When The Moon Hides Her Crown

starring: NADIA WILEMSKI & FELIX MERBACK

Determined to become an alpha and set up her own pack, Seraphina disguises herself as a boy, Seth, and enters the werewolf academy, where she comes up against the all powerful Ronan Volkstane, who has his own secrets.

REVIEW

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Well this is a joyous YA / CW type take on werewolves throwing in bits of book influences like Vampire Academy, The Fourth Wing and Cassandra Clare

The tone is a little over the place - violent action, comedy, intense emotion, and the backing music can throw the mood - the best thing to do is just go with it and enjoy the ride

Because it is lots of fun - @nadia.wilemski gets a dream role as Seth, she kicks ass people, and then has an epic speech at the end about being empowered as a woman. Talking Boudicca to the troops. Boy does she nail it.

@felix_merback does his usual where he takes a role and adds so many layers it becomes complex and nuanced and so much more interesting - flipping between comedy to arrogance to physical dominance to vulnerable emotion. Also clearly needs to play a Vulcan at some point in a Star Trek reboot. Plus bonus points for surviving being oiled up at the beginning in leathers, the silver ear decoration and the hat at the end. Honestly bravo everyone for keeping straight faces for all of the costumes.

@ajumathe1 is brilliant as Kai - the perfect quiet, dominant counterpoint to Ronan. Nails the final scene, brings the comedy for the competitions with Ronan and proves to be excellent at creating a distraction.

Jordan @clintonanthonyyy and Orion @jakeelliotslaughter bring it as the villains out of their depth - the latter especially has a super unhinged quality, please put him in lots more verts as can see him causing maximum chaos

Hooray for @lincolninla for once a teacher in verts who can actually control his class

And @abigailstrasmann as Grace - kind of think we need a spin off where she gets together with Kai

This works because everyone sells it, and enough is done to build the world. The training scenes are really well done and you feel the hits. The gender bender storyline always works - Shakespeare was a big fan, and it is beautifully handled here. Yes it is all a bit mad but that is the fun, and real joy of verts. A perfect way to switch off from reality and just enjoy.

Bravo team on @dramawave_official

💖 Top swoonworthy moment:

Simply put when you cast people who can act, you get emotion, chemistry and connection. Lots of great moments, including helping Seth after she is drugged, and the marking moment.

🦹🏼‍♂️ Top villain award:

Jordan and Orion are an excellent gruesome twosome. Finally the annoying vertical ‘strip the lead’ trope makes more sense here, as they are trying to reveal Seth’s true identity. Then the final addition of the club and trafficking takes things up a level - given current affairs I predict a lot more evil men trafficking girls storylines.

😂 Comedy gold:

Well everyone deserves plaudits for just about pulling that unique styling off - the hats at the end…

But the best bits are Ronan vs Kai, Ronan trying to take his alpha armour off, and the line ‘Look man I’m open minded, I tried kale the other day, but this is a bad idea.’

🎺 Unsung hero:

Kai - because the character is well written, and doesn’t fall into the jerk trope. Really valid option for our female lead, and prioritises the greater good like rescuing the headmaster’s daughter over his rivalry with Ronan. Super scene at the end when he tells Ronan there will be a problem if he doesn’t treat Seraphina right.

✍🏼 DETAILS

Director: Yaya Shih | 2026

Available on Dramawave