The Tale of Cradlejaw Jack

Wanderwelle, The Tale of Cradlejaw Jack (2025), still, b&w sound, courtesy the artists

High in a forgotten mountain range, a lone mountaineer is mysteriously lured into a cave. There, he encounters a strange, crescent-moon-shaped being who calls himself Cradlejaw Jack. Half storyteller, half predator, Jack spins a tale of a village lost to time, where families began to vanish — not all at once, but one by one, taken by strange, giant floating eggs. No one knows where they come from, only that each arrival marks another disappearance. Fear and madness spread through the valley. People turn on birds, on each other, on the sky itself. But still the eggs come. And when there are no villagers left, even the ghosts begin to go missing. As the tale coils inward, it becomes clear that something is feeding — quietly, relentlessly. That the legend may be less a memory than a ritual. And that the trickster in the cave may not just be telling the story… but finishing it.

The Tale of Cradlejaw Jack premiered at the Eye Filmmuseum during a special evening where the distorted realities of filmmaker Guy Maddin and Wanderwelle were presented side by side.

Date
2025

Medium
Digital video (b/w, sound)

Duration
11:02 min.