X
- 2020
- PG-13
- Searchlight Pictures
- 1 h 51 m
- 2020
- PG-13
- Searchlight Pictures
- 1 h 51 m
Summary Lost on a mysterious island where aging and time have come unglued, Wendy must fight to save her family, her freedom, and the joyous spirit of youth from the deadly peril of growing up.
Directed By: Benh Zeitlin
Written By: Eliza Zeitlin, Benh Zeitlin
- 2020
- PG-13
- Searchlight Pictures
- 1 h 51 m
- 2020
- PG-13
- Searchlight Pictures
- 1 h 51 m
Wendy
55
6.7
Where to Watch
Summary Lost on a mysterious island where aging and time have come unglued, Wendy must fight to save her family, her freedom, and the joyous spirit of youth from the deadly peril of growing up.
Directed By: Benh Zeitlin
Written By: Eliza Zeitlin, Benh Zeitlin
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 36 Critic Reviews
55
39% Positive
14 Reviews
14 Reviews
56% Mixed
20 Reviews
20 Reviews
6% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 36 Critic Reviews
55
39% Positive
14 Reviews
14 Reviews
56% Mixed
20 Reviews
20 Reviews
6% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Zeitlin has come up with a second film that goes down many of the same paths as his debut, another film filled with kids rampaging as the music swells — but he puts it on a mythic stage and creates a film that is magical and messy, unruly and otherworldly.
Wendy in every way feels like a handmade, one-of-a-kind, exceptionally fresh and — one hesitates to use the word — organic piece of work that quite quickly imparts a desire to see it again.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 13 User Ratings
6.7
62% Positive
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
23% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
15% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 13 User Ratings
6.7
62% Positive
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
23% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
15% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
Wendy hits all the feels as it dives into the themes of maintaining hope and the loss of innocence. A wonderful reimagining of a familiar tale with a ragtag cast that pulls everything together with perfection.
10 out of 10
-SM
Report
Disney meets Lord of the Flies in this captivating, glorious, and practically perfect retelling of Peter Pan. A story of identity, tragedy, development, and vivacity, Wendy (shot on 16mm film) is nothing shy of an instant modern classic. Wendy may initially give off the vibe of yet another boring Hollywood remake, but where it excels in its in cast performance, stunning semiotics, and visual seamlessness. Seeing this movie will leave anyone, no matter how strong, ready to bawl as he or she releases his or her inner child.
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It’s so sincere that it’s hard to pick on Wendy for some wheel-spinning, or even the sullen whimsy of it all. It’s headed somewhere good and worthwhile: This ending could warm the hearts of even the most grown up grown-ups in the audience.
Yet after half an hour in Wendy’s world, it is clear that Zeitlin has exhausted both his visual imagination and whatever narrative interest he had in Barrie’s tale other than “kids, they grow up fast.”
The style is immersive, meant to envelop us and bring us into the story, but it ends up making the movie feel abstract and distant. And there’s a void at the center.
Wendy is a repetitive, shallow film, a children’s fable that means way more to the child who dreamed it up than it will to you.
There isn’t much here to really latch onto, save for some preciously executed technical choices.
It’s been 8 years since Benh Zeitlin made his debut with the wonderfully accomplished Beasts of the Southern Wild in 2012. I loved his creative and uplifting approach to that film where he explored an epic story through the imagination of a child character and I enjoyed a lot about his follow-up Wendy, for the same reasons. Admittedly, there are some issues with the narrative on occasion but this is an interesting reimagining of the Peter Pan story that works very well under Zeitlin’s emotional and soaring technique. It may not be as fully realised as Beasts but Zeitlin is an undoubtedly talented director.
Report
Production Company
Searchlight Pictures,
TSG Entertainment,
Department of Motion Pictures,
Journeyman Pictures
Release Date Feb 28, 2020
Duration 1 h 51 m
Rating PG-13
Tagline An Ageless Tale
Awards
Film by the Sea International Film Festival
• 2 Nominations
Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
La Roche-sur-Yon International Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
