Wildlife

IFC Films | Release Date: October 19, 2018

7.3	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 91 Ratings

USER RATING DISTRIBUTION

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Watch Now

Stream On

Buy on

Stream On

Expand

Review this movie

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Please sign in or create an account before writing a review.

Check box if your review contains spoilers

0 characters (5000 max)

User Reviews

User score By date Most helpful

pomattovichOct 19, 2018

Paul Dano’s directorial debut looks beautiful, has a typically excellent performance from Carrie Mulligan, and has a story that feel like Philip Roth without the Judaism. But I don’t think the prose of the book translate all that well to thisPaul Dano’s directorial debut looks beautiful, has a typically excellent performance from Carrie Mulligan, and has a story that feel like Philip Roth without the Judaism. But I don’t think the prose of the book translate all that well to this internalized story. What I'm sure is richly descriptive in the book feels repetitive and tedious here. Mulligan is great but feels like a supporting character in her own story, constantly disappearing behind closed doors while we stay with the gaze of her son and his reaction shots. There's a rather dramatically moving story here, but too much of it happens offscreen. I should acknowledge that I seem to be in the minority on this. The audience at the screening was rapturous. I was disappointed.… Expand

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

All this user's reviews

GreatMartinNov 13, 2018

Every year I see 2-3 movies that I have been suckered into whether because of word of mouth or a performance is hailed or it just sounds like something I would be interested in and then I come home to read the critics so I can find out what IEvery year I see 2-3 movies that I have been suckered into whether because of word of mouth or a performance is hailed or it just sounds like something I would be interested in and then I come home to read the critics so I can find out what I saw and/or missed. “Wildlife” is such a film.

I am a huge fan of Jake Gyllenhaal which is one of the reasons I came to see this film and though he is perfect in his role sadly he is missing from the middle of the movie. He, Jerry, is the husband of Jeanette, played by Carey Mulligan, and they are the parents of 14 year old Joe, played by Ed Oxenbould.

We, along with Joe watch the marriage fall apart, seeing, and hearing, things a teenage boy shouldn’t have to understand at that age. The family lives in Grand Falls, Montana, with Jerry having lost his job and, in desperation, not understanding where he belongs in his life, runs off to fight fires for a dollar an hour.

It’s 1960 and Jeanette, after years of feeling dissatisfied, finds herself lost and acts out in ways that are harmful to her son though through his passivity it is almost as if he is a reporter telling a story about people he doesn’t know and the three, including him, don’t know who they or each are.

Douglas Sirk, a very successful director from the 1950s and 1960s would have made a very dramatic, 4 hankie picture out of this story but the director here, Paul Dano, just tells the story that he and Zoe Kazan wrote letting the actors do their job.

Gyllenhaal does such a good job that when he is off screen, for most of the center of the film, you feel his presence. Carey Mulligan has all the ‘showy’ scenes and is getting a lot of raves but to me she is more bipolar than a woman going through a crisis which I think may be the reason this film doesn’t work for me. Ed Oxenbould’s 14 year old, in his silence and facial expressions, really is the glue that holds this film together especially when he realizes that his parents are human beings and have faults.

“Wildlife”, with some beautiful mountain scenery, is an okay picture though nothing special.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

All this user's reviews

FadeBlackFeb 17, 2021

Despite the great acting and cinematography, I found the story and plot almost painfully formulaic, and to be honest a bit shallow at the end. It felt that it said nothing, achieved nothing. I think Paul Dano can expand his ambitions a bit.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

All this user's reviews

LegendaryLassJan 6, 2019

The events of the film leave the viewers in the dark much as the parents' actions leave the son in the dark. A fairly well-told tale of a family falling apart but by the time you leave the theater you wonder why you bothered to watch at all.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

All this user's reviews

TVJerryNov 12, 2018

Paul Dano was 16 when he started his career as a film actor. This is his first directorial effort, which interestingly revolves around a 14 year old boy. Ed Oxenbould mostly maintains a poker face, while he watches his parents' marriagePaul Dano was 16 when he started his career as a film actor. This is his first directorial effort, which interestingly revolves around a 14 year old boy. Ed Oxenbould mostly maintains a poker face, while he watches his parents' marriage disintegrate. As his father, Jake Gyllenhall handles the affection and anger well, but it's Carey Mulligan's mother who gets to go off the rails in seemingly unrealistic directions. This is more a character study than an involving drama. Watching it develop (or crumble) keeps it from being boring, but the slow-going script and the son's subdued reactions never build to a fulfilling outcome. The restrained art direction nicely captures the early '60s period.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

All this user's reviews

DawdlingPoetNov 27, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is a slow family based drama film set in the 1960s. Its very slow, plot wise but it seems clear early on that there are things going on which we're not necessarily fully aware of and so that kept me curious enough to keep watching - that and the 1960s setting, the fashions etc. Its very much a film about marriage, family life and trust; with the focus being on the son and his mother. If it was set in modern day and about an average family, I maybe wouldn't be quite so interested to keep watching but I found it a fairly light and easy watch regardless. I liked the sense that the viewer was about to uncover something fairly big at any moment. I wasn't surprised the son was concerned and doubtful about things relating to his father.

I could tell quite early on that this was a book adaptation and indeed it is, its based on the book by Richard Ford. The slow plot development was the main clue, I'd say.

This isn't a film that will appeal to everyone (few do that) but its not bad as a film about a family struggling to do well for themselves and to stay properly together. I won't say anymore so as not to provide any spoilers. I'm not sure I'd especially recommend this as such unless your already keen to see it, as it is quite slow and may bore some people but for what it is, its not too bad.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

All this user's reviews