Ah, the eternal question: would one rather die in a wildfire or via a violent attack from wild animals? Viewers confront these concerns via 2025’s Coyotes.

In the Hollywood Hills, Scott (Justin Long) and Liv (Kate Bosworth) live with their teen daughter Chloe (Mila Harris). They find themselves under assault from increasingly aggressive coyotes.

Along with their furry threat, the family contends with rampant wildfires. Scott, Liv and Chloe need to deal with these various concerns as they attempt to survive.

Apparently movies that star real-life couples became a mini-trend in 2025 – okay, a very small thee since only one other example popped to mind: Alison Brie and Dave Franco in Together. However, because I happened to watch both films in close succession, this pattern stayed in my tiny little brain.

The use of married partners Brie and Franco made total sense for Together since it focused on two people in a long-term relationship. The choice didn’t work, but I understood it.

I find no logical need for Coyotes to use a real-life couple, though. Maybe someone else can discern a clear reason for the story to use actual romantic partners but I can’t.

I also can’t find an effective cinematic experience via Coyotes. While it largely aspires to deliver a semi-campy horror-comedy, it flits around too much.

As usual, I complain about the melding of genres only when it doesn’t work. Some films can pull off scares and laughs with aplomb.

Coyotes doesn’t achieve those goals. Never especially terrifying and never particularly amusing, it sputters.

Granted, I admit Coyotes rubbed me the wrong way with its opening scene in which a predator kills a small dog and the movie kind of plays this for laughs. I wouldn’t like any scene such as this no matter the housepet, but as the owner of two smaller pooches, it bothers me even more.

Even without that questionable sequence – and a few others in the same vein - Coyotes just never gets into a groove. Director Colin Minihan opts for a self-conscious comic book vibe that only sporadically makes sense.

Which gets me back to the inconsistency of the movie’s tone. Coyotes never fully commits to its horror or its comedy, though it does lean toward the latter.

This means that when Coyotes tries to pour on actual scares, we don’t buy into these elements because we’ve been stuck in campy mode for so long. It doesn’t help that even after the flick tries to emphasize the terror, it still tosses out too many goofy stabs at humor to connect.

Throw in some weak visual effects and a meandering script and Coyotes just doesn’t work. A better-executed version of this story could entertain but as constituted, this one doesn’t really work.

Coyotes appears in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This was a consistently terrific presentation.

Sharpness was tight and concise, with virtually no softness on display. This meant a well-defined image at all times.

Jagged edges and shimmering failed to appear, and no artifacts or edge haloes marred the presentation. The movie suffered from no print flaws either.

Colors were positive. The palette emphasized orange/amber and teal tones, and those came across in appropriate fashion.

Blacks looked deep and full, while low-light shots offered nice clarity. Really, everything about the image succeeded.

Expect a pretty standard “horror mix” from the film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack. Much of the movie went with creepy atmosphere and some jolt effects.

These elements cropped up from the side and rear speakers in a satisfying manner, as they were well-placed and gave the movie the requisite scare moments.

Thunder seemed realistic enough to frighten my dog, and given that she’s watched thousands of movies by my side over the last 14 years without much reaction, that’s a high compliment. Music also boasted good stereo presence and contributed to the expected scary bits as well.

Audio quality excelled. Speech was always distinctive and concise, without edginess or other issues, and music seemed fine, with score that was bright and bold.

Effects seemed strong. They sounded accurate and dynamic, with strong bass response – enough to spook my dog, as mentioned. This track didn’t reinvent the horror wheel, but it more than satisfied.

A featurette called Meet the Pack goes for 18 minutes, 57 seconds. It involves director Colin Minihan, producer Jib Polhemus, screenwriter Tag Daggerhart, and actors Norbert Leo Butz, Justin Long, Kate Bosworth, and Mila Harris.

“Pack” looks at story/characters, the status of coyotes in real life, tone and influences, how Minihan came to the project, cast and performances, locations and effects. Despite a few insights, most of “Pack” feels promotional and without substance.

The disc opens with an ad for Code 3. No trailer for Coyotes appears here.

A mix of comedy and horror, Coyotes satisfies in neither regard. Too much of the film seems unsure where it wants to go and the end product lacks punch. The Blu-ray brings excellent visuals and very good audio but it skimps on supplements. Not much about this film works.