Year 1973, Finland. A freezing cold winter day.
A newborn child is baptised and named Anselm. His mother disappears later on that day. She is never found.

15 years later, Anselm notices that his body is changing. Confused and puzzled, he begins to look for answers for the events. Anselm’s curiosity finally leads him to the mystery of his lost mother. 15 years of silence begin to fade and secrets are revealed. Anselm has to discover the fate of his mother to realise what he is becoming.

Main characters

Anselm

Performed by Aleksi Holkko

“The hair, the voice change, mood swings and things like that, it’s nothing to worry about. It will pass. I mean, it doesn’t pass, he’s becoming an adult.”
- Vicar

Anselm is a 15-year-old boy living in a small village. His mother disappeared when he was still a baby. During puberty Anselm’s body and mind start to change uncontrollably. These changes make him question the fate of his missing mother.

Manuel

Performed by Sami Palolampi

“Yes, I so loved your mother.”
- Manu

For 15 years Manu has raised Anselm as well as he could. Now the boy’s childhood is almost over. Anselm has begun to ask the questions that Manu has always been afraid of answering.

Vicar

Performed by Pauli Hanhiniemi

“I have given a vow of confidentiality. It means that I cannot speak about matters of parishioners to anyone.”
- Vicar

15 years ago, Anselm was baptised by the Vicar. In the evening of that same day, Anselm’s mother disappeared. That night, the Vicar saw something that he has never told anyone about.

Eve

Performed by Liisa Ruuskanen

“I want to know why mother left. Was she ashamed of me?”
- Anselm

Cold day in mid-winter 1973. A dearly wished for child is born and named Anselm. Eve, the new mother, is glowing with happiness. The christening event ends. Eve goes out in the freezing cold and never returns.

Director, Matti Pekkanen

“Anselm, the young werewolf is a film about the end of childhood.”

And a film about the beast that lives inside the human skin, waiting for an opportunity to crush the thin surface of humanity.

Instincts guide young Anselm to break free from his childhood home. Growing pains are tearing up his changed body and staggered mind. Parents fall from their pedestal and become ordinary human beings. Youth should be the best time of our lives?

The old vicar asks the most essential questions of the film. How did I end up like this? Are we prisoners of heredity or is the cause at home? Responsibility is a burden you must carry yourself, says the vicar. At the same time, he is struggling with a burden of his own.

The film takes place mainly in the 80′s in Ostrobothnia, Finland. A time and a place which are very personal to the film’s directors. Commodore-64, secretly read lingerie catalogs and larger than life crushes stem directly from real life. Also some of the movie scenes are dramatised versions of real-life events of my friends (apologies to all those concerned, haha).

The title of the movie has been a topic of discussion throughout production. At first, it was the driving force, because it was so damn stupid. When the story started to develop in a more serious direction, the name began to sound misleading. Now that the film is receiving its final form it has become an integral part of production. It tells you what the movie is about.

The movie is about Anselm, a young werewolf.

Producer, Mikko Soukkala

“It sounded like the most stupid movie title ever.”

When the starting point for Anselm, the young werewolf was that the title, invented by Sami Palolampi sometime in the 90’s, sounded like the most stupid movie title ever, it’s hard to imagine that it turned out to be a real movie. A movie that’s not some cobbled together b-class bungle full of blood spatter and corny one-liners. This is a good looking movie with a decent plot. It also has enough mystery to keep you guessing.

The starting point could actually be anything. To turn words into deeds is a different story. In our case a whimsy turned into a real movie. In my opinion, one should do things based on one’s intuition rather than calculated decision-making. One should not be lulled into an idea that one day your dreams will just walk in and say “Hi, here I am, will you join me?” You should reach out for your dreams and walk towards them with your head held high. Say hi, and take them by the hand.

The most important resources in making this movie have been the production team, actors and hundreds of volunteers, who joined our cause without hesitation. The whole team has been extremely committed since the beginning!

My special thanks go to the grocery store keeper Olli Pehkonen from Alavus for feeding our team and volunteers. Big thanks also to Jyrki Tienaho, who allowed us to use his lands for filming. Without the Vääräkoski Board Mill in Ähtäri, we would not have been able to shoot many fine scenes, thanks to Risto Sivonen and Timo Nyyssölä. Community and church of the Killinkoski village have done their share as well. Many, many thanks to all volunteers for your positive attitude towards the making of the movie!

A movie is a world that one can influence. That’s the world where I want to live in.