Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Wolf Man (2025). Although Julia Garner has repeatedly proven herself as an actor with serious screen presence, Blumhouse’s Wolf Man saw her once again wasted in a by-the-numbers horror movie. For many actors, the horror genre can serve as a proving ground. While early roles in Fighting with My Family and Lady Macbeth made Florence Pugh famous, it was her dazzling turn in Midsommar that garnered serious critical attention. Similarly, after years of casting off the sex symbol persona that defined her early career, Demi Moore’s revelatory role in The Substance earned her an Oscar nomination. Unfortunately, 2025’s Wolf Man reboot from Blumhouse does not offer the same opportunity for Julia Garner.
Garner has been active since 2010, with roles in Martha Macy May Marlene, We Are What We Are, and Ozark marking her out as one to watch. However, it was her role in 2022’s Netflix miniseries Inventing Anna that established Garner as a star. As the legendary con artist Anna Sorokin, who reinvented herself as socialite Anna Delvey, Garner delivered a performance that was equal parts sympathetic, devious, hilarious, and utterly unique. Sadly, Garner’s 2025 horror movie Wolf Man fails to replicate this success. By the film’s end, it becomes painfully clear that yet another horror film has wasted the talented Julia Garner in a thankless central role.
As Charlotte, the thinly sketched wife of Wolf Man’s doomed protagonist Blake, Garner finds herself with little to do beyond worrying about work while still in the city and fretting over everything else when the family drives to the country. There are traces of a potentially intriguing relationship between Charlotte and Blake, hinted at in early scenes where she expresses frustration over her work and his status as a stay-at-home father. Most of Garner’s role consists of watching in dismay as Blake slowly transforms into a monster. While this premise could have been compelling, viewers do not know enough about her to truly care about the couple’s tragic arc.
Despite Wolf Man’s references to The Shining, audiences expecting an intense and involving depiction of a marriage in crisis and a faltering family should look elsewhere. Garner’s Charlotte receives no character development throughout the film’s lean narrative, which sees her making a meager journey from a frustrated wife and mother to a grieving one during the runtime. With most of her role spent in silent despair as Blake’s transformation progresses, the emotional stakes simply do not resonate, leaving viewers indifferent to her plight.
To compound matters, Wolf Man is the second horror film to waste Julia Garner’s talents in one year. Released in September 2024 to little fanfare, Apartment 7A was a painfully predictable prequel to the 1968 classic Rosemary’s Baby. While Wolf Man’s blend of home invasion horror and werewolf mythos failed to muster many scares, Apartment 7A suffered from another significant issue. Both Ira Levin’s novel Rosemary’s Baby and director Roman Polanski’s adaptation are incredibly famous, so most viewers knew from the outset where the story of Apartment 7A’s dancer heroine Terry Gionoffrio was heading. This narrative predictability proved to be a major drawback, as even a gifted performer like Garner could not overcome a plot with a completely transparent twist.
To put it mildly, Garner’s efforts in Apartment 7A failed to gain the acclaim that Mia Farrow earned in the original Rosemary’s Baby. Although she was recognized as a highlight of Apartment 7A, the prequel could not hope to compare with its predecessor. In contrast, Wolf Man’s smaller supporting role did not even garner this faint praise. Fortunately, all hope is not lost for Garner’s future in the horror genre. Despite her disheartening experiences with Wolf Man and Apartment 7A, Garner clearly has an interest in this genre, and her next project might finally turn the tide on her critical struggles.
Garner is set to star in the upcoming film Weapons, directed by Zach Cregger, which will be released in 2026. Admittedly, 2020’s critically acclaimed The Invisible Man and Wolf Man share the same director, so even the success of Creggers’ horror debut, Barbarian, might not be sufficient to ensure the success of Weapons. This project promises to delve once again into the darkness beneath American suburbia, exploring themes of religious rituals, blood sacrifices, and missing children.
Moreover, Weapons boasts an incredible ensemble cast that includes Pedro Pascal, Josh Brolin, June Diane Raphael, and Bryan Tyree Henry alongside Garner. The film is described as a sprawling horror epic told over numerous generations, immersing audiences in a tale that melds wickedness and desperation. With any luck, this ambitious plot could provide Wolf Man’s wasted supporting star with her first critically acclaimed horror hit after two high-profile genre flops in a row. The film industry awaits anxiously to see if Julia Garner can reclaim her starlit position in the realm of horror.