Review by
Eric Hillis
Directed by: Ludovic Boukherma, Zoran Boukherma
Starring: Anthony Bajon, Ludovic Torrent, Christine Gautier, Noémie Lvovsky,
Guillaume Mattera
If you've ever wondered how a werewolf movie made by Bruno Dumont might
play out, the Boukherma brothers provide a close answer with
Teddy. Like Dumont's recent comedies, Teddy is set in an
insular, small rural French community. Here we're in the sunny South
rather than Dumont's windy North, but with its cast of distinctive looking
amateurs and dry as desert sand humour, it's very much snapped off the
Dumont mould.
Our titular anti-hero (Anthony Bajon) is a 19-year-old heavy metal
loving edgelord. He's something of an outsider in his small town, likely
of his own making. When we meet him first he's disrupting the unveiling of
a WWII commemoration, something the town's elders don’t take to kindly to.
Teddy's life seems a little grim – he lives with a demented uncle who
walks around in his boxers wielding a shotgun, and he works in a massage
parlour where he's routinely sexually harassed by his middle-aged boss –
but he seems content with his lot. This is largely due to his girlfriend,
Rebecca (Christine Gauthier), who seems notably out of his league.
Teddy is searching for adventure however, and he finds it when his town
becomes menaced by a wolf preying on the local livestock. One night Teddy
chases after the animal in the woods, but when he emerges he's received a
nasty bite. No prizes for guessing what happens next. Soon Teddy is
growing hair in embarrassing places and munching a little too hard on his
girlfriend's privates. As his bloodlust develops, the whole town finds
itself under threat.
Save for its distinct setting, there isn't much here that will be new to
fans of lycanthrope cinema. Teddy's transformation echoes that of everyone
from Lon Chaney Jr to David Naughton. But the film that borrows his name
has none of the foggy atmosphere of The Wolfman or the
biting humour of An American Werewolf in London. Like its backwater setting, the film is initially intriguing, but you
wouldn't want to spend too much time there. Halfway through, after
developing an admittedly interesting and novel protagonist, the Boukherma
twins seem to run out of ideas. The staging of the climax will likely
cause groans from anyone hoping to see a wolf run riot.
While Teddy doesn't quite land, there's no doubt a lot of
talent on display here. As directors, the Boukhermas have done a
remarkable job of mining performances from a largely inexperienced cast.
With their DP Augustin Barbaroux, they've captured a sort of beauty
in the drudgery of rural France. It's leading man Bajon who leaves the
greatest impression, his awkward charm going a long way to humanising a
character that could have easily just been a one-note, annoying teen
archetype. If the Boukhermas can find some more original and insightful
material to lend their talents to, they could be filmmakers to watch.
Teddy is on Shudder from August
5th.
