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Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Wolfwalkers’ On Apple TV+, A Dazzling Animated Tale From Ireland (And One Of The Year’s Best Films)
In the world of animation, studios seemed more determined than ever to erase all traces of human artistry; rarely will you see a brush stroke, a sketched line, or a woodcut these days. Fortunately, however, 2D animation and all the beautiful little details that come with it are alive and well in Wolfwalkers, now streaming on Apple TV+. This Irish film takes joy in its moving parts and all the artistry behind them, and casts a dazzling spell you won’t want to end.
The Gist: Robyn (Honor Kneafsey) is a young English girl who dreams of being a hunter just like her father Bill Goodfellowe (Sean Bean). It’s 1650 in Kilkenny, Ireland, and Bill is doing his best to help Robyn adjust to their new home – and please Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell (Simon McBurney) by hunting down the wolves that live in the forest outside the rapidly expanding city walls. Robyn, too, dreams of hunting the wolves, until she meets Mebh Óg MacTír (Eva Whittaker), a young girl who runs among these supposedly bloodthirsty beasts: a Wolfwalker. A girl by day who leaves her body to roam the woods as a wolf by night, Mebh also has healing powers and and is able to control the vicious wolves. The idea of Wolfwalkers really existing is something Robyn (and the rest of the town) is incredibly skeptical of – until she experiences it for herself. Robyn tries to share this discovery with her father to get him to stop hunting the wolves, but he’s so angry she’s been spending time in the woods and hasn’t followed the Lord Protector’s orders to work in the scullery that he doesn’t listen.
Robyn and Mebh’s friendship blossoms as the “townie” and the Wolfwalker share their stories, and Mebh shares that she’s waiting for her mother to return from her wolf form and lead the pack away from the forest to somewhere safe. A distraught Mebh can sit in her mother’s lap and beg for her to return, but because her mother’s wolf alter-ego is elsewhere, she can’t get the affection and reassurance she so desperately craves. It’s wrenching stuff. Thanks to an accidental bite from Mebh in wolf form, it isn’t long before Robyn too joins the pack, which only complicates matters (especially with her wolf-hunting father) further. With only a matter of time before the forest goes up in flames and the last of the wolves are destroyed, it’s up to Robyn to help stop the Lord Protector and show her father the truth about the wolves – and who she really is.
