Wildwood Review – An Epic Adventure, Stunning, A Must See

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Category: Haute This Issue

Published on Thursday, 22 October 2026 08:34

Written by Janet Walker

Wildwood, from LAIKA Animation, held it North American premiere opening the 40th edition of the AFI Film Festival, presenting a masterful epic adventure of good verses evil as two unlikely heroes find themselves transformed through this magical journey.

The film begins in what appears as an enchanted forest, a child by chance cuts his finger and realizes he is different, and the burden is too great for him to bear. His choice is to reveal the truth to all. His mother, desperate to stop him, is too late. In an instant, she is cast out deep into the darkness.

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Suddenly we are in Portland, Oregon, and are hearing the story of the Impassable Forest, as the voice explains that is why we never leave the house. Prue McKeel, voiced by Peyton Elizabeth Lee, suddenly appears and jokes with her father, voiced by Jake Johnson, about scarring little Mac, voiced by Arthur Knight, her baby brother, for life.

Her mom, voiced by Maya Erskine, explains they are going into town, and she will need to watch Mac, and remember no going outside. Of course, Prue, being a teenager, does not listen, and as she is riding around Portland with Mac in the wagon behind her, she decides to stop for coffee, and bumps into Curtis, voiced by Jacob Trembley, spilling his hot chocolate.

Prue definitely has the teenage attitude going on, and everyone is very uncool, and as she and Curtis walk toward the playground, she is obviously bothered by Curtis. With baby Mac safely inside the playground and waddling around, Prue turns her attention to Curtis, and dismisses him, repeatedly, as he, to her, is so uncool. As she is talking he looks past her as in a scene straight out of Hitchcock, the playground is filled with a flock of crows. Prue sprints to try and rescue Mac, and just before she reaches him the crows snatch him away.

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Instantly she is on her bike with Curtis in the wagon, and they are desperate. We see the flock of crows fly into the fog and into the Impassable forest. The two stare into the foggy darkness, unsure, when Prue decides despite all the warnings, there is no choice.

They enter the overgrown ivy that borders the forest and suddenly gives way to a clearing. Hearing voices, and hoping for help, Curtis climbs up a hill to see a small regiment of wolf soldiers talking. As Prue joins him, suddenly they are spotted and are forced to run for their lives. They split and Prue makes it to the road and Curtis is captured.

This ushers in the second half of the film, as the two are now on different paths to enlightenment in the magical enchanted forest, where we enter kingdoms, meet bandits, soar across a golden sky on the back of an avian general, realize to survive we must fight or die, and whom we perceive to be our enemy may actually be our closest ally, and finally come to understand the cost of saving those we love is great.

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Not a traditional animation film, Wildwood depicts hidden life lessons, some simple others more complex, such as how sorrow can be insurmountable, changing good into an unquenchable desperation, and more how secrets become snares. Conversely,  the hidden moral of the story of honesty, allowing others to help carry the burdens and how adversity brings out the sleeping giant.

Captivating, and mesmerizing Wildwood is an epic achievement, a stunning remarkable film. The animation is sharp, crisp, and vibrant. Audiences are so accustomed to animation, the idea of stop-motion animation, may not be as well-known as computer generated imagery, CGI, and to understand the magnitude of this impressive film, one must understand that this is all filmed, as if one were using dolls for each movement. It was an ambitious undertaking with breathtaking results.

Riveting, exceptional, and appealing, Wildwood, opens exclusively in theaters October 23, 2026. See it.

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Country: United States.

Language: English.

Runtime: 132 minutes.

Release date: October 23, 2026.

Director: Travis Knight.

Producer: Travis Knight, Sam Wilson.

Executive Producer: David Burke.

Writer: Chris Butler. Based on the novel by Carson Ellis and Colin Meloy.

Cast:  Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Jacob Tremblay, Carey Mulligan, Mahershala Ali, Awkwafina, Angela Bassett, Jake Johnson, Charlie Day, Jemaine Clement, Tom Waits, Maya Erskine, Tantoo Cardinal, Richard E. Grant, Len Cariou, Blythe Danner, Tob Delaney, Marc Evan Jackson, Arthur Knight, Jamie Sara Lewis, Olafur Darri Olafsson, Amanda Stenberg, Kellan Tetlow.

Janet Walker is the publisher, founder, and sole owner of Haute-Lifestyle.com. A graduate of New York University, she has been covering international news through the Beltway Insider, a weekly review of the nation's top stories, for more than a decade.  A general beat writer/reporter and entertainment/film critic, she is also an accomplished news/investigative news/crime reporter and submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration "Cops Conspire to Deep Six Sex Assaults" in the Breaking News Category and was persuaded to withdraw the submission. Under the banner of her production company, HL Productions, LLC, Ms. Walker has completed five screenplays "The Six Sides of Truth," "The Assassins of Fifth Avenue," "The Wednesday Killer," "The Manhattan Project," and the sci-fi thriller "Project 13: The Last Day." She has also published "Unholy Alliances: A True Crime Story," and "Days, Times, Seasons, and Events: A Collection of Poetry & Prose," which can be purchased here. She is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and a member of the International Federation of Journalists.