‘Wildwood’ review: Does the incredible animation make up for the lackluster story?

“Wildwood” is a visually breathtaking movie paired with a disappointing story. Filled with plot points including conceiving children via witchcraft/Satanism, depictions of suicide, a baby crying uncomfortably throughout the movie, a fever dream of said baby being sacrificed and seeing its blood spilled on ivy, and an ending message of there is no happy ever after but we are happy now so enjoy it, I found myself wondering who exactly is this movie’s target audience.

Taking 15 years to complete because of the meticulously crafted stop-motion animation, “Wildwood” follows 13-year-old Prue McKeel (Peyton Elizabeth Lee) as she traverses through the fantastical Impassable Wilderness to save her baby brother (Arthur Knight) from being sacrificed by the dark witch/dowager governess Alexandra (Carey Mulligan). The premise is harrowing enough, but how the story unfolds is a different matter.

In what might be the most irresponsible opening to a movie, it begins with a prologue depicting the suicide of a naked minor. The child in question is the reanimated son of the dowager governess, who she built with gears and used dark magic to infuse his soul into the new body after he died and his body was lost in the wood. Even though it is animation and even though he technically had robotic insides, he looks real in the context of the world. The audience sees him rip out his central gear heart and sees him plunge to his death. There are no subtleties or cuts away suggesting what is happening. Why he has to be naked is another question in and of itself.

It is an understandable backstory to see how the dowager governess fell into dark magic, but to actually depict the suicide is reckless, especially with recent studies suggesting that news reports and fictional accounts of suicide in film and television can lead to increases of suicides in real life.

Anyone experiencing a mental health or addiction crisis, and their family members, can call, text, or chat the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline to reach a trained specialist who can offer help and support. 988 provides 24/7, free, and confidential support to Ohioans in a behavioral health crisis. 988 is a direct connection to compassionate, accessible care and support for anyone experiencing mental health-related distress. That could be: thoughts of suicide, mental health or substance use crisis, or any other kind of emotional distress.

After Alexandra runs away from an angry mob, the story shifts to show Prue’s dad (Jake Johnson) was telling it as a tall tale of the Portland, Oregon’s Impassable Wilderness to Prue and her baby brother. After ensuring Prue that they would be happy if baby Mac’s future spouse is a she, he or they, Prue’s dad and mom (Maya Erskine) leave the house and give Prue one rule, to not let Mac play outside. Being the rebellious, moody pre-teen, Prue zips baby Mac around eclectic downtown Portland, towing him in a wagon attached her bike. It could be my being a parent, but I would question her understanding of a baby’s grip strength and sense of balance. Nonetheless, Prue ends up at a park with Mac and sets him down and turns her back to him to play on a playground while talking to classmate Curtis (Jacob Tremblay). Thousands of crows ominously land in the park around Mac, but go initially unnoticed by Prue as Curtis can’t take a hint that she doesn’t like him and thinks as she later confesses in the movie that he is a “loser.”

When she finally realizes the crows are present, it is too late. The murder of crows swarm around Mac and kidnap him away to the Impassable Wilderness. Prue follows them on her bike with loser Curtis holding on for dear life in the wagon (He could have taken some balancing tips from baby Mac).

After avoiding being hit by a train, Prue and Curtis are drawn to an entrance to the wilderness. It is here that they are thrust into an enchanted land filled with bird factions, a Kafkaesque government, redcoat coyotes armed with muskets under the dowager governess’s command, ecological mystics, and bandits. Prue’s main character arc on her journey to save her brother is described as being a quest in believing she has the magic inside her needed to save him.

The case for adoption

To give the movie its credit, it does illustrate how conceiving children through Satanic witchcraft leads to horrific consequences.

As the story progresses, Curtis and Prue are separated. Curtis is imprisoned by Alexandra with the bandits, and Alexandra tricks Prue to believe Mac has already died. Prue returns home and shares the news with her family. Everyone is overtaken by grief.

Later, Prue comes to apologize to her parents, but they reveal it is their fault that Mac was kidnapped and allegedly murdered. We see in flashback that when Prue’s dad and mom were newly married, they were excited for the possibility of raising children, but fell into despair when no known methods of conception worked.

In their desperation, they stumbled upon a mysterious witch doctor/seer (Blythe Danner) who claimed to be able to help. While entering the hut, the father points out that it is covered in Satanic symbols, but doesn’t stop the wife whose judgement is clouded by utter despair. This reminded me how many theologians have pointed out that Adam did nothing while the serpent tempted Eve with the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Like Adam and Eve, Prue’s father and mother soon find themselves wrapped up in knowing the good of having children and the evil consequences of striking a deal using Satanic witchcraft.

The seer gives them a bell to ring at the entrance of the Impassable Wilderness. After ringing it, Alexandra appears and strikes them a deal. They can keep their first child, but must give the second the Alexandra.

The impact of this decision is derailed logically when the mother confesses they never thought it was possible to have a second child, and that seemed to be the case as years passed by. Of course, I would never recommend witchcraft, but if you are dealing with witches in a world where their spells actually work, know the contract.

Frustrations in the plot aside, infertility is a great burden for couples not able to experience the gift of biological children, and often can lead to a sense of hopelessness. As the USCCB document Married Love and the Gift of Life[1] teaches, these couples can still have a married life that is filled with love and meaning. The same document includes a quote from Pope St. John Paul II from a 1982 homily where he encourages infertile couples, “You are no less loved by God; your love for each other is complete and fruitful when it is open to others, to the needs of the apostolate, to the needs of the poor, to the needs of orphans, to the needs of the world.”

While it is up to the couple’s own discernment to whether or not they would consider adopting or fostering children, one could argue these would be better paths for Prue’s father and mother to consider since they are so desperate to welcoming children. In reality, the Church advises couples to pray, discuss financial stability, seek spiritual guidance from the clergy, and meet with licensed agencies operating within the law.

Existential nihilism vs existentialism

The overall tone of “Wildwood” could be categorized as bleak. Moments of comedic relief are few and far between. Though described as discovering the magic within her, Prue’s overall struggle really seems to oscillate between an existential nihilistic worldview (there is no intrinsic meaning to life) and an existential worldview (there is no intrinsic meaning, so you must create it).

To skip the end (and spoilers), it felt satisfying to see Prue save her brother and help the citizens of the wood establishment peace…but then came the downer of to end all Debbie downers.

While the McKeel celebrates the return of Prue and Mac, Prue ponders something deeply away from the rest. Her father asks what’s on her mind, and she laments that there are no happily ever afters because Alexandra was only trying to bring back her son. It seems like the character is trying to empathize with Alexandra’s reason for stealing Mac, but there is no hint of correction from her father that her understood grief over losing a child doesn’t justify her killing another child in order to bring the original back. It is one thing to understand why someone is committing an evil action, it is another to affirm it. Her father presses on to instill in her that there might not be any happily ever afters, but they are happy now and that’s what counts.

In both strands of existential thought, a core idea formulated by 20^th century philosopher, Jean-Paul Sartre, is that existence precedes essence. How an existentialist responds to that central tenet leads to which strain they end up following. This, of course, is antithetical to Catholicism because it teaches humanity existence comes from, “God infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1). Where existentialism takes out any divine purpose for creation, the foundation of Catholicism shows that God created us out love, for love, and to spend eternity with him in Heaven.

Other issues with the plot

There are many plot holes and logical gaps in Wildwood. The biggest comes at the climax of the movie.

As the side of the dowager countess engages in a gruesome, all-out battle with the rest of the woodfolk over Mac, Alexandra rides on horseback directly through the battlefield with Mac in a saddleback, putting her plot to sacrifice him on a specific pillar at risk.

At the same time, Pure runs through the battlefield unarmed and on foot to catch up to Alexandra. Somehow, she runs through unscathed and then is attacked by the most fearsome and deadly coyote of the bunch, Maksim (Tom Waits). This coyote that can kill trained soldiers in a second all of a sudden can’t defeat an unarmed teenager. She holds him off long enough for Curtis to kill him. Then, somehow, she is able to catch up to the dowager countess who is on horseback by climbing a cliffside and running on foot.

My other biggest grievance with “Wildwood” is that Prue learns through a fever dream that Mac is still alive. This is the dream I alluded to in the beginning of this review where Alexandra is seen lifting up her blade, Mac is wailing, and then we see blood splattered all over the ivy. It was unnecessary to show the blood of a sacrificed baby. The dream could have concluded with hearing the cries of Mac while Prue woke up.

Final thoughts

What Laika has achieved in the realm of stop-motion is brilliant, and they will likely win multiple awards for animation. However, the story presented with the animation falls flat. A few tweaks to what is depicted on screen, approaching the plot differently, and sticking to the original question of Prue’s internal magic and not affirming Alexandra’s actions, and the movie would have been a masterpiece. However, it is not.

It is further upsetting that the movie’s trailer was shown before several G and PG movies, where unsuspecting parents can miss that “Wildwood” is rated PG-13.

[1] https://www.usccb.org/resources/Married-Love-and-the-Gift-of-Life-English-version-2020-update.pdf