WolfwalkersWolfwalkers
Year: 2020
Rating: PG
Length: 103 minutes / 1.72 hours

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I sat down to watch the third installment in Tomm Moore’s “Irish Folklore Trilogy.” The Secret of Kells (2009) was a unique animation style that also carried over to Song of the Sea (2014). Wolfwalkers (2020) continues this “rough” visual style but perhaps has the strongest story of all three films. That’s not to say its predecessors don’t have interesting stories, it’s more that Wolfwalkers builds upon the foundations established by these previous entries of this loose trilogy.

As is the case with these films, Wolfwalkers follows a young girl (Robyn Goodfellowe (Honor Kneafsey)) who encounters the fantasy of the world adjacent to her own. Shapeshifting wolves and disappearing forests are more complex than she first realizes. Many stories based on ancient lore are meant to teach lessons to children, and this movie is no different. Granted, there are quite a few cliches in how the plot progresses, being quite predictable at times. Still, the story is engaging enough to warrant a viewing.

This movie first came to my attention when I saw it tied to advertisements for Apple TV+. As this is yet another streaming service on top of the ones already well established (and with significantly more content than Apple TV+ has), I was disappointed that such a marvelous, Oscar-nominated film like Wolfwalkers was basically trapped behind a paywall. I don’t know if this movie will ever be released on Blu-ray, but for right now I’d suggest dipping your toe into Apple TV+ with a free trial just to watch this one piece of content.

Perhaps the best entry in the “Irish Folklore Trilogy,” I give Wolfwalkers 4.5 stars out of 5.

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