In 1891, Ben Talbot is murdered by a wolf-like creature. His brother, Shakespearean actor Lawrence Talbot, returns home after receiving a letter from Ben's fiancée Gwen Conliffe informing him of Ben's disappearance. Lawrence reunites with his estranged father Sir John, who informs him that Ben's body had already been found mutilated. At a local pub, Lawrence overhears the locals believing it to be a wild animal, but many blame gypsies who are camped outside the town, while another claims there was a similar murder 25 years earlier, and a werewolf was the suspected killer. Lawrence has flashbacks as he tours his family's home where his mother Solana seemingly committed suicide when he was a boy. Lawrence saw his father standing over her dead body; he was sent to Lambeth Hospital in London for a year, having suffered from delusions connected to the event.