The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf released August 23 on Netflix and tells an entertaining origin story of Vesemir and the School of the Wolf
Although it’s very hard to talk about this movie without revealing spoilers, I think it is safe for you to continue reading this without being afraid you will have your experience ruined if you are here before you have seen it yourself.
The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf is an anime movie released on August 23 2021 on Netflix. It tells a new and unique story following the well-established canons of the world of The Witcher but is not afraid to be creative and imaginative. The movie follows a young witcher Vesemir and his struggles to overcome poverty as a child.
The movie can be seen as a prequel to The Witcher TV Show. Both are exclusively available on Netflix and are based on the books written by Andrzej Sapkowski.
Nightmare of the Wolf is a beautifully and carefully crafted drama filled with time-jumps and a heavy doses of blood and gore. It is most definitely not suitable for children. But it’s 110% targeting the true Witcher fans.
When I sat down to watch the movie for the first time this morning, I could not believe how fast the 80 minutes passed when I got to the end and saw the credits.
The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf is a true credit to the Witcher world. Sapkowski built it all those years ago and now in the more modern times CD Projekt Red and Netflix continue adding new stories to it. Some contradict things from the books, this movie is a good example, but it doesn’t mean it’s a bad movie. If you are a hardcore Sapkowski canon fan, maybe this would not be to your liking.
Nightmare of the Wolf has everything to keep you entertained, interested and watching and listening in front of your TV.
The movie clearly demonstrates in the very beginning that it will follow the dark tone and grim atmosphere of the already established world of The Witcher that we know from the other sources.
As a true fan of The Witcher, I personally thoroughly enjoyed every single minute of Nightmare of the Wolf.
This is a movie about Vesemir in his young years. Witchers don’t grow old in the normal way as humans do and so when I say young, I don’t mean as young as you might think basing your guesses on the trailer of the movie.
There are a number of familiar characters from the books and video games included in the plot. They are not central to the story, however and many will only appear once or twice on the sidelines.
Much like in the Sapkowski books, nothing is presented as black or white in this anime. Choices are always deeply personal and Vesemir has to make some incredibly tough and risky decisions to determine the fate of those he loves and cares about.
The narrative jumps back and forth through time often. In this regard it is similar to the first season of The Witcher TV show. Because this is an animation, the jumps are much more dramatic, flashy and in some cases purely surprising and even stressing.
You will see plenty of monsters in Nightmare of the Wolf. Most of them you will be able to recognize if you are a fan, but with one or two I personally had a bit of trouble determining what kind or species they are until the answers were revealed as part of the story.
Vesemir as well as other witchers do tend to use a bit too much witcher signs for my taste. Thankfully the signs animations were absolutely gorgeous and a delight to watch. Again, thanks to the fact that this is an anime movie and not a live-action.
There’s a healthy dose of magic and secrecy which only help thicken the feeling of mysticism throughout the movie.
I guarantee you that if you bring someone unfamiliar with this world to watch this movie together and use it as their entry point into the world of the Witcher, you will both end up disappointed.
This title is not for casual viewers.
If I had to point one big let-down I myself felt while watching, that would be the character of Vesemir. His English voice-over was perfect for a “young Vesemir”, but the visual presentation – the hair style, beard and smirky face – none of these felt like Vesemir to me.
It’s true that we mostly know and love Uncle Vesemir as an old witcher. That is a factor in our minds while watching Nightmare of the Wolf for sure.
And I know that anime characters tend to have different perks, but this guy was as far away from a Vesemir picture in my mind as humanly possible.
I stated in the title of this article that the movie is a daring origin story and in this regard it does not disappoint. In fact, I am glad they managed to surprise me with the direction they took and events they chose to reveal. Curious to see how this gets incorporated into future narratives.
We know that Vesemir will appear in the second season of The Witcher series on Netflix. It would be interesting if they turn this anime into a “canon”. And yes, I know that technically only the Sapkowski books are canon.
There are differences, but the movie captures very successfully the original feeling and mood of the world in which the events take place.
With that said, I strongly recommend you to watch The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf. As soon as possible.
If you want to fully enjoy this movie, I advise you take the time to do it as if you are going to the cinema – dark and quiet room, preferably late in the evening and alone or with another Witcher fan next to you.
Have you seen it already? What did you think? Don’t worry about sharing spoilers in the comments, that’s what they are for :)))
The Witcher TV show is about to release its second season this December, we had the very first WitcherCon earlier this Summer and now this anime movie. What more could a Witcher fan ask for?
The Witcher 4? Well… it’s a bit too early for that, but we did get sort of a confirmation that The Witcher 4 is coming at some point by CD Projekt Red way back in 2018.
Images source: Netflix.
