Director Colin Minihan has explored a plethora of subgenres in his filmography, from the supernatural and found footage to aliens and zombies. Now, in his most recent film Coyotes, he’s tackling the creature feature in a film about, well, coyotes attacking the wealthy living in the Hollywood Hills.
While there’s no denying the obvious use of A.I. in rendering the film’s (very wolf-like) coyotes, the story itself is plain ol’ fun, reminiscent of early aughts SyFy original movies with a dash of Arachnophobia. Thanks to dedicated performances from Justin Long and Kate Bosworth and a lean script, Coyotes never overstays its welcome and delivers an entertaining creature feature perfect for a slot in your Halloween watchlist.
Justin Long plays Scott, a comic book artist who recently moved his family into the Hollywood Hills as a signal of his success. There, he and his wife (Kate Bosworth) and their daughter, Chloe (Mila Harris), try to settle in despite Chloe’s stereotypical snotty teenage attitude. Plus, a nasty storm is about to hit Southern California, and they need to batten down the hatches.
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When the storm hits, everything starts going really wrong. From strong winds knocking out the power to wildfires starting nearby, the family is stuck, trying to find a way out of harm’s way. And the cherry on top? Starving, angry coyotes who are circling the neighborhood, trying to survive, but in the most violent way possible. The family of three, plus a sex worker with a heart of gold (Brittany Allen), must try to survive the canine onslaught while also trying to find a way out of the surrounding fires. It’s bad situation after bad situation in a way that feels both absolutely ridiculous and uncomfortably possible.
From the cold open that feels like something out of the early aughts to the cheesy yet earnest dialogue between family members, Coyotes truly feels like a SyFy original movie. There are plenty of incredible practical setpieces, but the creature effects, particularly those rendered using AI, are jarring and definitely take you out of the action. It’s hard to accomplish a film like this on a lower budget, but the decisions made here in regards to rendering the titular “villains” drag the film down.
While Minihan directs the film from a script by Tad Daggerhart and Nick Simon, it still fits perfectly within his body of work, especially when it comes to a breakneck pace that starts quickly and never stops until the credits roll (see: What Keeps You Alive). He has a knack for telling stories that take place over a short period of time but are packed with as much character development as you can within such a small window. It’s always an admirable effort, and while it doesn’t always work in Coyotes, there are still enough interesting characters (especially the core family) that keep you engaged in the ever-evolving violence.
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It’s thanks to committed performances from Kate Bosworth and Justin Long as two surprisingly decent and supportive horror parents who don’t entirely blow off their kid. It’s a small shift, perhaps, but in a genre that’s known for dismissive parental figures, seeing these performances was a nice little breath of fresh air. They feel akin to parents in an ’80s adventure movie, especially Bosworth as she leans into the bad-ass mom trope with grace. It’s wild seeing these two actors move into their “playing parents” era, but they’re embracing it with open arms and a sense of humor.
Coyotes is obviously a work of fiction, but the film’s world isn’t really THAT different from our own. From Hollywood Hills being decimated by wildfires, to massive storms only making those storms worse, to increasing wildlife encounters due to growing urban sprawl, the situation at hand isn’t so far-fetched. While this is ultimately meant to be purely entertaining, Minihan, Daggerhart, and Simon slide in enough of a message to make Coyotes send a surprising shiver down your spine. Horror movies so often hold up a mirror to our reality, and in Coyotes, underneath the AI slop and nasty setpieces, that reflection is more repulsive than any practical effect.
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