Elad J. Primo’s 'Domesticated Wolf' tells the story of Jacob, a middle aged man who lives in the countryside with his daughter and spends most of his day working on his chicken farm. One day he finds out that there is an intruder that keeps killing his precious chicken and he plans to stop this massacre. His plan mainly consists of shooting his neighbor’s dog, the source of this whole problem; but whilst aiming to have a clean shot, he discovers another story that was going right under his nose.
The story is deep and breathtaking; the character of Jacob was superbly written in a passive-aggressive manner that always seems to burst like a spring, but instead he always treats each and every situation with calm. One example that is also the turning point of the short is when Jacob aims at the dog through his scoped rifle and sees by mistake his daughter fooling around with the teenage neighbor. This is where Jacob, the “wolf”, becomes aware of his daughter's life and starts acting in a quite strange manner. Another scene that seemed important to us from a symbolic point of view was the one with the candles in the cake. When the time comes, the girl puts the candles in the cake, lights them and then blows, not being able to put them off from the first breath. In the urban mythology there is a quote that says that if you don’t blow all the candles in one breath, the wish will not become reality. The movie ends with the same overwhelming atmosphere that was present since the first frame.
Besides the story of 'Domesticated Wolf', we really appreciated the sound editing and how shots have been put together in a way that you feel close to the main character and his actions. Albert Iluz's acting was also outstanding, comparable in our point of view to Big Lebowski’s, The Dude – the same anger management and peace of mind only a great actor can provide.
All in all, based on the impeccable story and the strong and untainted main character, we recommend this short to every film enthusiast. A great life experience!
Written by Vlad A. G