'Wildwood' A Review

Wildwood is a stop-motion fantasy based on the 2011 novel of the same name. Portland, OR teenager Prue(Peyton Elizabeth Lee) defies her parents nebulous warnings and takes her baby brother Mac out on the town when she is babysitting. He's abducted by a murder of crows and Prue, along with Curtis(Jacob Tremblay) a hapless classmate, follow them into the Impassable Wilderness where they discover a magical world of threat and adventure.

The voice cast, across the board, is fantastic. Lee, Tremblay, Carey Mulligan(as the heavy), Awkwafina(as a friendly rat), Tom Waits(as a coyote), on and on. Just wonderful, emotional, committed performances that bring the(absolutely stunning) stop-motion characters to life.

Visually the film is breathtaking, rich and magical that is to say perfect for the source material. The score is effecting and the story re-treads some classic fantasy beats but there's enough originality and style to make it fresh. There has not been a great young adult fantasy in years(if not decades) and this is reminiscent of some of those old classics Labyrinth and The Neverending Story because there is real danger here, real threat, and the parents are not present or not particularly helpful. It feels like a throwback to a kind of potent narrative that has sadly fallen out of vogue in deference for overly screened content. 

Whimsical, transportive, and engrossing with a sense of real physical and emotional stakes. Best of the year contender.

Currently in theaters.

Don't Miss It.