Hold the Dark (2018)

"Hold the Dark" is a 2018 Netflix film starring Jeffrey Wright. I watched it because the Netflix summary sounded interesting and I like Jeffrey Wright: I remember him best as Bernard in the HBO series "Westworld".

The setting is a remote part of Alaska where three children have apparently been taken by wolves. Wright, an expert on wolf behavior who has published a book on the subject, is called in by the mother of one of the children to track down the wolf responsible for her child's disappearance. Meanwhile, the child's father is off fighting in Iraq when this happens, but returns soon afterward after being wounded.

But the search for the wolves part of the plot just gets the movie started. It quickly becomes apparent there is much more going on than wolves stealing children.

This is not strictly speaking a traditional horror movie: there is nothing overtly supernatural. But it is a dark movie about human nature and the primal instincts that lay beneath the surface. And you need to pay attention. Lines spoken carry clues to what the relationships of various characters are.

I liked Wright's performance as the thoughtful outsider trying to make sense of what is happening at this remote fringe of civilization.

You can read more about the movie here Wikipedia Link.