FILM Synopsis
Magician and con-artist, Victor Hunt (Will Griffey), flees the authorities after a botched bank robbery. Finding a minister stuck on the road, Victor steals his robe and credentials, leaving the minister tied in the woods. Victor's trajectory goes awry when the Engel family believes him to be the new minister coming to officiate their daughter’s wedding and lead the church.
Realizing his need to gather enough money to leave the United States, Victor decides to stay with the Engels in their impoverished town and use his new identity to amass what little money they have. As a devout atheist, Victor cons the town through the puritanical teachings of his foster mother and uses those teachings to take their money and punish them for their indifference to one another. Yet, to Victor's surprise, he bonds with the Engels.
Upon learning that his religious apprentice and the Engel's only single daughter, Maybelle (Erin Howard), holds Russian citizenship, Victor begins a spellbinding end-of-days charade to escape the country with her. As pressure from the authorities mount, wrought with turmoil, he must decide on coming clean to the town or bankrupting it and breaking the hearts of the only family he's known.
Realizing his need to gather enough money to leave the United States, Victor decides to stay with the Engels in their impoverished town and use his new identity to amass what little money they have. As a devout atheist, Victor cons the town through the puritanical teachings of his foster mother and uses those teachings to take their money and punish them for their indifference to one another. Yet, to Victor's surprise, he bonds with the Engels.
Upon learning that his religious apprentice and the Engel's only single daughter, Maybelle (Erin Howard), holds Russian citizenship, Victor begins a spellbinding end-of-days charade to escape the country with her. As pressure from the authorities mount, wrought with turmoil, he must decide on coming clean to the town or bankrupting it and breaking the hearts of the only family he's known.
Director’s StatementThe Wolf’s Robe was born out of playing a Satan-esque deceiver and directing a hillbilly sitcom. From 2010-2012, I worked at summer camps in Alaska, where I met my Director of Photography and Co-Producer, Carissa Hosey. One summer, I played Mr. Hunter, a magician who tricked his victims into going inside his magic box, then locked them inside. I had a history of acting as villains; however, the charisma and wit of this particular character captured my imagination and I wondered if I could create a story involving someone like this deceiver.
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In the spring of 2013, Carissa and I shot Community Watch, a sitcom pilot about rednecks who solve crime. We had such an amazing cast that we knew we wanted to work with many again, such as Jackie Hart-Whiting, Charles “Wooly” Wooldridge, Tom Lombard, and Jadyn Keller. Therefore, I began writing a script with them in mind. I also wrote around locations I either had access to or could easily find, which meant needing to be near Lincoln, NE. Then it hit me. What would happen if I placed this deceiver in a small Nebraskan town? Hence, The Wolf’s Robe was born.
Raised in fundamental Seventh-day Adventist culture, I was keenly aware of both the good and evil religion was capable of. While exploring my identity as a gay man within Adventism, I learned of Colin Cook, a man who declared nationally that he’d been “cured” of homosexuality and had a number of people attending his Quest Center. It was later uncovered that this “straight” man was molesting his younger, male clients, and collecting large sums of money from his older clients and the church-at-large. Around this time, I attended meetings by motivational speaker and evangelist, Leo Schreven, who declared we could “choose” anything we wanted. Leo proceeded to lead those he motivated into his version of end-day events and something about his message and demeanor seemed off. Three months later, he blew his head off.
A couple years before all this, my grandmother got swindled out of her life savings by a telephone con-artist and the combination of all these experiences led me to examine what motivated cons. What fascinated me most remained how many followers continued to follow even after their leader's deceptions were uncovered. Through my research, I learned that once a person was bamboozled, they were significantly more likely to be duped again. It began to make sense why Peter Popoff continues to rake in thousands even after his entire ministry was debunked. Or, why fundamentals continue to seek end-of-days advice from conspirator Walter Veith, despite how discredited his sources remain.
Through these frauds, the character of Victor Hunt emerged and next to him stood a town pruned with ignorance and fanaticism, ready to be plucked. I saw a story both timeless and timely, serving as an allegory for deception everywhere, and forming a framework for finding a healthy faith community.
Raised in fundamental Seventh-day Adventist culture, I was keenly aware of both the good and evil religion was capable of. While exploring my identity as a gay man within Adventism, I learned of Colin Cook, a man who declared nationally that he’d been “cured” of homosexuality and had a number of people attending his Quest Center. It was later uncovered that this “straight” man was molesting his younger, male clients, and collecting large sums of money from his older clients and the church-at-large. Around this time, I attended meetings by motivational speaker and evangelist, Leo Schreven, who declared we could “choose” anything we wanted. Leo proceeded to lead those he motivated into his version of end-day events and something about his message and demeanor seemed off. Three months later, he blew his head off.
A couple years before all this, my grandmother got swindled out of her life savings by a telephone con-artist and the combination of all these experiences led me to examine what motivated cons. What fascinated me most remained how many followers continued to follow even after their leader's deceptions were uncovered. Through my research, I learned that once a person was bamboozled, they were significantly more likely to be duped again. It began to make sense why Peter Popoff continues to rake in thousands even after his entire ministry was debunked. Or, why fundamentals continue to seek end-of-days advice from conspirator Walter Veith, despite how discredited his sources remain.
Through these frauds, the character of Victor Hunt emerged and next to him stood a town pruned with ignorance and fanaticism, ready to be plucked. I saw a story both timeless and timely, serving as an allegory for deception everywhere, and forming a framework for finding a healthy faith community.
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