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First Moon
Movie

First Moon

2025 • Horror, Thriller

Woke Score
6
out of 10

Plot

A young waitress is abducted by a religious cult, who are hell-bent on curing her from a sexually transmitted werewolf virus - or killing her in the process. Will she escape before the first full moon?

Overall Series Review

The film *First Moon* operates as a pure horror vehicle, using a religious cult to drive its conflict rather than focusing on the werewolf trope. The plot centers on a young woman, Jessica, abducted by a fanatical sect determined to 'cure' her of a sexually transmitted werewolf virus. Most of the runtime focuses on the cult's brutal interrogation and torture of the protagonist, framing the religious group as the unequivocal villains of the story. The narrative's primary political lens is its aggressive hostility toward faith, portraying religious zealots as sadistic monsters who use their beliefs to justify violence and abuse. The female lead's story is one of survival against male-dominated oppression. Beyond the anti-religious message, the film does not extensively engage with themes of race, Western civilizational self-hatred, or overt gender/queer theory lecturing, keeping its focus tightly on the power struggle between the victim and her zealot tormentors.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics5/10

The film does not rely on race or immutable characteristics to drive its conflict. The protagonist is judged by the cult based on her purported 'sickness,' not her racial background. The narrative does not contain lectures on privilege or systemic oppression through an intersectional hierarchy.

Oikophobia3/10

Hostility is directed specifically at a fanatical religious cult, not at Western civilization, the nation, or broad ancestral heritage. The institutions being demonized are the cult's own rigid, violent structures, not universal societal foundations.

Feminism6/10

The female protagonist, Jessica, is a strong figure who must survive brutal physical and psychological abuse at the hands of her captors. The cult leaders and tormentors are largely sadistic male figures. The plot pits a resourceful female victim against violent, oppressive male authority figures.

LGBTQ+4/10

The core plot hinges on the werewolf virus being sexually transmitted, which the religious cult antagonists seek to 'cleanse' as a sin. The cult's moralizing against the protagonist's sexuality is positioned as evil and oppressive, implicitly normalizing her sexual history. The movie does not explicitly center on gender identity or the deconstruction of the nuclear family.

Anti-Theism10/10

The religious believers are explicitly depicted as the "clear bad guys" and "true monsters" of the picture. They are a torturous religious cult who use their faith to justify brutal interrogation and violence. This frames traditional religion, even in cult form, as the root of all evil and suffering in the narrative.