Sam is a twelve-year-old Cub Scout that is frequently bullied by fellow Scouts and pack leader Peter. Fellow pack leader Chris and chef Jasmijn try to keep Peter and the others from dominating Sam, but are not always successful. When some of the pack's bullying causes them to lose their way in the mountains during a trip, Peter and Chris try to keep things light by telling the campers a campfire story about Kai, a werewolf thought to be living in that very forest. Soon after, Sam runs into a feral boy that he believes to be the actual Kai. He tries to tell the others, but is ridiculed for actually believing in the stories and even Chris chalks it up to Sam's overactive imagination. However what they are unaware of is that Kai is the son of a nameless poacher, who has liberally seeded the forest with various elaborate and deadly traps. Rather than caring that the campers would get caught in the traps, the father and son delight in the idea and soon the campers find themselves running for their lives.
Cast
Stef Aerts as Peter
Evelien Bosmans as Jasmijn
Titus De Voogdt as Chris
Maurice Luijten as Sam
Gill Eeckelaert as Kai
Jan Hammenecker as Stroper/Poacher
Reception
Critical reception for Cub has been mixed, and the Belgian motion picture rating board received some criticism for giving the movie an "all ages" rating. The Scouts en Gidsen Vlaanderen, the Flemish Boy Scouts organization, issued a statement where they condemned the "all ages" rating and cautioned parents to not allow their children to view the film. The film's producers also expressed surprise at the rating and stated that they would not recommend Cub be viewed by anyone under the age of 14. English language reviewers have written predominantly positive reviews for Cub, and Dread Central and Bloody Disgusting both praised it for its characters while stating that the film did have some weaknesses in its later half. Variety gave a mostly positive review, commenting that they would have liked to have seen more character building for the characters of the poacher, his son, and Sam but that Karakatsanis’ overall filming technique was impressive.
