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Wildlife

Wildlife

Drama · 2018

14-year-old Joe is the only child of Jeanette and Jerry — a housewife and a golf pro — in a small town in 1960s Montana. Nearby, an uncontrolled forest fire rages close to the Canadian border, and when Jerry loses his job (and his sense of purpose) he decides to join the cause of fighting the fire, leaving his wife and son to fend for themselves.

Movie details

Wildlife

2018 Drama 1h 45m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.6 / 10

Community rating

14-year-old Joe is the only child of Jeanette and Jerry — a housewife and a golf pro — in a small town in 1960s Montana. Nearby, an uncontrolled forest fire rages close to the Canadian border, and when Jerry loses his job (and his sense of purpose) he decides to join the cause of fighting the fire, leaving his wife and son to fend for themselves.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Wildlife?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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How Green Was My Valley

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Soldier Blue

Soldier Blue

Western · 1970

After a cavalry group is massacred by the Cheyenne, only two survivors remain: Honus, a naive private devoted to his duty, and Cresta, a young woman who had lived with the Cheyenne two years and whose sympathies lie more with them than with the US government. Together, they must try to reach the cavalry's main base camp. As they travel onward, Honus is torn between his growing affection for Cresta.

Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1

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Western · 2024

In 1859, families discover the lure of the Old West as they settle in territories from Wyoming to Kansas. Meanwhile, a gruff cowboy finds himself on the run with a prostitute and a young boy after killing a fellow gunman.

The Power of the Dog

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A domineering but charismatic rancher wages a war of intimidation on his brother's new wife and her teen son, until long-hidden secrets come to light.

Hostiles

Hostiles

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A legendary Native American-hating Army captain nearing retirement in 1892 is given one last assignment: to escort a Cheyenne chief and his family through dangerous territory back to his Montana reservation.

The Bikeriders

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After a chance encounter, headstrong Kathy is drawn to Benny, member of Midwestern motorcycle club the Vandals. As the club transforms into a dangerous underworld of violence, Benny must choose between Kathy and his loyalty to the club.

American Pastoral

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Ted K

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An exploration of Ted Kaczynski's life in Lincoln, Montana in the years leading up to his arrest as The Unabomber.

Winter's Bone

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After discovering her father put their house up for his bail bond and then disappeared, 17-year-old Ree Dolly must confront the local criminal underworld and the harsh Ozark wilderness in order to to track down her father and save her family.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Paul Dano

Written by

Paul Dano · Zoe Kazan

Jake Gyllenhaal

Jake Gyllenhaal

Jerry Brinson

Carey Mulligan

Carey Mulligan

Jeanette Brinson

Ed Oxenbould

Ed Oxenbould

Joe Brinson

Zoe Colletti

Zoe Colletti

Ruth-Ann

Bill Camp

Bill Camp

Warren Miller

Travis W Bruyer

Travis W Bruyer

Forester

T

Tom Huston Orr

Mr. Cartwright

Court is in session

Put Wildlife on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.