Julia Garner, from left, Christopher Abbott, and Matilda Firth in a scene from ‘Wolf Man’
| Photo Credit: AP

After the astounding success ofThe Invisible Man, director Leigh Whannell is back to reboot another of Universal Pictures’ most iconic horror titles. While The Invisible Man turned out to be the outing that could have revived the Dark Universe which was shot down after the failure of The Mummy, the filmmaker’s latest film Wolf Man shows why the chances of getting that universe are darker than the films it could have.

In the latest iteration of Wolf Man, after getting a “closure” on his father’s sudden disappearance along with the keys to his childhood home, Blake (Christopher Abbott) decides to make a trip out of it to save his strained marriage with Charlotte (Julia Garner). Along with their child Ginger (Matilda Firth), the couple drives to the middle of nowhere when they get attacked by a mysterious creature similar to what Blake had seen 30 years ago. When one of them gets infected while escaping from the monster, the barricaded safehouse turns into a trap.

The problem with tried-and-tested stories and the tropes they come with is the sense of redundancy and predictability, and that’s what Wolf Man suffers from. Like the 1941 original film, Wolf Man is the story of a damned person whose transformation into a nefarious creature comes with the emotional pain of turning into a nightmare for their own kin. Despite the wafer-thin plot, it’s the performances of Abbott and Garner that keep the film afloat. This is what makes drastic turns like one character taking over the wheel when they were operating from the back for most of the film’s run time, look not too ridiculous.

Julia Garner, from left, Christopher Abbott, and Matilda Firth in a scene from ‘Wolf Man’
| Photo Credit:
NICOLA DOVE

After a neat prologue that sets the stage for an intriguing story, the film takes a slump. The fact that the story banks on body horror rather than scares does not work in its favour either. But opting for prosthetics and practical effects instead of CG makes for some fascinating, old school gore-show and they come as a welcome respite in this horror film that dearly needs more horror.

Of course, there are specs of intelligent writing that lift its head like a werewolf on a full moon day — like the cool POV shots of the infected as they descend into madness. But what overpowers them are the predictable aspects of the film complete with its clichés such as one character being a writer and the child saying “I wanna go home” after escaping from the clutches of death. Not to mention the banality of being a ‘cabin in the woods’ film along with its usual tropes such as the inability to communicate with the outside world.

Wolf Man, in a way, tries to honour the legacy of the original film by sticking to practical effects. But with a simple and formulaic plot, there’s little good that performances can do.Wolf Man comes short of giving us anything worth sinking our teeth into.

Wolf Man is currently running in theatres

The former human resources director of the Broad is suing the Los Angeles museum and its former chief operating officer, accusing them of discrimination, retaliation and sexual harassment.

In the lawsuit filed Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, former HR director Darron Rezell Walker accuses former COO Alysa Gerlach of pressuring him to fire a white employee, Rick Mitchell, 65, based on personal animus — as well as his age and race. Walker alleges in his suit that Gerlach said she did not want “an old white man” in any director-level position and that Mitchell was a “misogynist” who “makes people uncomfortable.”

After Walker interviewed staff and determined that Mitchell should not be terminated, Gerlach not only fired Mitchell but also fired Walker in retaliation, the lawsuit says. Walker also accuses Gerlach in the suit of creating a hostile work environment by asking inappropriate questions about Walker’s sex life and sharing personal information about her own intimate relationships.

Neither the Broad nor Gerlach responded to requests for comment on Friday.

Walker was employed at the Broad for less than two months, and his quick dismissal last April has “devastated” his reputation, says his attorney, Michelle Iarusso.

“This was a very high-profile position for him,” Iarusso says, adding that Walker had connections in the worlds of art and fashion that intersected with his job at the Broad. “He was very excited to get this position, and he let everybody know. So when he was summarily terminated after a very short time, it was a bomb. It was like they obliterated his career.”

In his lawsuit, Walker alleges that Gerlach was “trying to find a way to fire” Mitchell, who served as the Broad’s director of facilities. Walker diplomatically tried to challenge Gerlach’s comments about Mitchell’s age and race, the lawsuit says. “Gerlach thought that because both of them were persons of color, Walker being African American and Defendant Gerlach being Latina, that her comments were an acceptable form of commiseration shared between people of color,” the suit says.

According to the lawsuit, Mitchell had raised questions in a meeting about whether the physical limitations of his staff members, including women and a person with a disability, would prevent them from moving staging equipment used in museum events. Some staff members perceived the comments as discriminatory, the suit says. But over several weeks, Walker conducted interviews with Mitchell’s co-workers and subordinates, who “painted a clear picture of Mitchell being revered as a supportive and well-respected manager,” the suit says. “In particular, women under his supervision expressed appreciation for his fairness and leadership. Not one person corroborated any claims of discriminatory or misogynistic behavior.”

Gerlach was not pleased with the results of Walker’s investigation, the lawsuit alleges, and moved forward with plans to terminate Mitchell. As the HR director, Walker worried that the action would be “exposing the museum to significant legal and reputational risks, all occurring on Walker’s watch, to somehow be unfairly attributed to him.”

As she moved forward with her plan, the lawsuit alleges, Gerlach forbade Mitchell from talking with her superior, Broad founding director Joanne Heyler, unless Gerlach was present.

When Walker submitted his report rejecting Gerlach’s accusations against Mitchell, the lawsuit says, Walker faced “immediate and escalating hostility.”

Eleven days after Mitchell was fired, Gerlach fired Walker on speakerphone while other staff members were present in Walker’s office, the lawsuit says, causing “substantial humiliation and embarrassment.”

The lawsuit accuses the Broad of failing to take “reasonable steps to prevent retaliation and wrongful termination against Walker who opposed discrimination in the workplace.” It also alleges a hostile work environment created by Gerlach, whom Walker accuses of asking about romantic and sexual partners.

Walker, who is gay, alleges that Gerlach “frequently expressed curiosity about topics related to gay sexual activity.”

Gerlach’s LinkedIn profile indicates she left the Broad in September. Neither she nor the museum could be reached for comment on the circumstances of her departure.