Cub

A cute play on words suggests a supernatural dimension that never really materialises in this inventive Belgian coming-of-age chiller. Although a local werewolf myth is an integral part of the story, the cub of the title is a bullied 12-year-old boy named Sam (Maurice Luijten), who joins his scout group on an ill-fated camping trip to the woods. To keep their young charges in check, the scout elders tell stories of a vicious feral creature named Kai that lives there. Sam claims to have seen Kai, but the others make fun of him and the bullying - even from some of the adults - only intensifies. Inevitably, "Kai" reveals himself, with deadly consequences, at which point the film jettisons restraint and switches into full-on stalk-and-slash mode. The kills are surprisingly gruesome, but the suddenly manic tone breaks faith with the thoughtful intensity of the build-up and its intriguing eco-revenge theme goes, like many of its young cast, under the bus.