensuring the city's safety with the demise of the beast.
Meanwhile, Thale still experiences the strange occurrences alongside the guilt she feels for not being able to save Elin. In the night, she receives a text from Jonas inviting her to a viewpoint with him. At the viewpoint, Jonas and Thale are ready to move on from their encounter with the beast upon its demise and share a kiss before they are interrupted by a phone call from Jonas' father. While on the phone, the full moon transforms Thale into a more animalistic version of herself with sharp teeth and animal-like instincts. Before she can warn Jonas, she loses control and kills him.
After the discovery of Jonas' remains, the coroner concludes that the injuries he sustained are similar to those of Elin albeit by a smaller animal. This discovery prompts Liv to visit Lars who reveals to her that once a human has been transformed into a werewolf, they no longer have any humanity left in them and attain a thirst for human blood and that the only way to put an end to the curse is to kill the entire bloodline of werewolves. Lars then visits the hospital and discovers Eilert is infected by the beast, so he shuts down his life support system before leaving.
Thale awakens in a shed near her home. Upon realising what she has done, she decides to run away to Oslo on a night bus. While on the bus, the full moon breaks through the clouds and transforms Thale into a full werewolf just as the bus enters a tunnel. Thale attacks the other passengers on the bus, which ends up crashing in the tunnel. Liv arrives first on the scene and stumbles upon the survivors from the bus crash, who tell her a wolf attacked them. When Liv reaches the bus, the wolf has already left, leaving behind the carnage. During her search, Liv stumbles upon her daughter's torn up clothes and jewellery. At the same time, William arrives at the scene, informing Liv that after testing the wolf body, he had found that it contained human DNA in its system, confirming they were dealing with an actual werewolf. This convinces Liv that her daughter has now become the new werewolf.
Thale in her fully transformed form, returns home and approaches her deaf sister Jenny, lunging at her just as Jenny notices her presence. However, the two recognize each other, mainly due to Thale's heterochromia, calming Thale down. Arthur stumbles upon the scene and fights Thale off with a lamp before taking Jenny with him in his van and racing off to the city centre, with Thale in pursuit. Arthur however is bleeding heavily from a wound he sustained and passes out behind the wheel, causing them to crash on a bridge near a crowded pub. He signs to Jenny to run just as the crowd approach the crashed van to help the pair and just as Thale arrives.
Thale goes on a murder spree and attacks multiple people near the pub before Liv and William arrive. Jenny tries to calm her sister down which initially seems to work before William shoots Thale with a tranquilizer dart. Liv grabs Jenny and the three run into an empty store which is under construction. As they struggle to keep Thale out, Liv orders Jenny to hide behind the counter. At that point, Lars arrives in his RV and smashes through the store front in an attempt to hit Thale. Liv, William, and Lars are all injured following the crash and an unharmed Thale enters the store, killing Lars and attacking Liv. Liv holds Thale off by using her wrist cast to protect her arm as Thale bites down on it and orders an injured William to shoot Thale again with a tranquilizer dart. Seeing William is unable to fulfill the request, Jenny takes the dart and stabs it into her sister's side, putting an end to the attack.
Still in her werewolf form, Thale is kept in the vet clinic while still unconscious. Liv visits her and loads a silver bullet into her gun, placing it against Thale's neck as she loses her composure and looks away. The movie ends with Liv arriving home and placing the silver bullet next to a picture of Thale on her nightstand while leaving it ambiguous if Liv either put Thale out of her misery or released Thale far away from civilization.[3]
The film received mixed reviews, scoring 50% on rotten tomatoes based on 6 reviews. It raked in $57,727 at the box office and was released on Netflix on 3 February 2023.