Wildling | SXSW 2018 Film Review

Everybody goes through changes in their lives. None more so than when you’re young. Puberty, especially, can be rough time for a lot of people. Your body is growing. Your voice is changing. Now, add the complexity of enhanced hearing and smells while being thrust into an environment that is completely alien to you, and your stress levels go through the roof. This is the backdrop for Wildling.

Anna (Bel Powley) grows up in the solitude of a room with barred windows while eating a unique diet with her only human contact being her “Daddy”. Daddy’s rationale to her locked away is to keep her safe from the wildling since she is “the last one”, and they will eat her if she is found by them. By the time she is in her teens, she is discovered by local authorities, and steps into society under the care of the town sheriff. As her body blossoms, so do her nightmares.

Fans of genre films will enjoy seeing Brad Dourif playing the role of Daddy. He brings his standard, slow-speaking creep factor as only he can. Dourif, while not a physically imposing person, is a chef at creating an entree of anxiety with a side helping of horror. Liv Tyler shines as the town sheriff, Ellen Cooper, that takes in the young Anna as they await DNA results to determine who Anna’s parents might be.

Everyone falls to the background when Bel Powley is on the screen. A storm of curiosity and ferocity rages in her electric blue eyes as she navigates her new surroundings like attending high school, learning to eat normal food, and adjusting to her rapidly-changing body. Powley amazes with the range of emotions she portrays without barely uttering a single word.

Fritz Böhm is our sherpa on this trip into the forests of New York. The masterful direction of Wildling cannot be overstated. With only a two million dollar budget, Böhm pulls off a cinematic miracle that can only be compared to some of the independent upstart movies like Desperado and Clerks in that the budget-to-quality ratio is off the charts. The movie feels like you are deep within a forest that a doctor named Frankenstein might reside. Isolated. Alone. There might be a few people around but I wouldn’t expect much out of them. However, it was all filmed in the middle of New York City. A scene that takes place around a river was actually filmed in The Bronx Zoo. I cannot wait to see what Böhm can do with a large budget!

Wildling is a multi-layered film that may be better classified as fantasy rather than horror. It does not matter if you are someone that searches for deeper meanings or just watches a film for face value because this film should resonate with all audiences on some level. If I had my way, this would be a launching pad for a major franchise. At the very least, it has the makings of ratings gold on a channel like AMC or FX. After just a taste of what Powley and Fritz Böhm delivered here, I can’t wait for more!