
COYOTES
Starring: Justin Long, Kate Bosworth, Mila Harris, Brittany Allen, Norbert Leo Butz, Katherine McNamara, and Keir O’Donnell
Director: Colin Minihan

This film has been reviewed by Quentin and Nick as part of Bitesize Breakdown's coverage of Fantastic Fest 2025.

QUENTIN
When making a horror movie (or, in this case, a horror comedy) where the villain is simply a bloodthirsty wild animal (meaning nothing supernatural or with inherent personality), you need at least one of two things: compelling characters that you want to root for or creatively over-the-top kills. Ideally, you’d have both. Sadly, Coyotes has neither. On top of that, the probably intentional B-movie aesthetic just looks cheap, like if the Hallmark Channel pivoted to horror. Frankly, there just isn’t much to recommend here. Neither the horror nor the comedy elements hit, which is especially noticeable with the sluggish pacing early on.

NICK
Creative kills, compelling characters, and big swings are ways to salvage a bad genre film. Coyotes has none of these. The performances are bland (especially Kate Bosworth), and there's just nothing new or ambitious here. Hell, even the coyotes aren't all that scary, as most of their attacks come from the fallout of incredibly dumb decisions, one after another, by every human being on screen. Do they, at least, acknowledge how dumb their actions are? Nope, because they seemingly want this to be taken somewhat seriously. It shouldn’t be. This doesn't work as a horror. This doesn't work as a comedy. This one just flat doesn't work.




