Steppenwolf Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Steppenwolf Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 27, 2025

Herman Hesse often claimed Steppenwolf was his most misunderstood work, and some may jokingly wonder if among the confused was one Adilkhan Yerzhanov, writer and director of this supremely unusual enterprise. Some of the supplements on this disc get into the perhaps (probably?) tangential relationships to Hesse's novel, though it's at least worth noting in passing that the animal that inspired the title of the novel, the steppe wolf or Caspian Sea wolf, is in fact native to Kazakhstan, which is where this story supposedly takes place. If, however, folks are looking for a salient referent in some medium (not necessarily relegated to literature) to help them gain an entrée into this often opaque narrative, it might be best to consider The Searchers.

It's some kind of post-apocalyptic landscape that opens Steppenwolf, though the reasons for the calamity are never provided in the film. Instead rather quickly a male character in handcuffs and with a hood over his head is introduced. Already things are off to a completely ambiguous start, as it seems there's a police action underway, and it's frankly not clear whether this man (Berik Aytzhanov) is one of the good guys or the bad guys. That delineation may turn out to be a distinction without a difference as the story unfolds, since everyone seems to be feral and out to survive at any cost. One way or the other, it seems like this guy is actually one of the cops, as his hood and handcuffs are removed once he gets into a jail cell and it turns out he's there to torture another prisoner into confessing (one assumes). The man's efforts (horrifyingly with a circular saw) are interrupted by an attack by some insurgent force that throws everything into chaos. That then brings the arrival of a semi-mute and perhaps mentally unbalanced woman named Tamara ( Anna Starchenko) who, amid all the other carnage, is on a hunt for her missing young son.

What ensues is a road trip of sorts as the (never named) man and Tamara set out, initially with a cohort of sorts, in order to track down the missing boy, a quest which Tamara haltingly assures them will result in a large payment. A number of vignettes are offered along the way which might be deemed "character beats", though the screenplay is almost blithely unconcerned with "little" things like a traditional narrative arc or character development. Instead the film plays like some kind of nightmare screed involving isolation and desperation in an almost alien landscape. While perhaps lacking in actual coherence or storytelling acumen, the film is absolutely stellar in the style department, and the cinematography in particular is spectacular (and spectacularly disturbing on occasion).

Steppenwolf Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Steppenwolf is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Arrow's insert booklet provides information on the presentations of both features included on this disc, though their descriptions contain errors:

Steppenwolf is presented in its original 16:9 aspect ratio [sic] with original 5.1 audio. The high definition master was provided by Blue Finch Films.

Goliath is presented in its original 16:9 aspect ratio [sic] with original 5.1 audio*. The high definition master was provided by Jinga Films.

*Dolby Digital on this film.

While as of the writing of this review the IMDb has next to no actual technical information on the shoot, and the closing credits roll is similarly mute (kinda like Tamara), the making of featurette clearly documents that Steppenwolf was captured by Arri cameras, though I'm frankly uncertain of what resolution the DI might have been since the detail levels are certainly strongly consistent enough to at least suggest a 4K intermediate, though I haven't been able to find any authoritative supporting information in that regard. One way or the other, while often nightmarish (as mentioned above) and frequently almost doused in wintry shades of gray, both the palette and detail levels are really evocative throughout this presentation. The horrors of several bodily immolations throughout the tale provide some gruesome examples of fine detail. A few nighttime and/or dimly lit scenes have slight deficits in shadow detail, but nothing of any major import. Since Goliath is an announced supplement on this disc, I won't spend much time on it, other than to say it has much of the same excellence of Steppenwolf.

Steppenwolf Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Steppenwolf features a lively DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, though the Kazakh dialogue is sporadic, to say the least (pun intended). The bulk of the track tends to be made up of well positioned ambient environmental effects and a kind of daffy synth score that is almost cheerful and which is compared in a supplement to John Carpenter's compositional efforts with synths. Surround activity is noticeable throughout the tale, which takes place largely outdoors. Dialogue (such as it is) is rendered cleanly and clearly. Optional English and Spanish subtitles are available.

Steppenwolf Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with David Flint


• The Making of Steppenwolf (HD; 15:01) is basically an assortment of candid footage. Subtitled in English.


• Reading Steppenwolf as a Transnational Post Western (HD; 22:43) is a visual essay by Lee Broughton which provides a laundry list of "related" titles.


• Goliath (2022) (HD; 1:33:13) is another Adilkhan Yerzhanov film which also stars Berik Aytzhanov and might similarly be called a "transnational post western" in another feral depiction of an out of control Kazakhstan that might be termed the "wild east".

Additionally Arrow provides another nicely appointed insert booklet with some good interviews with various cast and crew. The sleeve is reversible and packaging features a slipcover.

Steppenwolf Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

My big AP English assignment in high school was to choose an author, read at least four works of his, and then write one of those insanely footnoted essays, which in this case had to be something like a minimum of 2000 words. Suffice it to say I chose Hesse, and of course Steppenwolf was among the books I included (probably because I had already read it along with at least a couple of other Hesse outings, making the assignment a bit more manageable). I'll just state in passing that while Harry Haller in Hesse's book was an obvious stand in for Hesse and shared his initials, I always loved it that the hero of Hesse's The Glass Bead Game (still aching for a film adaptation) was named Joseph Knecht, and so shared initials with a certain Blu-ray reviewer. All of that said, there's virtually no discernable Hesse-ian content here in either name or actual story, and so it may be best to approach this film shorn of any preconceived literary imprimatur. The story here is probably too undercooked to completely resonate, but it's often incredibly disturbing, and from a stylistic standpoint, the film is really kind of amazing. Technical merits are solid and the supplements very appealing. Recommended.