Cub is an interesting movie. One that the more I think about it, the more I struggle to come to a final conclusion on just how good of a movie it is. I like it for sure. Let’s be clear there, there’s no question about that. The issue I’m having is that it left me with a lot of questions. As I’ve been replaying the movie back in my head, I don’t think the answers to said questions are ever present. That bums me out a bit because I think Cub was on the verge of being great and instead settles into just being good.

The most basic form of the plot is quite simple. A group of cub scouts goes on a camping trip. Before going they shares stories of Kai – some type of werewolf creature that lives out in the woods and causes trouble. Sam (Maurice Luijten), the cub scout that seems to get picked on by the other cub scouts and one of the scout leaders, has a bit of an overactive imagination and he believes the stories to be true. He decides to take it upon himself to validate these stories by going out and finding Kai.

At this point I’m going to suggest you proceed reading with caution. I’m going to give away what I consider to be minor spoilers. I’m not going to ruin the ending by any means, but I’m going to share information that I think is best to not know going into the movie. It’s quite possible this information was readily available in the marketing of the movie, but I didn’t see any of that so I went into my viewing of Cub unaware and I think it made the movie more enjoyable.

**Minor Spoilers Ahead!!**

It doesn’t take Sam very long to find Kai and when he does we discover that Kai (Gill Eeckelaert) is really just a feral boy. We don’t know how long Kai has been living in the woods but clearly it’s been a while as he acts just like a wild animal. We’re able to gather that Kai hasn’t had any human contact in a while. We also learn that Kai has built little traps throughout the woods, presumably to help him catch prey. This all makes sense. This little boy has been out in the woods by himself and he had to use his animal instincts to learn how to survive.

Before you know it, we’re introduced to another character who happens to be Kai’s father. Going forward I’m just going to refer to this guy as the Man (Jan Hammenecker). The Man clearly is not feral and comes from civilization. For example the Man can talk, whereas Kai just communicates with grunts. The Man has also set up very elaborate traps throughout the woods and has an underground hideaway that seems pretty massive. There’s various tunnels and different rooms. It kind of looks like it might have been an old mine or something.

This is where I encounter my first issue with Cub. Kai has clearly been living with the Man so how exactly is he feral? The Man could simply treat him like an animal and that would likely explain why Kai is the way he is, but wouldn’t he pick up on a few things? I would think he would at least learn how to talk. I guess the Man could beat Kai every time he talks until he finally just learns not to and then maybe he eventually forgets but I don’t know that I buy that. Regardless of the fact that they don’t live in a normal home but rather in the woods, I’m not sure Kai could be this feral boy while still living with his father. There is some type of human connection there. That part just doesn’t add up to me.

Furthermore I’m not sure what the purpose of anything is. Like why do Kai and the Man kill people? Initially I thought Kai was setting up traps to kill people and other animals for food. This made sense to me since he was feral and all. But I have no idea what purpose this all served for the Man. I guess he kills just to kill. Doesn’t really seem to be any end game. And what he does with those that he kills doesn’t even seem to have any rhyme or reason. Some people he kills and then dumps their bodies. Others he sets up in one of the many rooms he has in his underground lair.

Aside from these issues I had with the plot, Cub is a ton of fun. The practical effects look fantastic and some of the kills are very creative. There’s one kill that involves an arrow and a beehive that is pretty incredible. It seriously seems like one of the worst ways to go. The various traps and contraptions set up throughout the woods are also quite clever and well done.

One issue that often plagues movies but doesn’t present a problem here is the use of child actors. There’s quite the cast of child actors in Cub and each one is good but Luitjen and Eeckelaert stand head and shoulders above the rest. Eeckelaert I was especially impressed by. Despite him not having any lines he’s actually able to convey emotion quite well. His role is really essentially to the film and luckily he does a great job.

So yeah, Cub does fall apart a bit in the later part of the movie as more plot details are revealed, but first time director Jonas Govaerts still manages to deliver a good movie. While I’m disappointed we didn’t get the great movie that was potentially there, I still very much recommend giving Cub a watch.

Cub is now available on Blu-ray from Artsploitation Films.