Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Michiel Huisman.
Wild follows Cheryl (Witherspoon), on a hike through the desert in order to help cope with her grief over her dead mother and divorce.
On watching the trailer, I automatically got reminded of Into The Wild (2007) and found myself comparing the two quite often. They, however, aren't as alike as I previously thought.
I felt that the story had good intentions and the execution of the story was very unique. We see the non-linear story follow Cheryl on her journey through the desert, with scenes from her past which gave an insight into why she decided to walk for 3 months alone.
Although I do feel like the film was definitely a good and emotive story, I didn't feel as though it had great depth. There was so much backstory to her journey, like why she got divorced, her relationship with her brother and more about her childhood. I didn't feel as though I could fully understand the protagonist and therefore couldn't fully empathise with her.
I took a lot away from this film, especially the affects that death can have on a person. One thing in particular that I noticed when watching the film, was that every time a man came on the screen and she was alone with nobody around, I automatically thought she was going to be raped. There wasn't one time that I felt she would be safe around a male and what I found more interesting was that the film played on this. You can see in Witherspoons facial expressions and body language that she is thinking the exact same thing and I feel like that is a point that needs to be discussed more with the films release.
One scene I thought was particularly great, was a scene near the end. (If you haven't watched the film already, maybe skip this paragraph) Witherspoons character, comes across an Emu or something of the sort on her walk, it's alone and she goes over to it. When doing so, a young child and her grandmother come to collect the Emu. After a brief conversation, they leave and Witherspoon breaks down, looking at the sky and crying "I miss you". Something that I didn't realise the first time, was that that young girl and her grandmother, was Witherspoons own mother and her child from when she was pregnant, metaphorically of course. I thought this was a great kind of image to portray and a great way to end the film, because you don't know who she is saying I miss you too and it all just comes together so well.
The cinematography was brilliant. With a setting like the Pacific Crest Trail, your work is kind of set out for you. The way that they managed to capture Witherspoons emotions and kind of see into her was something that I felt stood out to me. I also thought that the throwbacks to her early childhood, when she felt certain emotions, was a lovely touch and something that was relatable to the audience.
Reese Witherspoons acting was incredible, I can't imagine what she had to go through to prepare and shoot this film. Her character, being the main character, had a lot to do as she had to hold the film together and make sure the audience didn't switch off or get bored or annoyed with her and this is something I felt that she did excellently.
Overall, the film was very well produced and thoughtout. I felt that ending was something they could have done more with, perhaps a quick montage of her journey; instead of leaving us wondering. When you've watched someone go through a journey like that, you want to know how it ended for them, I personally felt it was the wrong choice to leave it open ended.
I would definitely recommend this film but I don't think it is for everyone and it is quite slow to get into, so if you chose to watch please persevere as it gets hugely better.
