Wildlife

Name: Wildlife
Genre: Drama
Released: October 19, 2018
Duration: 105 min
Rating: 80
Cast: Bill Camp, Blaine Maye, Carey Mulligan, Cate Jones, Darryl Cox

2018

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 40 Critics

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 26 Ratings

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7.3

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7.3	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 26 Ratings

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Wildlife (60 Second Trailer)

Movie Details & Credits

Not Rated

IFC Films | Release Date: October 19, 2018

Starring: Bill Camp, Blaine Maye, Carey Mulligan, Cate Jones, Darryl Cox, Ed Oxenbould, Jake Gyllenhaal, JR Hatchett, Kami King, Kaye Brownlee-France, Lexi Anastasia, Mollie Milligan, Sara Moore, Travis W Bruyer, Zoe Margaret Colletti

Summary: 14-year-old Joe is the only child of Jeanette and Jerry—a housewife and a golf pro—in a small town in 1960s Montana. Nearby, an uncontrolled forest fire rages close to the Canadian border, and when Jerry loses his job—and his sense of purpose—he decides to join the cause of fighting the fire, leaving his wife and son to fend for themselves.14-year-old Joe is the only child of Jeanette and Jerry—a housewife and a golf pro—in a small town in 1960s Montana. Nearby, an uncontrolled forest fire rages close to the Canadian border, and when Jerry loses his job—and his sense of purpose—he decides to join the cause of fighting the fire, leaving his wife and son to fend for themselves. Suddenly forced into the role of an adult, Joe witnesses his mother’s struggle as she tries to keep her head above water.… Expand

Director: Paul Dano

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 105 min

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Awards & Rankings

76	#76 Best Movie of 2018

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Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

100

The Associated Press - Lindsey Bahr

Oct 18, 2018

Wildlife isn’t just a great first film, it’s a great film. Read full review

The Film Stage - Jordan Raup

In capturing the crumbling of a family and the scars left behind, Paul Dano has made a fascinatingly complex portrait of the fracturing of American ideals. Read full review

The Seattle Times - Moira Macdonald

Oct 31, 2018

Diego Garcia’s cinematography plays a key role, showing us lavender sunsets, endless plains and fire spreading down a hill like melting butter. Amid this beauty, Dano’s direction is restrained, letting us focus on the pain in Mulligan’s darting eyes. Read full review

The New Yorker - Anthony Lane

Oct 15, 2018

I prefer Wildlife when it gets messier, as Mulligan casts aside her natural sweetness to bring us a soured soul, driven only by the courage of her confusion. So rank is the unhappiness that you can almost smell the bitter smoke of the fires, drifting from far away. Read full review

Austin Chronicle - Danielle White

Oct 31, 2018

Paul Dano’s directorial debut is a visually stunning living portrait of a midcentury marriage falling apart at a time when that was sort of unthinkable, or so we think. Read full review

The Playlist - Jordan Ruimy

The film is easy to admire, but lacks the kinds of scenes necessary to truly make a emotional connection. Read full review

New York Post - Johnny Oleksinski

Oct 18, 2018

Gyllenhaal and Mulligan are in fine form here, but too much of the screenplay, written by Dano and Zoe Kazan, doesn’t ring true. Read full review

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User Reviews

LamontRaymond

Oct 21, 2018

An outstanding, beautifully-shot film. The acting is a cut above - Mulligan is incredible here, and Bill Camp delivers, as usual. The son - who I've never seen before - is pitch-perfect. I"m sure Dano spent a ton of time with him in preparing that performance. I especially enjoy theAn outstanding, beautifully-shot film. The acting is a cut above - Mulligan is incredible here, and Bill Camp delivers, as usual. The son - who I've never seen before - is pitch-perfect. I"m sure Dano spent a ton of time with him in preparing that performance. I especially enjoy the Montana setting. It's set in 1960, but it feels more like 1940, actually. A different time.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

GinaK

Nov 7, 2018

An incredible film by Paul Dano, who, as director, creates a unique atmosphere that enfolds and ensnares the viewer. Although his characters are ordinary and very human, they are also fascinating. Carey Mulligan is incredibly good as a frustrated woman coping with her husband’s absence. EdAn incredible film by Paul Dano, who, as director, creates a unique atmosphere that enfolds and ensnares the viewer. Although his characters are ordinary and very human, they are also fascinating. Carey Mulligan is incredibly good as a frustrated woman coping with her husband’s absence. Ed Oxenbould is also excellent as her young son who is both confused and hurt by his parent’s behavior. Jake Gyllenhaal disappears for most of the film, yet he is always a presence.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Belous

Nov 12, 2018

Uncertain. It is the only word that comes to my mind as I try to describe this movie using one word. But it is uncertain not in a bad way, it is uncertain in a very positive way. This flick makes you think deeply about things during its runtime. After moving to the other city not everythingUncertain. It is the only word that comes to my mind as I try to describe this movie using one word. But it is uncertain not in a bad way, it is uncertain in a very positive way. This flick makes you think deeply about things during its runtime. After moving to the other city not everything for the Brinsons goes smoothly as they would want it. They face the job loss of the head of the family, Jerry, and at the same time his wife, Jannet, finds a new love interest. But the one who suffers most of all is their fourteen year old son Joe. The future of the heroes is very uncertain and this feeling transcends beyond the screen. There is no “black” or “white”, only “grey”. No winners, no losers, only the hurt ones. No wrong, no right, only raw wild humanity.
From a technical point of view I can point out to three things: the acting, the camera work and the soundtrack. Acting of the main actors makes you believe in what you see and feel the emotions of the characters. And here the acting meets the camera work. The movie is full of close ups of characters’ faces, even in the scenes with two or more of them. That gives you a closer look at their eyes and facial expressions which creates tension and depressing atmosphere in some moments. It is one of the camera work methods, another one is the movement of the camera. At first, it doesn’t move at all, there are mainly still shots, but closer to the end the camera starts to shake, letting us know about the unstable situation in the family. I don’t want to say much about the music, it is simply there, creating a very beautiful and sometimes very eloquent background.
It is very difficult to make conclusions about the “uncertainty” of this film. Everything is good about it, you don’t want to nitpick about it, but also you don’t want to talk much about it. It is one of those movies that you recommend to your friends and close ones, and will surely re-watch it yourself one day, but you don’t have any desire to speak up about it. On the other hand, it is the film that you would definitely want to discuss with someone, as the movie doesn’t sort things out by itself, it is left up to the viewer.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

fredericwood

Oct 31, 2018

It's a good debut movie. But it's also boring...rather mundane about the extramarital affair. The excellent acting of the young actor who played the son really saved this movie

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

netflic

Nov 1, 2018

This movie is an adaptation of a book with the same name, and it describes a family in a small Montana town in 60's.
This is to some degree a coming-of-age story since we see it developing through the eyes of a 14-year-old Joe.
But there is much more to it. I could see some symbolism: wildThis movie is an adaptation of a book with the same name, and it describes a family in a small Montana town in 60's.
This is to some degree a coming-of-age story since we see it developing through the eyes of a 14-year-old Joe.
But there is much more to it.
I could see some symbolism: wild fires raging just outside their town also seem to destroy Joe's family.
I am at a loss trying to pinpoint the movie's main idea. Is it a dissolution of a family, or a rather undesirable role of women in the middle of the last century? Is it a noble but often misguided idea of a constant move to new frontiers, small, suffocating towns, leaving behind support system and the familiarity of established life while searching for meaning of life? It's probably all of it, in its complex intermingling.

Excellent performances from all protagonists.
The film is not perfect though. Maybe because it is after a book but there are several ends not tied in the script, and it feels not enough edited.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

TVJerry

Nov 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' marriage disintegrate. As his father, Jake Gyllenhall handlesPaul 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

GreatMartin

Nov 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 I saw and/or missed. “Wildlife” is such a film.

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 0 users found this helpful00

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