One of the Best Video Game Movies Ever Made Is Now Streaming on Hulu

Thirty years after Mortal Kombat proved that video-game adaptations could find box-office success, the industry landscape has shifted in surprising ways. Reports around the recent greenlight for a Call of Duty feature at Paramount suggested that even a director of Steven Spielberg’s stature was declined by the publisher for insisting on final cut. That detail speaks to a new era in which game companies often prioritize corporate oversight over auteur-driven experimentation — a shift away from the middle ground where inventive filmmakers treated games as imaginative source material rather than franchises to be tightly stewarded.

That creative sweet spot is precisely what makes Werewolves Within so refreshing. Based on Ubisoft’s party game, Josh Ruben’s film is one of the clearest demonstrations that game-to-screen adaptations can be original, witty, and welcoming to non-gamers — and it’s available to stream on Hulu now.

Unlike blockbuster properties such as Call of Duty or Mario, Werewolves Within adapts only the basic conceit of the game — a social deduction scenario where players try to uncover hidden traitors — and invents almost everything else. Ruben and screenwriter Mishna Wolff relocate the action to Beaverfield, a contemporary small town roiled by a contentious natural-gas pipeline proposal. Our viewpoint is anchored by Finn Wheeler (Sam Richardson), a newly posted forest ranger, while a colorful ensemble of townspeople — played by Michael Chernus, Cheyenne Jackson, Michaela Watkins, and Milana Vayntrub — populate the suspect pool. The pipeline debate gives the community a plausible fault line, so tensions and motives feel grounded rather than contrived.

Ruben leans into distinctive costuming to give each character an immediately recognizable silhouette — think ranger uniform, postal vest, or mountain-man fur — the sort of wardrobe details that could translate into collectible figurines. As he told Vanity Fair, he wanted the look of the characters to be visually iconic. The performances and dialogue follow that shorthand: each person carries a clear behavioral identity, which helps the film move briskly through a crowded whodunit without losing track of who’s who.

Coming off the intimate, two-hander dynamics of Scare Me, Ruben embraced the logistical challenge of directing a large cast. He composes many scenes to cram the frame with faces, which both communicates the web of local relationships and creates a deliciously chaotic visual puzzle as deadly incidents begin to occur. Using sudden in-frame reveals and crowded blocking, he leans into jump-scare mechanics without relying solely on cheap shocks. The film — shot in early 2020 — hints at political polarization without becoming a heavy-handed satire; it asks, wryly, how fragile a community might be when fear takes hold. The answer is: possibly fragile enough to be undone even without any supernatural teeth involved.

Above all, Werewolves Within succeeds because it’s consistently funny. The humor grows organically from character and circumstance: dry asides, rapid back-and-forths, and well-timed physical bits that keep the mystery buoyant rather than dour. Vayntrub is a standout as Cecily, the postal worker whose witty rapport with Finn provides comic warmth before the plot turns darker. Ruben and Wolff’s choice to favor character-driven comedy over slavish adherence to game mechanics keeps the movie fresh — the Ubisoft brand sits upfront, but the film feels like a confident dark comedy first and a licensed adaptation second. Ruben has said Ubisoft was more interested in a good film than in stuffing it with fan-service Easter eggs, and that restraint shows.

Expectations for a Call of Duty movie or other major franchise adaptations are naturally different; blockbusters that generate enormous box-office returns can encourage conservative studio choices. Still, Werewolves Within offers a persuasive model for how game-inspired films can be inventive, accessible, and emotionally specific without needing a marquee auteur. If you want a game-based movie that’s more than a nostalgia piece, this one is well worth your time.

Werewolves Within is streaming now on Hulu.

Source: Polygon