Wildwood (2026 | US | 132 minutes | Travis Knight)
Set in the odd, sassy, and lush wilds of Portland, OR, Wildwood takes us on an adventure not unlike Jim Henson’s Labyrinth (sans David Bowie in skin-tight stretchy pants). Young Prue just wanted to take her effervescent and curious baby brother Mac out on the town (ok, to farmers market and a couple of stores) when their very loving yet super tight leash parents left for a knitting event (oh so Portland). Out of the blue, poor little Mac was carried off by a large and strangely coordinate murder of crows into the impassable forest. So dubbed, the forest that borders a large part of Portland proper and beyond, literally can’t be entered… the trees won’t allow it. Somehow, Prue walks right in and so the sometimes delightful, sometimes deadly adventure begins. While the on the surface this tale looks to be for children, it’s more like an original Grimm fairytale than the Disney-fied “scary” stories of our youth.
I fell in love with this world and it’s inhabitants many years ago when the incredibly talented artist Carson Ellis and her equally talented husband Colin Meloy (of Decemberists fame) wrote the very thick, very eerie, and very charming story of the same name. I was immediately hooked by Ellis with her creatively dark illustration style and Meloy with his grim but highly imaginative story-telling ability (give The Decemberists’ “The Crane Wife” or “The Mariner’s Revenge Song” a listen and you’ll get it). Not only does the film do the storyline justice but the overall emotional ride and creepy vibe remained solidly in tact. The story itself skirts the line between child-like wonder and staunchly adult themes like politics, fear-mongering and complex emotional trauma. It will take hold of you the minute it begins and you won’t even realize two hours has passed as the credits roll and you pout realizing there’s no more story to watch (for now).
I’m really excited that a Pacific Northwest Film of this caliber is so highly anticipated by the larger industry and lives up to the hype in so many ways. I can’t imagine it won’t get rave reviews as it opens to wider audiences this weekend. The fact that it has become something so magical and fleshed out on the big screen with well-known voices to carry Chris Butler, Ellis and Meloy’s words is nothing short of a dream. As if it couldn’t get any better, the meticulous care and love that director/artist Travis Knight puts into his animated characters is something to behold. With equally beautiful and emotionally affecting stories like Coraline, The Boxtrolls (one of my favorites) and Kubo and the Two Strings on his resume, Wildwood feels like a natural progression deep into a new world that Knight has happily sunk his time and teeth into. There’s even a few fun easter eggs for Portlanders/PNW’ers to catch like the beautiful neon sign you see as you enter the city, “Meloy” on the radio flyer-like cart Prue gives Mac a ride in, the Voodoo Donut she grabs on their morning ride, and the “knitting event” that her parents attend at the beginning of the story. It’s all a mishmash of what keeps Portland weird and I loved every little bit of it.
I have no doubt you will enjoy this film. Caution bringing kiddos not at least touching their teens, it gets dicey at times and as I mentioned there’s serious adult themes that may be difficult for littler ones to deal with. To each their own, though, I just hope it becomes the classic, annual halloween visual feast that it should be.
Wildwood arrives in theaters on 10/23. Run, don’t walk, to a theater to see it soon.