What actually happens
A homecoming with a very cold father
The story starts in 1891, when Ben Talbot is killed in the woods near Blackmoor by something that looks like a wolf standing on two legs. His body is found in a slaughterhouse. His brother Lawrence comes home and is reunited with their estranged father, Sir John. The locals have theories. Some say a wild animal did it, many blame the Romani camped outside town, and one man recalls that a werewolf was suspected in another killing, twenty-five years back. Lawrence walks through the family house and remembers his mother, Solana, who seemed to die by suicide when he was a child, with Sir John standing over her. Lawrence had delusions afterward and spent a year at Lambeth Hospital in London.
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A dancing bear takes the blame
Lawrence goes to the Romani camp while the moon is full. Constable Nye leads a group of townspeople into the camp to seize a dancing bear they think is the killer. This is the scene to brace for, and it comes early. The werewolf attacks the camp, kills Nye along with some of the Romani and the townspeople, and escapes after biting Lawrence. Maleva, a Romani woman, stitches up Lawrence's wounds. Another Romani man says the cursed Lawrence must be killed before he hurts anyone else, and Maleva replies that only someone who loves him can set him free. Lawrence is bitten during the raid, which is how he ends up cursed.
Fast healing, slow explaining
Lawrence has a night of feverish dreams, then wakes up healing unnaturally fast, with more energy and sharper senses than before. Inspector Aberline arrives to investigate and, because of Lawrence's history at the hospital, suspects him. Lawrence is afraid of hurting Gwen Conliffe, who was engaged to Ben and is staying at the Talbot house, so he sends her to London. He then follows Sir John to Solana's crypt. Sir John locks himself in a room there and leaves Lawrence with a cryptic warning. Then Lawrence transforms, runs into the woods and kills some hunters.
A lecture hall is a bad place for a full moon
Aberline has the police arrest Lawrence the next morning, and he is taken back to Lambeth, where Dr. Hoenneger oversees harsh mental and physical treatments. Sir John visits and explains that twenty-five years earlier, on a hunting trip in the Hindu Kush in India, a boy infected with lycanthropy bit him. It was Sir John who bit Lawrence at the camp, and he is behind the recent killings too, Solana's and Ben's among them. He now embraces the curse and leaves Lawrence a razor in case he wants to end things. That night Hoenneger uses Lawrence as a case study in a lecture. Lawrence warns the audience, transforms, kills Hoenneger and some orderlies, and escapes. The next day he visits Gwen at her antique shop, where they admit they love each other. Aberline arms his men with silver bullets, and Maleva tells Gwen that nothing can cure Lawrence and that Maleva herself has to kill him.
The ending, explained
Lawrence arrives at Talbot Hall, where Sir John has already killed Singh and one of Aberline's policemen. He puts Singh's silver bullets in a gun and aims it at Sir John, only to find the cartridges were tampered with. As they struggle, the full moon rises and both Talbots transform. Their fight sets the hall on fire, and Lawrence beheads his father. Gwen and Aberline arrive, and Lawrence bites Aberline. Gwen takes Aberline's pistol and runs into the woods, and Lawrence chases her to a gorge. He spares her when she begs, and when the hunting party distracts him, Gwen shoots him in the heart. He turns back into a man, thanks her for freeing him, and dies on her lap. A wounded, horrified Aberline watches the full moon appear while the hall burns, and a last howl is heard.
The post-credits ruling
Nobody has confirmed whether there is a scene after the credits, so it is safest to stay until they finish.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, no dog dies.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is The Wolfman scary?
Yes, The Wolfman is a 5 out of 10. It is a gothic monster story with jump scares and some grisly attacks, and the fear does not last past the credits.
How does The Wolfman end?
Lawrence beheads his father, Sir John, in a fight between werewolves at the burning Talbot Hall. Gwen then shoots Lawrence in the heart to release him, and he dies on her lap.
Does the dog die in The Wolfman?
No dog dies in The Wolfman. The dancing bear that the townspeople blame for the killings is the animal that gets the most attention.
Is there a post-credits scene in The Wolfman?
Nobody has confirmed whether The Wolfman has a scene after the credits, so it is safest to stay until they finish.
Who is the first werewolf in The Wolfman?
Sir John Talbot, Lawrence's father. In The Wolfman he was bitten twenty-five years earlier in the Hindu Kush, and he is responsible for the recent murders, including those of Solana and Ben.
