Wildlife

PG-13

Released Oct 19, 2018

1 hr. 44 min.

Drama

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94%

219 Reviews

Tomatometer

72%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Fourteen-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.

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Critics Consensus

Wildlife's portrait of a family in crisis is beautifully composed by director Paul Dano -- and brought brilliantly to life by a career-best performance from Carey Mulligan.

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David W

While the pace is on the slow side for my preference, the superb acting from its leads and excellent cinematography more than made up for it. I would watch this again.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/22/24

Full Review

Ian W

Paul Dano directs. Jake Gyllenhaal and Carrie Mulligan star. What could possibly go wrong. Well, it transpires lots. Dull, dull, dull. Slow moving. Glacial pace. Mulligan has an improbable liaison with a deeply unattractive second hand car dealer. Depressing stuff. I was glad when it was all over. Critics got this one badly wrong because they'd made their minds up it was 'great' before watching. It wasn't great. It was boring.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

03/01/23

Full Review

peter S

I love these actors but the movie is nothing short of terrible thanks to the director and the adaptation of the novel. Are these people supposed to be in their mid thirties or in their mid eighties? Because they have them sleep through life or pretend to be in their 80s, I was not sure. This movie has no energy. The characters don't seem to be alive. That being said there is not much action in the story either. Did the director think it could make a 15 minutes story into a 90 minutes movie by telling the actors to go super slow like a slow motion through life? Ridiculous.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

casnien

Still can't get over the camera work in this movie on my second watch, incredible. Carey Mulligan is incredible in this movie, as well as Jake Gyllenhaal and Ed Oxenbould. The screenplay is so interesting, how someone can become someone so evil, just for the money and the regonition. I really dont know much else i can say about this movie, experience it for yourself and you will see what i mean by that.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/03/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Actor-turned-director Paul Dano's intimate indie is compelling of course but in a 100 minute runtime the film doesn't seem to have much of a third act or fitting resolution.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

Full Review

isla s

This is a slow family based drama film set in the 1960s. Its very slow, plot wise but it seems clear early on that there are things going on which we're not necessarily fully aware of and so that kept me curious enough to keep watching - that and the 1960s setting, the fashions etc. Its very much a film about marriage, family life and trust; with the focus being on the son and his mother. If it was set in modern day and about an average family, I maybe wouldn't be quite so interested to keep watching but I found it a fairly light and easy watch regardless. I liked the sense that the viewer was about to uncover something fairly big at any moment. I wasn't surprised the son was concerned and doubtful about things relating to his father. I could tell quite early on that this was a book adaptation and indeed it is, its based on the book by Richard Ford. The slow plot development was the main clue, I'd say. This isn't a film that will appeal to everyone (few do that) but its not bad as a film about a family struggling to do well for themselves and to stay properly together. I won't say anymore so as not to provide any spoilers. I'm not sure I'd especially recommend this as such unless your already keen to see it, as it is quite slow and may bore some people but for what it is, its not too bad.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Paul Dano

Director

Carey Mulligan

Jeanette Brinson

Jake Gyllenhaal

Jerry Brinson

Ed Oxenbould

Joe Brinson

Bill Camp

Warren Miller

Zoe Margaret Colletti

Ruth-Ann

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Wildlife: Trailer 2

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Wildlife: Teaser Trailer 1

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Ben Sachs

Chicago Reader

There's no shaking the feeling that this sort of study of all-American repression has been done to death.

Feb 29, 2020

Full Review

Peter Howell

Toronto Star

Few could play a character so ordinary with as much empathy as Oxenbould brings to the role. He's one to watch, here and in the future.

Rated: 3/4

Jan 3, 2019

Full Review

Sara Michelle Fetters

MovieFreak.com

The jittery physicality of Mulligan's portrayal is frequently surprising.

Rated: 3.5/4

Nov 17, 2018

Full Review

Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

“Wildlife” has such a strong emotional core, and even as a fiery metaphor burns on the horizon (I’ll let you discover it for yourselves) the film never loses its heart.

Rated: 4.5/5

Aug 21, 2022

Full Review

M.N. Miller

Ready Steady Cut

Wildlife is beautifully photographed with a hypnotic performance from Carey Mulligan.

Rated: 4/5

Aug 17, 2022

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Dano's control throughout Wildlife does not apply to his actors, who perform in scenes of such complexity and unconstrained emotion that it would be impossible to reduce their characters to mere tropes.

Rated: 3.5/4

Mar 8, 2022

Full Review

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Synopsis

Fourteen-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.

Director: Paul Dano
Executive Producer: Zoe Kazan
Screenwriter: Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan
Distributor: IFC Films
Production Co: Sight Unseen Pictures, Nine Stories Productions
Rating: PG-13 (Brief Strong Language|A Sexual Situation|Smoking|Thematic Material)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 19, 2018, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 9, 2019
Box Office (Gross USA): $1.0M

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