To Kill a Wolf

Kelsey Taylor · 2024 · 92 minutes
November 16 · Regal Riviera · 8:00 p.m.

In a modern re-imagining of Little Red Riding Hood, a social pariah discovers a teenage runaway in the Oregon Wilderness and does his best to help her find a way home.

Programmer’s Note

In the opening moments of To Kill a Wolf, a quiet, burly recluse (Ivan Martin, Ozark, Suits) finds seventeen-year-old Dani (Maddison Brown, Strangerland, Dynasty) asleep in the forest, suffering from hypothermia. He takes her home to his cabin, and after she recovers sets out to return her to her family.

In case there were any doubts as to the inspiration for writer/director Kelsey Taylor’s debut feature, To Kill a Wolf is divided into four chapters: The Woodsman, Grandma, The Wolf, and Red. The film itself, however, is much more interesting than a literal adaptation. It’s useful, for example, to ask what The Wolf is in this scenario? What is the primal source of danger and violence and fear that haunts this suspense-filled fairy tale?

Filmmakers often rely on a storytelling cheat that involves building tension by withholding key background information. (Imagine a film in which a long-lost character returns to his hometown and no one asks him, until the final ten minutes, where he’s been or what he’s been doing.) The revelations of To Kill a Wolf are doled out sparingly and are useful for understanding in hindsight the characters’ motivations, but the film’s tensions can’t be so easily explained away. Rather, the film grows out of Taylor’s deep sympathies and compassion for Dani and the Woodsman, both of whom are seeking something like grace.

Kelsey Taylor and cinematographer/producer Adam Lee will introduce the film and participate in a Q&A.

Raised in the wilds of Eastern Washington, Kelsey Taylor attended Loyola Marymount University where she earned a degree in Film Production and minors in both Film Studies and Music. Her breakthrough sci-fi short film, Alien: Specimen, was created through an initiative with 20th Century and has accumulated more than 7 million views. As a DGA commercial director, Kelsey has worked with brands like Volkswagen, Walmart, and Verizon and her work ranges from comedy to dark world-building. Film Independent selected Kelsey as one of six fellows in their 2024 Episodic Directing Intensive.

Adam Lee is a cinematographer by trade, a producer out of necessity, and a storyteller by compulsion. His visual talents as a cinematographer garnered him both the Ian Connor Award for Excellence in cinematography and a nomination for the ASC Heritage Award. Having completed over a dozen feature films and even more shorts, Adam’s on set experience is invaluable. He’s learned to be quick on his feet and ever evolving to the unique challenges every project presents. Adam has shot films for Netflix, Paramount, and Lionsgate and is a member of Local 600.