Wildlike

We came across this movie on Amazon streaming. The young British actress Ella Purnell is very good in the role of 14-yr-old Mackenzie, her performance carries the movie. Bruce Greenwood is his old reliable self as Bart, the recent widower who is on a presumably solo hiking and camping trip in Denali.

Her mother is having some issues and is unable to properly care for her daughter, so Mackenzie is sent to live for a while with her uncle in Alaska. He gets creepy right away, crawling into her bed at night, so when she gets a chance she grabs her backpack of belongings and heads away, with no particular destination in mind. She just wants to get away.

She encounters Bart entirely by accident, she starts to follow him, he tries to get rid of her but she is persistent. He senses something is very troubling to the girl but she won't talk about it. As a viewer it was a bit frustrating that she wouldn't talk about her situation and why she was in the wilds alone.

This is a quite different take on teenage angst and frankly as the last 15 to 20 minutes concluded I was happy with the way it was scripted. Bart did some things that set the girl up for better prospects and gave the creepy uncle some incentives to never bother her again.

My wife and I enjoyed the viewing.

Saw this at the Woodstock film festival - still thinking about this film. The entire team did an amazing job with difficult subject-matter. They captured the dynamics and emotional significance of the abusive situation while retaining a strong positive sense of life, elements that come from the script and direction - all by the same man. The acting by the entire cast is outstanding. I love the heroine (and that is what she is) and the performance had me always rooting for her! Very glad that the always excellent Bruce Greenwood was cast in a critical role because the credibility of his performance is essential to the credibility of the resolution. Also love that the film is serious without being dark or depressing. I hope many more audiences have a chance to see this film, including young people. As a former prosecutor for these cases I saw so much that could be talked about by young audiences and really want to see this film in wider distribution!

I liked the film- thoughtful, visually engrossing, and deft in the complicated unraveling of the protagonist's story with a sensitivity that conveys a genuine understanding of humanity's harsher realities. Greenwood and Purnell delivered in what I'd have to call the redemption of all things good in humanity in an environment that doesn't nurture such things. Inspiring. Good storytelling here is the reason. Dealing with subject matter as potentially volatile and devastating as this can be without losing sight of the story is a very good summation of Frank Hall Green's skill as a filmmaker. I wouldn't be surprised if WILDLIKE became something of a benchmark film for a number of organizations who provide services and support for victims. This isn't a story of victimization however- it's the story of resilience and how even the simplest of gestures can result in profound hope and recovery. Highly recommend!

I chose to watch it in spite of good reviews. The fundamental part of the story is chellanging. There are wide ranges of sexual abuses existing in our society. The percentage of crimes being reported is shamefully low. This movie is the testimony of it.

In my view, the part how Bart (played by Greenwood) handled the situation after he found out the truth was crucial. It portrayed the deep concern of Bart's part about Mackenzie's well being humanly. He did not pass judgments on Mackenzie even she attempted to seduce him earlier. He somehow understood her behaviors. I would say this movie sieved the humanity through a series of unfortunate events. The director had keen eyes to present the positives through the negatives in life.

Human beings are resilient and uplifting sometimes even in worst circumstances. This movie undoubtedly depicted that at least. The director left the untold ending behind which I would say is better than telling it all. If you like to have reflections after, this will be the one.

Wildlike follows a teenage girl as she goes to live with her uncle. She soon realizes that circumstances at home with her uncle are unbearable and ultimately she runs away, where she meets an older man about to go hiking.

I love the title. It's a simple word that is rarely used in the English language, and it fits the movie pretty well. It's a small thing that proves that the director gave a bigger crap about this movie than some others might've.

There are some pretty nice scenic shots in this movie. They aren't anything I haven't seen before, but they were pretty at least.

The actors are pretty good. I bought each performance, and the writing accompanying them was pretty good too. It was like each part was written for the actor who played them. They manage to embody these characters really well.

The movie spends a decent amount of time developing certain plot points. I specifically appreciated this at the beginning of the movie when the girl and her uncle first start living together. Their relationship is pretty well developed, although short lived, and there're a couple great scenes involving the uncle alone in his room. We as the audience see the turning point in him when he decides to make living with him unbearable, and we see him struggling with this decision and it's something we just don't see every often in movies. It brings humanity to the bad guy right off the bat, and I really appreciated that.

The two main characters Kenzie and Bart have really good chemistry, and I really enjoyed seeing them on screen together and interacting and all that.

I quite enjoyed the soundtrack as well. There were a handful of good songs throughout, and most of them suited the movie pretty well too.

Unfortunately the story does fall flat on it's face from time to time. When the actual hiking starts it's kind of forced. There's not really a good reason for it to actually happen and serves more as filler, character development, and scenic shots. The last two of those things are good, but like I said, it's pretty forced. You as the audience are able to understand for the most part why it happens, but it's still kind of dumb.

Overall Wildlike is pretty good. There's some great chemistry between the two main characters, some good actors, the main 'antagonist' is great and very human, the soundtrack is good and the scenery is pretty, but the plot is often forced for the sake of story progression. In the end I'd recommend this movie.