Brazilian director Fernando Coimbra's A Wolf at the Door may have all the earmarks of a traditional whodunnit or crime procedural, but that veneer fades away once the story unfolds. See, there's very little mystery surrounding who commits the central crime that unites a small group of people in Coimbra's taut, tense, thriller. The bigger question, one that you'll be wrestling with and agonizing over throughout, is "why" did they do it?
Thrusting us right into the deep end, the film begins with a hectic flurry of activity. Sylvia (Fabiula Nascimento) arrives at daycare to pick up her 6-year-old daughter, Clara, only to discover that she's already left with someone else, a supposed family friend. The police immediately get down to interrogating the teacher, who is a confused, stuttering mess. Sylvia's husband, Bernardo (Milhem Cortaz) is called in, and both are raked over the coals with questions, mostly about the state of their marriage. She insists things are fine....at first, but admits things have been different lately. It isn't long before he mentions a woman, Rosa (Leandra Leal), who he has been having an affair with. The cops immediately turn their attention on her as Clare's kidnapper, and so too does the focus of the tawdry narrative.
The bulk of the film is told in flashback as we see the steamy affair between Bernardo and Rosa, and "steamy" doesn't really begin to cover it. These two are hot hot hot for one another, muy friggin' caliente, beginning from the first time he picks her up at the train station. But sex and lies go often go hand-in-hand, and nobody is being truly honest with the other. Coimbra's devilishly clever screenplay bounces back and forth in time to show the little untruths that are so easily told, partially to keep the cops off-balance but also as a form of personal comfort. When it comes to complicated matters of love, few ever truly see themselves as the "bad guy" regardless of the actions they may take. 
What unfolds is a really nasty examination of marriage and adultery, not quite like Fatal Attraction as many have been drawing that comparison since the film debuted on the festival circuit. The way Coibra looks at infidelity and the disastrous ramifications of it is closer to Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl, albeit in a less sophisticated manner. Leal's performance as the spurned and manipulative Rosa could even be compared favorably to that of Rosamund Pike's. It helps that the screenplay digs deep into Rosa's boring life without Bernardo. There's a real fear of going back to that, of losing the excitement he brings on a regular basis. By the same token, Bernardo and Sylvia's marriage has grown stale, but Coimbra is acutely aware of the responsibility both sides have to play in keeping the flames of passion alive. There's plenty of blame to go around for everybody in this film, which is given the absolutely perfect title. If A Wolf at the Door is about anything, it's about being careful who enters our life. It also serves as a pointed reminder why it's a good idea for guys to keep it in their pants if they're inclined to stray. You never know what could happen as a result.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
