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[SXSW Review] Creature Feature ‘Wildling’ is An Accomplished Debut for Director Fritz Böhm

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Modern creature features haven’t exactly been known to attract mainstream talent or audiences. All too often relegated to SyFy original movies or The Asylum, they just aren’t as popular as they once were in the ’80s (or even the ’90s). Enter Wildling, director Fritz Böhm‘s latest addition to the sub-genre. The film is something of a unique beast, mixing several different genres and attracting the likes of top-notch actors like Brad Dourif and Liv Tyler. It is also a remarkably accomplished film for the Böhm in what is his first, but hopefully not last, feature film.

Since she was born, Anna (Bel Powley) has been raised by a man (Brad Dourif) she knows only as Daddy. Throughout her childhood, Daddy has kept her locked in the attic and warns her of the Wildling, a beast that ate all of the other children in the world. Thinking Daddy is protecting her, Anna never once questions his motives. When Anna is 16 she is freed by local sheriff Ellen Cooper (Liv Tyler), who takes her in to live with her and her younger brother Ray (Collin Kelly-Sordelet). As Anna begins to acclimate to her new life, the memory of the Wildling comes back to haunt her, leading to chaos within her new family.

You don’t really need to know anything else about the plot of Wildling (and you’re better off ignoring the trailer embedded below) because this is the type of film that will play a lot better going in blind.

Wildling is essentially a modern-day fairy tale, and thanks to Böhm’s camerawork and cinematographer Toby Oliver’s (the director of photography for last year’s Get Out and Happy Death Day) blue and grey color palettes, it really does look like a live-action fairy tale, albeit a significantly bloody one. The film follows some familiar beats of coming-of-age films, but it’s so delightfully weird that you almost don’t care. Almost. There are two possible directions for Wildling‘s narrative to go and the direction it chooses may make or break the film for some viewers, but considering I write for a horror site and live for things like this I was in it from the get-go. Lest you think that Wildling is without surprises, rest assured that Böhm’s screenplay, which he co-wrote with first-time screenwriter Florian Eder, has a quite a few tricks up its metaphorical sleeve.

Wildling SXSW Review

Unfortunately, as Wildling careens towards its climax, it threatens to run of the rails. It never fully derails so as to ruin the experience, but a few occurrences will require significant suspension of disbelief that the film doesn’t entirely earn. This mostly has to do with the relationship between Ray and Anna, despite both actors turning in wonderful performances and displaying a palpable chemistry. You just never fully buy their relationship as it turns from a platonic friendship and into one of a more sexual nature (The Shape of Water, this ain’t). It is an odd feeling to want a movie to be longer, but Wildling could have benefited from devoting more time to its central pair of lovebirds. Editors Matthew Rundell and Robb Sullivan’s restrained editing also grows more erratic as the film enters the third act, making it difficult to tell what is going on in some of the action sequences. This could be an attempt to mask poor effects due to the film’s low budget, but it is a glaring flaw in an otherwise solid film.

Böhm has assembled a strong group of actors for Wildling. Horror fans will come for Dourif, who gives an over-the-top but captivating performance as the mysterious Daddy, but it is Powley who anchors the film. She turns in a nuanced and animalistic performance as she morphs from a young girl afraid of the world around her into a woman afraid of her own body. It’s nice to see Tyler return to the horror genre (it’s her first genre film since The Strangers was released 10 years ago). She gives Ellen a sweetly maternal quality and is heartwarming to watch in her scenes with Powley. James Le Gros also pops up in a brief cameo as a forest hermit with some ties to Anna’s past.

Wildling is a solid debut feature for Böhm and features a magnetic performance from Bel Powley as well as some excellent creature and gore effects. The film loses its way a bit towards the end, but its heart is in the right place, making for a rather endearing viewing experience. If anything, the film leave you with a strong desire to see Böhm’s next film, whatever that may be.

IFC Midnight will release Wildling on VOD on April 13, 2018.

A journalist for Bloody Disgusting since 2015, Trace writes film reviews and editorials, as well as co-hosts Bloody Disgusting's Horror Queers podcast, which looks at horror films through a queer lens. He has since become dedicated to amplifying queer voices in the horror community, while also injecting his own personal flair into film discourse. Trace lives in Austin, TX with his husband and their two dogs. Find him on Twitter @TracedThurman

Movies

SCREAMBOX Investigates UFOs and Extraterrestrials: Several Documentaries Streaming Right Now!

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As someone who is obsessed with UFOS (or more recently known as UAPs) and the concept of extraterrestrials, I love a good documentary. Sightings have been on the rise since the 1940s, with the atomic bomb seemingly acting as a catalyst for new visitors. But what are these UFOs/UAPs? Is there an explanation or are they simply beyond our explanation? Why are they here? Who are they? How much do our governments know? The questions are endless and so are the documentaries that attempt to uncover the secrets behind decades of sightings and alleged confrontations.

Whether you’re a seasoned viewer or new to the rabbit hole, there’s always a handful of interesting documentaries to get your neurons firing and leave you with sleepless nights. SCREAMBOX is investigating with the addition of several docs, all streaming now on the Bloody Disgusting-powered service. Here’s the breakdown:

Aliens (2021): Beam into this unidentified streaming documentary for a glimpse into Extraterrestrial life. Aliens are hypothetical life forms that may occur outside Earth or that did not originate on Earth.

Aliens Uncovered: Origins (2021): Before Area 51, hidden deep in the desert, the military discovered a hidden gem that helped them create Project Bluebook.

Aliens Uncovered: ET or Man-Made (2022): The crash of Roswell wasn’t meant for New Mexico. In 1947, a neighboring state had 3 major sightings that were swept under the rug.

Aliens Uncovered: The Golden Record (2023): In the late 70s, the US government launched a message to our distant neighbors.

Roswell (2021): This high-flying documentary examines the July 1947 crash of a United States Army Air Forces balloon at a ranch near Roswell, New Mexico. Theories claim the crash was actually that of a flying saucer, but what is the truth?

Also check out:

The British UFO Files (2004): Since the 1940’s the British Government has been investigating the Flying Saucer phenomenon. High-ranking military and government personnel, speak out for the first time, offering unique eyewitness accounts and inside information.

Alien Abductions and Paranormal Sightings (2016): Amazing Footage and stories from real people as they reveal their personal encounters of being abducted by Aliens.

And do not miss Hellier (2019): A crew of paranormal researchers find themselves in a dying coal town, where a series of strange coincidences lead them to a decades-old mystery.

These documentaries join SCREAMBOX’s growing library of unique horror content, including Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls, Here for Blood, Terrifier 2, RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop, Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story, The Outwaters, Living with Chucky, Project Wolf Hunting, and Pennywise: The Story of IT.

Start screaming now with SCREAMBOX on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Prime Video, Roku, YouTube TV, Samsung, Comcast, Cox, and Screambox.com.

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