Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Really Surprised!

Instant Favorite.

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

I'm pretty obsessed with this movie. It's very rare that a movie (especially one listed on Netflix) takes you through a poignant journey with believable characters and actual character development. It is also very rare to see a bond between a male and female character that is entirely non-sexual in nature. The movie was satisfying from start to finish and featured beautiful locations. The relationship between the abused and her abuser was very realistic. The creators of this movie should be proud.

I was told by several people to check this film out. A couple of years later, I finally had a chance to screen it. Wildlike takes you on an uncomfortable journey, including violence specifically sexual abuse in a world that most would not want to inhabit. Its well written and the execution of the script is flawless. The story does a great job of sucking you in even though you're not sure you want to be sucked in. The cast is superb led by Ella Purnell who plays the lead. Her character is a troubled teen sent to live in Alaska with her uncle. You may not agree with how she lives her life, you might even start out not even liking this character, but it doesn't take long until you are hooked. You want to see her triumph; you want her to be redeemed. Does it happen? No spoilers here folks, you'll have to watch to find out and I think you'll be glad you did. Solid acting throughout, beautifully shot and wonderfully directed. I give Wildlike a solid 8 and a high recommendation.

It would be a mistake to say that this film could've worked without the strong, effective performances by the two main characters. They do a great job of carrying the film, and probably make it better than it has any right to be. Don't get me wrong, that's not to say that the film isn't good. It is, in fact, but I do wish the screenplay had been refined just a little bit more in order to really have the full effect of what the film's ambition is aiming for. As it is, it still gets its point across pretty well, and it definitely deserves a wider audience than the one it has gotten. Definitely recommended for all people interested in a sensitive, subtle film.

I saw WildLike recently at a tiny nonprofit in Houston called 14 Pews. Once a church in its lower middle-class neighborhood and no larger than the surrounding wood-frame houses, 14 Pews screened WildLike on behalf of the indie film festival whose main venue was downtown. Frank Hall Green, the writer-director, was present for a post-screening discussion. The movie was the only WorldFest-Houston film I had chosen to see. Midway through the movie I felt the euphoria of discovery. In this intimate, quasi-sacred setting, and in the presence of the director himself, I was watching a really fine film!WildLike is about a 14-year-old girl named Mackenzie (Ella Purnell), a teenage runaway, who flees the uncle with whom she has been living in Juneau, Alaska. Mackenzie wants to return home to her mother who lives in Seattle but lacks the resources to get there. She quickly discovers that wandering Juneau alone and attempting to manipulate others (young men) into rescuing her is a dismal, risky business. Quite by accident, however, Mackenzie runs into fortyish Rene Bartlett (Bruce Greenwood) in Juneau en route to Alaska's Denali National Park for a long planned solitary trek through the wilderness. Rene instinctively recoils from Mackenzie's annoying adolescent wiles and does everything to lose her. Seattle is also Rene's home. WildLike is the story of the relationship between Mackenzie and Rene.If you're looking for a feel-good story about the personal "journeys" of two people who learn wonderful life lessons through their fortuitous father-daughter encounter, WildLike isn't it. You'll fall for the film anyway, because writer-director Frank Hall Green's WildLike is a much grittier, subtler, more fascinating study. In steadfastly avoiding the Hollywood tropes, clichés and moralizing that could have spoiled WildLike, Green's focuses instead on the innumerable details of performance and story, on subtle gestures and body language that prove so revealing, in life as well as in movies. Green has let nothing false, unlikely or contrived creep into his movie, and that makes it a really wonderful experience for those of us who are allergic to such things. WildLike's characters are flawed and imperfect, its ending modest but suspenseful and deeply satisfying. Luckily, Greenwood and Purnell are the perfect talent for Green's approach. Greenwood's gift for conveying inner experience through the lines on his face is mesmerizing, and Purnell perfectly realizes Mackenzie's cool but desperate, hopelessly naive efforts at being a grownup.WildLike may not be exactly what audiences expect. It is a surprisingly fine film about an imperfect relationship between ordinary people that moves awkwardly toward a fortunate conclusion. It will appeal to anyone who loves to study the interplay of dissimilar personalities through cinema. And the scenes set in Denali are wonderful. You will not be disappointed. After the screening, Green described how he fine tuned every detail of WildLike's screenplay. Nothing happened by accident. I am certain Green has found his voice in this movie.