WildWood Review

I’ll be honest, I didn’t really watch the trailer for WildWood when it first came out. I only watched the trailer after seeing the movie. This movie wasn’t even on the list of ones I was planning to see. After hearing it got great reviews and had some buzz I decided to give it a random watch. Shout out to Nicole for suggesting it. The trailer and the movie are very close to each other. The only difference is a bit of the motivation from the Alexandra character. Her driving force during the movie is the same in the trailer but they painted her in a kinder light. In the movie it feels like she’s on the darker path, rightfully so. It shouldn’t change your mind if you’re looking to see this movie.

Prue, the main character, is your antsy teenager that rebels against her parent’s wishes. Her parents tell her to look after her baby brother named Mac, and not to go outside. Guess what happens next? You guessed it, she goes outside with him in a Radio Flyer looking wagon while she’s pulling it with her bicycle. If you’re thinking, wouldn’t that be unsafe and maybe involve CPS, you would be correct. Her classmate Curtis is timid but also a bit brave when need be. He’s able to stand up for himself even though his body language and voice would say he’s scared of everything. The big bad is Alexandra. She’s a distraught mother after losing her son after a freak accident. Also there are quite a few side characters as well such as: the parents of Prue, Brendan, Owl Rex, General, Septima, Maksim, Dmitri, Seer, Iphigenia and way too many others. The chemistry between Prue and Curtis has good and bad moments. It’s like he eventually grows on her while he’s always trying to help her. The relationship between Prue and her parents seems a bit typical and cliche.

There are a few places with pacing issues. Thinking back, you have the beginning scene where Alexandra’s robot son realizes he’s a robot and cannot go on functioning. That scene felt a bit longer than needed, and I would dare to say it could have been cut completely. You have the scene when Prue goes to confront her parents because they lied about how Prue and Mac were born. While it does give some information on why Alexandra is targeting Mac, it doesn’t replace the fact that Prue should never have taken her brother outside. It just added tension of her disliking her parents for a few scenes. My biggest issue, though, is the murder of crows taking away Mac to the Impassable Wilderness. It’s not like there’s no magic in the town and folks don’t know about it. Especially when you find out Alexandra sent the crows when she could have sent the walking Coyotes. When you find out Prue’s parents promised Alexandra their second child but went back on the deal it gives unneeded tension. You’re making a villain out of the main character’s parents.

The biggest missed opportunity is the Impassable Wilderness. When you’re watching the movie you have an idea of the areas around but you don’t have enough time with the different factions. It feels like you’ve been thrust into the middle with barely any idea as to why things need to change. You have to trust you’re playing for the right team. You only get a taste of it all and if given more time in this world it would have made the movie better.

At the end of the day I’m torn between recommending people to see this movie or telling folks to wait until it hits streaming services. This movie visually looks great, especially with the stop motion animation. It’s truly breathtaking and the way it was filmed is top tier. The story just doesn’t fully do it for me but can be a bit enjoyable for a few minutes. This movie is for fans of stop motion animation. Prue uses magic vines to violently defeat Alexandra. Curtis decides to push his morals to the breaking point by dispatching Maksim violently. He finally gains the respect of Prue and everyone in the Impassable Wilderness. All of these events create peace and everyone lives happily ever after. The ending ties up completely and you’re left feeling content but not really moved by anything that transpired.

WildWood (2026) Cast and Details

WildWood (2026) is directed by Travis Knight and features the voices of Peyton Elizabeth Lee as Prue McKeel, Jacob Tremblay as Curtis Mehlberg, and Carey Mulligan as Alexandra, alongside Mahershala Ali as Brenden, Angela Bassett as the General, Jake Johnson as Mr. McKeel, and Awkwafina as Mrs. McKeel. It runs 132 minutes and is rated PG-13. You can find the full cast and crew on WildWood’s IMDb page. If you want another animated pick, check out my Cat in the Hat review.