EssenceStory Well Deserved Praise

Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

johannes2000-1 A horror movie from Belgium, that's a surprise. And to be honest: it's actually not bad at all! The premise may not be too original (group of youngsters camp in the woods and are being besieged by an unknown sadistic force) but the script accounts for an interesting twist to the conventions of the genre, to let the group not consist of the usual bunch of horny teens but of very young children of around ten or eleven years old. They are a scouting-group and go camping in the woods with three adult leaders. Anyway: the movie is extremely atmospheric with fine and effective photography, the young children act pretty natural (with special mention of Maurice Luijten as the main character Sam, he is a real promise!), the pace is high and there are lots of nasty killings, very convincingly done. At several places (and especially at the ending) this movie has even a moral message, something like: even the ones from who you expect it the least can be brought to the edge of their civilized behavior and beyond. In that respect The Lord of the Flies comes to mind: like there, director Jonas Govaerts does not hold back on account of the unwritten movie-law that you don't mess with little children, they are fully involved in the brutal goings-on, as victims as well as actors, and this has more than once a very chilling and unnerving effect.My main reservation is, that at the end of the movie you are kind of overwhelmed and exhausted by all the excitement and violence, it's as if the makers couldn't choose between different scenario's and decided to just put in every idea, it really is a bit too much!But otherwise: a very nice and effective movie, I was greatly entertained.

Nikola Bujanovic This is very well written horror movie. It is a nice surprise, a good horror movie coming from Belgium. When you look at complete genre of horror movies, there are a few better movies, this movie will keep you interested, and ending will sure surprise you. Movie is set in the woods, group of kids goes camping there, and that's when the horror starts.Overall, I give it 8 compared to other horror movies, and 7 as movie compared to movies from all other genres.

meddlecore Welp (Cub) is a Belgian scouting horror, about a troupe of cub scouts who wander into the wrong part of the woods after a encounter with local rednecks runs them off what was supposed to be their campsite. And it's an imaginatively rad little debut from Jonas Govaerts.Our protagonist is Sam; a foster kid who was forced to join the troupe so that he could learn how to cope with his personal mental issues arising from some traumatic (unspoken) past. He seems to be a good kid, but takes the brunt of the bullying from everyone accept his best friend Gries.There's a sort of love triangle going on between the three pack leaders: Baloo, Kris & Jasmine. Both the guys are pretty douchey, but Baloo is definitely the more aggressive and douchier of the two. Even they pick on Sam, despite the fact that Jasmine tries to stick up and watch out for him.The rest of the troupe are relatively inconsequential other than that they collectively bully Sam on a regular basis.There's an urban legend surrounding the woods they have set up in- and even the police and rednecks are wary of wandering into the area. Word is that after the local industry went under, many suicides occurred there...a lot of negative energy surrounds the place.There's also a tale about a man-hunting feral werewolf child named Kai, whom will come after anyone who dare enter his territory.Not only does a feral masked man-killing child exist (though not a werewolf), but there's also a post-industrial serial killer on the loose- and they are prowling the woods together. Having set up all sorts of crazy lures and booby traps.In fact, this film is all about these cleverly designed contraptions(with an honourable mention to the non-traditional ending that will have you going WTF!?!) The plot essentially focuses on the tension that exists between Sam and the rest of the troupe- relating to his claims that he has seen Kai out in the woods. They think he's nuts, and it just leads them to bully him more.As a sort of "f*ck you" to the troupe, Sam goes off wandering into the woods to hunt for Kai himself.Not only does he succeed in finding him, but they interact with one another- before Sam makes a run for it.Little do any of them know that the adult psychopath plans on hunting them down one-by-one, starting with the townsfolk who followed the group into the woods.This psychopath guy & feral child have fashioned themselves a WWII era style bunker and alert system through which they monitor the premises of their territory- which is replete with a variety of automated booby traps (some lethal, some strategic).I don't want to go into the storyline too much (cause you should watch it), but the way the film is structured leaves room for a lot of interpretation and your own imaginative readings. For example, the picture he carries around with the scratched out face is never explained. But one could speculatively deduce that his aforementioned violent and traumatic past related him somehow to Kai (his brother, I was thinking)..and perhaps even to the man (as his father(?)). This would explain why he didn't just kill Sam right-off, when provided the oppourtunity.The film has a sort of slice-of-life feel to it, because of it's abrupt ending- which leaves a few loose ends open. Like, what happens to Gries and the pack leader kid? They managed to survive it seemed. Did they escape? Was the final shot of the film alluding to the fact they were still being hunted? One can only speculate, I suppose.In the end this an imaginatively fun film that breaks a bunch of standard taboos. It's simple, but well made...and is designed to incorporate the viewer into the experience by leaving elements open enough for us to speculate (or unlock through symbolism) about. Worth a watch for the awesome booby traps alone! 6.5 out of 10

Jack Voltaire Some films resonate a story so superb that it stays with you forever. I feel that way with "Cub". I wouldn't be surprised if this was picked up and made for the American audience since Hollywood has completely run out of original stories... or should I say created a studio nepotism that makes it so the cream does not go to the top. This film is not in English so I'm sure very few in the US have seen it. It's is worth every minute of your time! This film has it all.. I won't go into details.. but the protagonist's journey is wonderfully constructed, a great cast, beautifully shot and to mention once more.. one of the best stories in the horror genre in years!