Wildwood

Laika Studios

Directed by Travis Knight

Written by Chris Butler, Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis

Starring Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Jacob Tremblay, Carey Mulligan, Tantoo Cardinal, Marc Evan Jackson, Richard E Grant, Jake Johnson, Maya Erskine, Charlie Day, Tom Waits, Len Cariou, Angela Bassett, Awkwafina, Mahershala Ali and Amandla Stenberg

Rated PG-13

A headstrong teenager sets off to a forest outside Portland to find her kidnapped brother and navigates a world of talking animals, bandits, and powerful figures driven by grief and ambition.

One of the reasons why I wanted to watch this movie is because the journey of making it and the work that went into it took years and it was a story that I found compelling. I was hoping that the story that finally made its way to the screen was either equal to or more compelling than the story of its production and thankfully, it is.

Wildwood starts with a very dark and intense opening scene that immediately lets you know that there is a more mature level of storytelling at play with this stop motion animated feature. From that point forward, while there are some laughs and cute animal moments, Wildwood is telling a more mature story than you would expect given the medium and that absolutely allows the filmmakers to do some truly creative and inventive things.

One of the things I truly loved about the experience of watching Wildwood is how beautifully immersive the world of this film is. You find yourself marveling at the technical elements, attention to detail and visually creativity. What I also love is that the story allows you to remove all of that and become immersed in the story, its characters, its conflicts and emotions.

There are three interwoven stories in this film and all of them are compelling and entertaining. Prue (Lee) is forced to enter the mysterious forest outside her town in search of her baby brother taken by a flock of crows. She is aided in her quest by Curtis (Tremblay) and the pair find themselves in a world filled with magical talking animals and more. Prue not only has to find her brother, but she also uncovers a dark family secret in the process. Curtis discovers many of the strange political elements in the woods along with joining one of the warring factions led by Alexandra (Mulligan) who is an incredibly complicated character.

Mulligan crafts a great performance in Alexandra who is, at heart, a grieving mother who will destroy anything and anyone in her way to achieve her goals. You both empathize and fear her throughout the film and those moments are beautifully captured in her moments with Curtis.

There are several competing factions in the woods and both Prue and Curtis find themselves aligned with or rescued by them at several moments in the film and discovering how they all connect within the world including with the mysterious vines that surround and cut off the woods from the rest of the world. The film is visually stunning and I love every visual choice both in the character movements and emotions to the environments. It’s truly something special to see on the big screen and its visual vibrancy drew me into every moment.

If there’s one thing that took me out of the film is that there are some moments that last longer than they should. There are some fluff moments that look good, but don’t enhance or elevate the scenes they are a part of and that was about 10-15 minutes of the film that could have been cut.

Wildwood is a brilliant, beautiful technical achievement but beyond that, it is an exceptional film adventure with great characters, conflicts and emotions. I thoroughly enjoyed it and absolutely recommend it to everyone.

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