Rating: R | Runtime: 92 minutes
Release Date: October 3rd, 2025 (USA)
Studio: AURA Entertainment
Director(s): Colin Minihan
Writer(s): Tad Daggerhart & Nick Simon / Daniel Meersand & Nick Simon and Tad Daggerhart (story)

I should of trimmed the tree.

Scott (Justin Long) and Liv (Kate Bosworth) have rats. Moving from a one-bedroom apartment above a restaurant to their Hollywood Hills dream house did nothing to prevent vermin from infiltrating their lives. One could say humans are vermin too considering their impact on the environment and nature. As global warming pushes carbon levels past the point of no return and wildfires run rampant as a result, animals like coyotes must improvise to survive. Just as Scott and Liv seek to remove the rats, the coyotes look to eradicate them.

The opening credits metaphor is a stretch and director Colin Minihan and screenwriters Tad Daggerhart and Nick Simon know it. Don’t therefore assume Coyotes delves any deeper into that comparison point. It simply needs the rats and Keir O’Donnell’s overbearing exterminator Devon to serve the home invasion plot that ultimately forgets about both between the set-up and their place in the finale. No, this is just a straight horror comedy that threw darts at a list of potential monsters and settled on this particular canine.

From there it’s finding a location to embolden an attack. Between the prevalent fires and wealthy residents’ penchant for buying designer dogs, Hollywood proves a no-brainer. Throw self-absorbed influencer Kat (Katherine McNamara) to the wolves (literally) as she walks her dog in high heels during a cold open to set the stakes. Introduce Devon’s elite-hating eccentric to thickly spread the “celebrities are rats” rhetoric. And reveal familial tensions born from Scott’s desire to give his daughter Chloe (Mila Harris) everything except what she wants: her dad.

Cue some “man those coyotes are acting weird” obliviousness, ignite the carnage, and see if these insulated rich folk have what it takes to survive the apocalypse. Sure, Trip (Norbert Leo Butz) owns a gold-plated handgun, but does he have the expertise to make use of it when needed? Would he be sober enough to use that expertise if he did? How about his latest escort (Brittany Allen’s Jules) spending more time spouting conspiracy theories online than worrying about her own wellbeing? Or Scott chasing Chloe’s escaped dog into a coyote’s path?

Will this ordeal be the thing to wake Scott up to the fact he’s been neglecting those he loves? Maybe. If Liv opens his eyes for him since he’s way too deep in the capitalist pursuit of material items to reach that epiphany on his own. Does it matter to the movie? No. He’s going to try and save his family regardless of whether he just retreats into his work afterwards. The entire emotional roller coaster of this subplot is pretty much just wielded as the punch line to an admittedly effective walkie-talkie gag. Living trumps learning.

So, don’t expect to receive more than gore and laughs when buying a ticket. I don’t know who would expect more than that from a movie titled Coyotes that stars Justin Long, but COVID and MAGA have eaten enough brains to render common sense an uncommon attribute these days. This is about O’Donnell chewing the scenery, Butz acting a fool, and Allen perfecting the inherent humor of opportunism. It’s Bosworth playing the hero whenever Scott fails in his attempts and Long ensuring those failures never cease to entertain.

There’s a credit for puppetry, but the coyotes look heavily computerized when shown growling with blood-soaked mouths. Their attacks are mostly portrayed via quick cuts to violent results rather than the violence itself—presumably a mix of budgetary constraint and an honest assessment of verisimilitude. And that’s okay since the coyotes ensure the cast moves and interacts with each other more than them. They exist to propel the plot and create gruesome cadavers. Wanting more is a fool’s errand since Minihan’s sole goal is to provide gory hijinks.

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Justin Long in COYOTES; courtesy of AURA Entertainment.