Wildcat (2021) | Film Review

“If you believe you’re a victim, you’re powerless.”

Wildcat eschews the formalities of capture – convoys diverted, explosions, firefights and despair – and gets right to the meat of its story. Immediately we follow as intrepid reporter Khadija “Kat” Young (Georgina Campbell) is tossed barbarously into her prison cell, ceremoniously stripped of a lovely fingernail, and left to contemplate how life brought her to this hell. Kat is forced to confront her lack of escape options as she sits chained to her bed in a dank concrete box while awaiting her fate; bloody, bruised, and afraid.

Shortly thereafter, her primary captor arrives in the form of Abu Khalid (Mido Hamada). Khalid is a known terrorist yet presents himself as a kindly statesman of sorts, a noble alternative to the vicious torture Kat will otherwise receive lest she reveal what they consider to be her true identity. That which Khalid and his conspirators believe to be that Kat is actually a covert CIA operative harboring a wealth of intelligence beneficial to their plight.

Wildcat is a stripped-down thriller, the entirety of events occurs within Kat’s prison cell. Interrogations, conversations, allegations. This film revolves solely around the characters and their ongoing mindset, not about an elaborate escape. Kat understands that she is a prisoner, and though she enters the film as a seeming victim, her time incarcerated affords her a thicker skin and a detailed plan.

Abu Khalid has an assortment of on-call torturers, though their names might as well be Henchman #1 and Henchman #2 since only Khalid carries any true character development amidst Kat’s foes. Thankfully, Hamada wears his role well, gliding effortlessly between our empathy and rage, often during a single conversation. Occasionally joining the foray is Luke (Luke Benward), a wounded soldier who was also captured while defending Kat’s convoy. Together, Luke and Kat attempt to plot a long-term strategy to stay alive long enough to weather a rescue.

Writer-director Jonathan Stokes cites real-life journalistic heroines Amanda Lindhout and Lynsey Addario as his inspiration for Kat, and Georgina Campbell has done justice to those impeccable aspirations.  Campbell’s performance is what holds our attention and saves Wildcat from a hundred other forgettable films in the same vein. Kat is learning as she goes, she is no master spy (or is she?), and her pain is complimented by her underlying intelligence. Campbell wears these tics on her face like badges of honor, never shying away from Kat’s vulnerability as she continually attempts to maintain her inner strength and tenacity.

Thankfully, Stokes also treats Kat with respect, refusing to script yet another eye-rolling moment of a trapped female prisoner using those beloved feminine wiles to get the drop on her captors. Instead, Kat uses intelligence and patience to stay alive, and Campbell even imbues a bit of snark in Kat (which she routinely pays for) that was a gleeful touch of personality in a situation that could absolutely use some.

Wildcat doesn’t aim to reinvent the wheel, it simply aims to entertain and possibly even spark a bit of research into journalists such as Lindhout and Addario. Fueled by Georgina Campbell’s captivating performance, Wildcat is a taut drama with a thrilling final act.

Follow our further discussion on Wildcat via this episode of The Hollywood Outsider podcast: