The film begins with emphasizing on a 17-year-old girl named Jordan Sands. She is anything but popular at school and with very few friends at best.

She not only struggles to ask a boy she likes out to the prom, but is also teased by a few popular girls. Those girls pick on her even more when her 14-year-old brother, Hunter, is around.

Hunter enjoys monsters and pulling pranks related to paranormal folklore. He can sometimes even be an annoying little brother to Jordan.

And then there is their father, David, who is a widower. One evening, he brings this woman named, Jacqueline Carlsberg, over for dinner. The family enjoys her.

However, one of Hunter’s pranks gets out of hand. His dad then warns him that next time that happens, he will have all his monster items from his room confiscated – including his posters.

At some point, the family receives a letter from Romania. It’s about the mother’s great-uncle, Dragomir, whose fortune the family has inherited. So, they must travel to Romania for a while.

After arriving there, the Sandses go to the mansion where they will be staying. They are greeted by the grim (but actually good-hearted) housekeeper, Madame Varcoloc. Then a wolf howls in background.

She shows everyone to their rooms. She also asks everyone to lock their doors and remain in their rooms each night.

At breakfast the next day, Jordan reveals that she’s a vegetarian. Luckily, the chef can accommodate her dietary needs.

The kids walk around town. Jordan also meets a local butcher around her age named Gordon (clever!).

That night, though, regardless of the lockdown rule each evening, the children leave their rooms. They suspect danger and hide in a potion closet. But Jordan accidentally steps on a broken piece of glass from a broken potion bottle, thus absorbing the potion along with it.

The next day, at breakfast, Jordan is now interested in meat. She is also more enthusiastic, stronger, energetic, and playful with dogs.

Hunter suspects that something is wrong. He contacts his friends on video call and asks about Jordan’s bizarre behavior. They reveal that she’s destined to become a werewolf that night.

That evening, when Jordan is out with Gordon, Hunter secretly watches her. Eventually, Jordan spots him. But he takes her back to the mansion, where she transforms into a werewolf.

Later, Hunter finds out why Jordan turned into a werewolf. That was because she was injected with a lycanthropy potion when she stepped on the shattered glass.

The kids find out what they need to do in order for Jordan’s hex to be broken. But they only have 1 day for it to succeed.

I will admit that the first several minutes were kind of boring. I kept internally debating with myself on whether or not to stop the movie.

Luckily, it got better after around 25% in. Some parts were also a bit too intense for a kid-friendly film – such as the werewolf scenes. But that’s a minor issue.

I found it odd that Madame Varcoloc wouldn’t let anyone leave their rooms at night without thinking about how they would go to the bathroom. Yes, it’s a film – and the demand was likely a safety guideline. But I noticed no bathroom doors in either Jordan or Hunter’s rooms. Did that mean they just have to hold it in until they woke up the next day?

Just like with any movie, there were lots of twists and turns. For instance, besides werewolves, there were also some vampires.

And even though it’s not exactly part of the traditional werewolf lore, the idea of Jordan acting all enthusiastic was an interesting surprise. I’m not sure why, though.

But Jordan was quite likable and even authentic for a teenage girl. In fact, she was played by an actual teen at the time, which was Victoria Justice. She was 17 years old, then.

Overall, I thought The Boy Who Cried Werewolf was decent. If the first several minutes were more engaging, I would have said that I enjoyed it.

I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.