“Coyotes” is a bloody popcorn horror ride that’s shallow and messy but entertaining—brutal, funny, and carried by Justin Long’s charm.
No time to read? Click the button below to listen to this post.
There’s a primal pleasure in watching a good “animals attack” movie. The formula is simple: unleash nature’s fury, pit it against flawed human beings, and let the carnage unfold.
Colin Minihan’s Coyotes isn’t here to reinvent the genre. Instead, it leans into the blood-spattered fun, offering a vicious 90-minute survival story with a Hollywood Hills backdrop. It’s a rowdy, bloody romp that is often entertaining—carried by the charm of its two married leads. However, it’s also inconsistent and falls short of its potential.
The film opens with a vapid influencer walking her tiny dog in the Hills, only to meet a grisly end at the jaws of a ravenous pack of coyotes. The dog is mercifully dispatched offscreen, but the woman’s demise is shown in all its gruesome glory.
It’s a satisfying statement kill that sets expectations for both humor and viciousness.
From there, the film transitions to the Stewart family: workaholic Scott (Justin Long), his patient but neglected wife Liv (Kate Bosworth), and their daughter Chloe (Mila Harris). Their domestic drama plays out in their hillside home, where a windstorm knocks out power and a tree crushes their SUV. As if that weren’t enough, wildfires—an all-too-real LA nightmare—drive starving coyotes into the suburbs.
Soon, the Stewarts find themselves under siege, fighting for survival against a hungry pack of predators.
On paper, it’s a killer setup: wildfire outside, gnashing teeth inside, and a fractured family forced to band together.
But the blend of intense survival horror and irreverent humor can feel tonally discordant.
Minihan (along with writers Ted Daggerhart and Nick Simon) attempts to establish an edgy, nerd-core vibe through its comic book transitions and oddball character introductions. Characters, like Keir O’Donnell’s off-kilter exterminator, come very close to being caricatures, which delivers some laughs but also makes it difficult to establish the stakes and allow the terror of the situation to take hold fully.
The coyotes themselves are appropriately vicious, gnashing and lunging with savage intent. The attacks are staged with energy, and the gore is satisfyingly gnarly.
But the CGI work is spotty. At its best, the coyotes look menacing and believable; at its worst, they appear distractingly digital. Rumors swirl that AI may have been used to generate the creatures, which, if true, is a shame. While using practical effects for a film like this is anything but practical, the reliance on inconsistent visuals dulls some of the intended impact.
Still, the attacks are gruesome enough to satisfy genre enthusiasts. Limbs are shredded, blood sprays freely, and there are a few memorable death scenes that lean gleefully into exploitation territory.
It’s in these blood-soaked moments that Coyotes is at its most confident, leaning into the primal appeal of the subgenre.
However, what elevates Coyotes beyond SYFY-movie schlock is its cast.
Justin Long, always effortlessly likable, is an easy anchor. His Scott is a workaholic dad forced to rediscover his protective instincts, and Long sells both the humor and the heroics. Bosworth brings warmth and steel to Liv, and together, the real-life couple’s chemistry lends believability to their on-screen marriage, helping to invest the audience.
Young Mila Harris also shines, lending emotional weight to the family dynamic. Meanwhile, the supporting ensemble adds flavor, even if some characters feel like cartoons.
Given its Los Angeles setting, the wildfire backdrop, and its cheeky tagline “Eat the Rich,” one might expect Coyotes to dig into social commentary. After all, displaced wildlife driven into suburbs by climate disasters is fertile ground for ecological and class-based horror. But Minihan seems determined to keep things light. Any potential themes are mostly left unexplored.
For some, that’s a missed opportunity. For others, it’s a relief. In an era of elevated horror and devastating allegories for trauma and grief, Coyotes seems to consciously plant its flag as an apolitical, fun-first creature feature.
If you’re hungry for depth, this won’t satisfy.
Still, as a lean 90-minute horror ride, it succeeds: it’s brisk, violent, and entertaining, even if it doesn’t fully sink its teeth into greatness.
Overall Rating (Out of 5 Butterflies): 3
Follow Us!