Aahana Swrup
‘Family Pack,’ the French fantasy adventure film, revolves around a card game that brings a dysfunctional family together in unexpected ways. When Jerome Vassier gathers his family around for a game of “Werewolves,” he’s expecting an opportunity to connect. However, the family’s world turns upside down after they get sucked into the game as players with a variety of superpowers. Thus, as unwilling residents of Millers Hollow in the Middle Ages, Jerome and his family—wife Marie, father, Gilbert, and three kids—must identify and kill the werewolves hiding in town to complete their quest. Nonetheless, more than the werewolves, the suspicious Sherrif, and the angry townsfolk, teamwork and collaboration become the Vassier family’s greatest weakness.
Director François Uzan’s film utilizes a card game—in the most outlandish of ways—to present a story about family and the significance of interpersonal partnerships. Naturally, Werewolves, the central impetus behind the film, is bound to attract the audience’s attention and intrigue.
The Werewolves of Millers Hollow: The Real Game Behind Family Pack
‘Family Pack’ is a film adaptation of the actual 2001 card game ‘The Werewolves of Millers Hollow,’ created by Philippe des Pallières and Hervé Marly. As such, the film’s iteration of the game “Werewolves,” also known as “The Werewolves of Millers Hollow,” remains tied to the real card game behind the film’s origins. The real-life game includes a complex mechanism in which players are divided into werewolves, townsfolk, and special characters, including Hunter, the Witch, the Little Girl, and more. With the help of an external moderator, the players have to go through the motions of surviving “the nights” and holding a voting session during “daylight” to guess the identities of the werewolves.
Reportedly, the game is based on a Russian party game, Mafia, which is sometimes also known as Werewolf. Despite being evolved from the same source, ‘The Werewolves of Millers Hollow’ sports a distinct identity through published cards with recognizable designs. The actual physical card game of ‘The Werewolves of Miller’s Hollow’ diverges from the appearance of the card game in the film. Nonetheless, once the Vassiers dive into the world within the game, the village and its situation are identical to the one players undergo in the real game.
Likewise, the idea of special characters and their abilities remains consistent with the rules of the real card game. Consequently, it remains evident that “Werewolves,” the game in ‘Family Pack’ is a different iteration of ‘The Werewolves of Millers Hollow.’ However, interestingly enough, between the six of them, the Vassiers actually fail to meet the minimum 8-player requirement of the real card game. Alternatively, while the on-screen game’s origins in reality remain evident, it’s impossible not to compare it to a few other board games from pop culture.
Namely, the titular game from ‘Jumanji’ and the Zathura from ‘Zathura: A Space Adventure’ retain points of similarity to Werewolves from ‘Family Pack.’ In all three instances, players are trapped inside the actual mechanics of the game, inviting a world of trouble. Therefore, it’s possible that in adapting ‘The Werewolves of Millers Hollow’ for the screen, the film takes some inspiration from its preceding board game-based films.
Read More: Family Pack Ending, Explained
