Wildflower

This movie is a cocktail of humor, deep feelings, anxiety, faith, romance and love. The acting of every single character is so convincing that you will instantly get absorbed into the story. The main topic is love, unconditional love. The movie breaks down existing stereotypes to show what really matters in this plane of existence. While money and good looks have always been overwhelmingly advertised in the film industry, here we are presented with two people who could be anyone's family member or neighbour. The couple is special in many different ways, primarily because they have managed to preserve their purity in a world which constantly pushes people to control one another for an hypothetical greater result. But guess what? We are all connected and in critical moments, when things get totally out of control, all we are left with is each other.

Wildflower, Matt Smukler's debut feature, follows Bea, a plainspoken teenager navigating life with neurodivergent parents. The film follows Bea's high-school drama, cheeky romance, and the struggles of her best friend and relatives. The film is inspired by Smukler's family and features a cast of distinctive characters. Kiernan Shipka leads an endearing cast in her animated portrayal of Bea, who lies comatose in a hospital bed, surrounded by worried family members. The film explores Bea's life from childhood to the recent past, narrated by her omniscient subconscious in VoiceOver. Bea's intra-family relations, resentments, and communication style are explored through flashbacks. Her feuding grandmothers Loretta and Peg, her neurotic aunt Joy, and her anxious husband Ben, are all involved in their bickering. Bea's parents, Sharon and Derek, are calm and collected, maintaining a steady faith that their daughter will wake up. Bea grew up hearing other adults describe her parents as "special," a euphemism for neurodivergent. Bea recounts how Sharon and Derek met, the rush of their marriage, and the thrill of her birth. However, everyone else, including Peg and Earl, struggle to trust their daughter to make her own decisions. Loretta, Derek's mother, harbors animus for Sharon's family but seems less fazed. There is an unacknowledged but suffocating assumption that the new parents simply can't do it. Wildflower is a film that reinterprets the experiences of disabled characters through the perspective of a child turned caretaker, Bea. The film follows Bea's journey from her early years in a mobile community to her senior year in Las Vegas, where she learns valuable lessons about her parents and their neurotypical lens.

Bea's early years are filled with adventure and freedom, but her exposure to life outside her immediate family leads to a decrease in her tolerance for Sharon and Derek. She reads their laid-back attitude as clumsy and finds their carefree approach frustrating. After a driving lesson goes wrong, Bea is sent to live with her aunt Joy and Ben, who teach her skills she missed out on but annoys her. Wildflower quickly moves on to Bea's senior year, where she hawks school raffle tickets with her best friend Mia, hoping to win a free trip to Disney. Her attitude changes, but she still has a renewed appreciation for her parents. The film gains momentum when it settles into Bea's recent past, chronicling her romance with Ethan, a fight with Mia, her guidance counselor's insistence on college application, and a petty feud with their high school's resident mean girl. The film highlights Bea's struggle to overcome her condescending relationship with her parents and everyone around her. When she starts to see them in the same light as the rest of the world, she overcompensates by turning herself into a caretaker, resurfacing childhood resentments and revealing hard-to-swallow truths. The film culminates in a tumultuous blow-up, but relationships are repaired, amends made, and Bea learns valuable lessons along the way.

This was another film I watched without knowing anything about it. The only star I knew from it was Jackie Weaver. It's a film about 2 people with learning disabilities who marry and have a baby, and the lives they all lead. Based on a true story.

It speaks volumes about the way our society sees each other. About what normal is and should be, and that just because you're seen to have a disability, doesn't mean you can't live a better life with someone considered not to have one.

There's a huge statement n here about people who wish to be what they consider to be normal and acceptable in society, and yet they seem to have the lives most flawed and unsatisfying.

It's beautifully written and flawlessly directed and I absolutely loved it.

Shipka who plays Bea absolutely rocks the role. I'll be looking for more from her. Dash Mihok and Samantha Hyde were way down the cast list and yet their performances were so strong throughout. Hyde was flawless.

Don't miss this.

I cried 4 times, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I'll do it again in a heartbeat. I will absolutely be watching this movie again, but I probably won't need to anytime soon, because it's one of those that will stick with you for a while. This movie pulls on your heart strings, while giving you that warm fuzzy feeling with its heartfelt moments. The acting is great and the soundtrack is perfect. I found myself wanting to Shazam every other song. Don't be afraid to happy/sad/whatever you feel like cry because it will be worth it. To find out that this was based off a true story made it hit even harder! Do yourself a favor and watch it now :)

Honestly I was surprised to see the rating on here, my friends and I thought this was a really sweet and enjoyable film. The cast works well together and there is consistent humour throughout. This is a heartwarming story about family, and if you're in the mood for a feel-good film I would recommend the watch!

It does contain some mature themes and language which means it's probably not best for young children, but I think the film handles these topics in a way that isn't gratuitous or inherently explicit. The film is not shying away from very real and human topics and I appreciate that they do not overly censor these issues, but at the same time it does not glorify them either. Wonderfully handled, tbh!