Tyler (Charles Martin Smith) is a biologist sent into the Canadian Arctic to prove that wolves are depleting caribou herds. Instead, he develops a connection with wolves while viewing humanity as a threat to both wolves and caribou. The story is based on the well-known autobiography by Farley Mowatt.
Tropes:
- A Tankard of Moose Urine: Rosie mixes beer and ethanol into a substance called "Moose Juice." He gets Tyler drunk on it and convinces him to spend the rest of his money buying more of it.
- Anti-Villain: Tyler's closing narration describes the story as having no real heroes or villains, but some people border on being villains.
- Rosie the bush pilot somewhat callously leaves Tyler out in the middle of nowhere without knowing how to find him again and brings out hunters and real estate developers who are detrimental to the tundra. Still, he's a somewhat friendly man who offers to bring Tyler back home when he stumbles across him again. It's also implied that Rosie is oblivious to the impact his actions are having on the tundra.
- Ootek's son Mike admits to hunting wolves to combat his poverty even as he has a sense of respect and awe for them and can see that they don't deserve it. He's pretty nice to Tyler throughout the movie. He also apparently kills the wolf parents Tyler's been studying, even after becoming close friends with Tyler and seeing how it would hurt him, and is fairly unapologetic about it. Still, it's not hard to sympathize with his desire to buy a bridge of false teeth, given his description of the bad impact his missing teeth have on him.
- Artistic License – Biology: Farley Mowat's book (on which this film was based) was criticized for making the claim that wolves often subsist almost entirely on mice and other small animals. While they certainly will eat small prey, wolves require a stable population of large mammals like caribou to survive.
- Badass Bookworm: Tyler becomes this as part of his character arc from bumbling, nerdy scientist to a fearless and tough wilderness survivor who can almost keep up with his Inuit friend Ootek.
- Bittersweet Ending: Bordering on Downer Ending. George and Angie are dead, Tyler's illusions of humanity have been shattered, he realizes he will eventually have to return to civilization and report his findings, and it's likely that the future will be bleak for the wolves (and the caribou). The silver lining, such as it is, is that Tyler has genuinely become the better man he hoped to be, and at least he is able to summon the pack to collect the orphaned pups and protect them. As the last line of narration states, "I believe the wolves went off to a wild and distant place somewhere, although I don't really know... because I turned away, and didn't watch them go."
- Chekhov's Skill: Tyler shows Mike and Ootek something he's learned: when he plays certain high notes on his bassoon, he can imitate a wolf howl, bringing other wolves in the pack in. At then end, after George and Angie have been killed, Tyler goes up to a high ridge and plays his bassoon, calling the pack in. The pack finds the orphaned cubs and takes them in. At least the cubs will live to fight another day.
- Cool Old Guy: Aging First Nations member Ootek respects the wolves and saves Tyler's life during a blizzard.
- Minimalist Cast: Only eight humans appear in the movie, four of whom only have a minute or two of screen time.
- Mr. Fanservice: Tyler spends a pretty long scene wearing nothing but his glasses and boots, and there are some full-body shots of him with no Scenery Censor at play.
- Noble Wolf: The wolf pack members prey mainly on rodents, show a sense of respect for the protagonist's space when he marks his territory as an experiment and are friendly towards each other.
- No Name Given: We only know the main character as Tyler. We never learn if it is his given name or his surname. (The trailer states his full name is Tyler Powell.)
- Nude Nature Dance: The caribou scene.
- Reduced to Ratburgers: To test whether a wolf-sized animal can really obtain sufficient calories to survive while eating only rodents, Tyler starts cooking and eating the arctic mice and voles that infest his campsite.
- Scenery Porn: Kind of a given, since it's the Arctic north, complete with mountains, ponds, snow, and forests.
- Smart People Wear Glasses: Tyler is an insightful and open-minded scientist who wears glasses.
- Took a Level in Badass: Tyler starts out as the stereotypical nerdy scientist, and his first days at his study site make it look like he won't last a week (perhaps wouldn't have without Ootek's help). By the end of the season, he's mastered wilderness survival, runs naked with a pack of wolves, and can keep up with Ootek on long hunting outings.
- Suspicious Spending: After two wolves from the pack Tyler's studying are apparently killed, Mike is wearing an expensive new jacket and has a new set of false teeth.
- Wham Line: "I know where your camp is, Tyler," uttered by Rosie. Rosie has been to Tyler's camp; whatever happened there, Tyler is already too late to do anything about it.
