The mythology strips away modern cinematic tropes, focusing on psychological and historical dread recorded by medieval populations.
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"I learned that basically because of protections for the wool trade, there was a big effort to get rid of all the wolves in England," Eggers said.
"It was pretty successful.
So the movie takes place around 1300, and that's as late as it could be because once there were no wolves in England, there was no more werewolf lore in England."
He noted that early Christian mythologies associated lycanthropy with satanic elements, diverging from older Viking concepts of wolf warriors like the Berserkirs or the Úlfhéðnar.
The film bypasses traditional tropes such as silver bullets or infectious bites to reset the genre's standard imagery.
"The cool thing about going back into the past is that you can kind of hit a reset button," Eggers said.
"So all the clichés of being bitten by a werewolf and silver bullets and a lot of the stuff that has become almost campy doesn't exist in the mythology of this movie."
The cast includes Lily-Rose Depp and Willem Dafoe alongside Taylor-Johnson.
The trailer emphasizes an atmospheric, low-color palette and antiquated language, reminiscent of Eggers' earlier historical horror film "The Witch."
"He's a farmer. He's a man who is cursed," Eggers said of the protagonist.
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"It's a story about a man who is cursed and is trying to find salvation through love. He's a character who is haunted and in great pain."
