A teenager raised in an odd and potentially abusive situation is rescued and taken in by a police officer. As they attempt to figure out life together and how she can adapt to society, bizarre happenings begin.
Written by Fritz Böhm and Florian Eder with the former also directing, Wildling is an interesting family drama of sort where odd happenings trigger a chain of events that eventually lead to a clarity by the ned of the film. The film is quite character-driven, more than action-driven, for more than its first half. It’ takes its time getting to know the characters, their relationships, and their environment. This creates an attachment to them for the viewer who can then become more invested in the story, in the film by the time things take an odd turn. The characters involved are painted as very human with feelings, wishes, and desires. This helps the story connect with the viewer and get emotional for most.
Playing the lead of Anna is Bel Powley who has the character with the most complete and fulfilling arc. As the young lady found in the care of a seemingly mad man, she is not only the lead but also the character with the most emotional growth. Her performance reflects this as she does a lot of her acting with very few or no words. She pulls the viewer in and brings them along for the ride through her body language and incredibly expressive eyes. Her performance is the central one, so her acting dictates a lot of the film, the fact she is fantastic helps set the rest of the film and influence the other performances around her. Working with her in most of her shared scenes are Liv Tyler as Ellen Cooper, the police officer who takes her into her home, and Collin Kelly-Sodelet as Ray Cooper, Ellen’s brother. The two of them form an interesting family unit who attempt to give Anna a place to call home, where she can be safe and adapt to real life. Both show care and compassion in their performances with Tyler giving a strong, resilient, and almost motherly interpretation of Ellen. Rounding out the main cast and the stand-outs are Brad Dourif as the mysterious man Anna calls Daddy. His performance is as usual a stand-out which is thankfully for good reason as that is not always the case. His performance here is magnetic in a way, pulling the viewer in right from the start. Showing up in a smaller yet important part is James Le Gros as The Wolf Man. His part gets less screen time but his performance shows how talented he is by making a good impact with so little time.
The special effects seen in Wildling are fairly minimal but what is there is really well done. The special effects team, including Thomas Matthew, Rui Rodrigues, and Brian Schuley, does good looking practical work. Without giving too much away, the main practical effects piece is found towards the end and it looks great and rightfully gross. It shows a good grasp of how to make some people squirm with simple visuals. These practical effects are supported by good visual effects created by a plethora of people working for over a half a dozen companies. Like with the special effects, the visual effects are used sparingly and to good results.
A strong point of Wildling is how it looks. The visuals and how they are presented are fantastic. The cinematography by Toby Oliver is the main source of these images being beautiful, even in dark scenes. The framing here is careful and the way everything is shot, a bit like a dream in parts, gives the film a dark fairytale quality to it. The story itself is definitely dark in parts and has a sort of hope by the end and the images go along with that, showing the world of Wildling with great attention to detail. A few sequences are absolutely stunning and show how-to properly set-up and shoot sweeping nature scenes that still connect to the story, the characters, and the viewers.
Wildling feels like a dark fairytale from the get-go with long bursts of more realistic drama throughout, the story is touching while giving way to the imagination many times. Beautifully shot and acted, its story can almost be taken as a cautionary tale in regards to meddling with nature’s way. While it does this, it’s not overly socially involved and it lets the viewer make their own minds on this front (mostly).