The Wolf House

The Wolf House (La casa lobo) is a 2018 Chilean adult stop motion animated art film directed by Cristobal León & Joaquín Cociña (in their directorial debuts) and co-written with Alejandra Moffat.

Inspired by the actual case of Colonia Dignidad, The Wolf House masquerades as an animated fairy tale produced by the leader of the sect in order to indoctrinate its followers. The film uses elements of avant-garde cinema, dark fantasy, adult animation, psychological drama, surrealism, and supernatural horror.

It had its world premiere at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival in the Forum section on February 22, 2018.

Plot
María, an idle and irresponsible girl living in the isolated Colony, flees into the woods rather than face the community's punishment for failing to contribute. She narrowly escapes a pursuing wolf by taking refuge in an abandoned house.

She is welcomed by two pigs, the only inhabitants of the place. Like in a dream, the universe of the house reacts to Maria's feelings and shapes itself into her ideal home. The pigs transform slowly into humans whom she names Ana and Pedro. Although the wolf's presence outside makes it impossible for any of them to leave, the group lives happily for a short time. María ignores the wolf's repeated attempts to tempt her back to the Colony and denies its description of the house as a new kind of cage.

Time passes. As the secluded household begins to run out of food, Ana and Pedro become increasingly hostile and secretive toward María. They hide food from her and share it between themselves. María, afraid to confront them, instead tries to leave the house and pick apples in the woods. Ana and Pedro stop her. They claim there is enough food in the house and that leaving would only put her at risk of being caught by the wolf. For the first time, María thinks longingly of the Colony and voices a more positive view of the wolf. The wolf, she thinks, knows the way home. The wolf would take care of her.

Ana and Pedro tie María to a bed to prevent her from leaving. As they stand over her discussing their hunger, María realizes they intend to eat her. Despairing, María begs the wolf to save her. The wolf enters the house and eats Ana and Pedro. María transforms into a bird and flies home to the Colony.

In a brief closing narration, the wolf says María regained her helpful and hardworking spirit once she returned home. He offers to take the "little pigs" in the audience home to the Colony, where he promises he will care for them.

Production
For its production, it received support from several projects including the Chile Fund for Film Project Development and the FONDART from the National Council of Culture and the Arts.

It took five years to develop the film in the workshop with animators independently, it incorporates both chalk-like drawn and stop motion animation; the former for opening and ending scene, while the latter using various objects into different forms entirely such as clay, paint, papier-mâché, and puppet, similar to their previous short films; as well as utilizes a single shot sequence to more look like a one-shot film (except the live-action metafiction opening scene).

Filming
The film was shot in several studios and exhibitions at museums of different cities from Latin America and Europe including the Upstream Gallery in Amsterdam, Netherlands, the Kampnagel in Hamburg, Germany and the Chilean National Museum of Fine Arts in Santiago, Chile.

Release
It had its world premiere at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival on February 22, 2018. It was also screened at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival where it won the Jury Distinction, the Monterrey International Film Festival and other Chilean festivals including the Valdivia Film Festival and the Viña del Mar International Film Festival.

Critical response
On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of based on  reviews, with an average rating of. The critical consensus reads "Surreal, unsettling, and finally haunting, The Wolf House is a stunning outpouring of creativity whose striking visuals queasily complement its disturbing story." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 86 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

Glenn Kenny of The New York Times gave the film a positive review writing: "The film surprises, with incredible force, in every one of its 75 minutes.". Jonathan Holland of The Hollywood Reporter praised the film for its visuals, writing: "the deeply uncanny pic makes for an unsettling viewing experience, a creative tour de force whose endlessly fascinating visuals are deliberately seductive and repellent in equal measure.". David Ehrlich of IndieWire rated the film a B+, calling it "one of the darkest animated movies ever made.".