Wildlike (2014)

Directed and produced by Frank Hall Green; produced by Frank Hall Green, Julie Christeas, Joseph Stephans, Schuyler Weiss

Fourteen year old Mackenzie (Ella Purnell), her father dead and her mother in drug rehabilitation, is sent from her home-town Seattle to live with her uncle (Brian Geraghty) in Juneau. Terrified by his unwanted physical attentions, the girl runs away, latching on to widower René Bartlett (Bruce Greenwood), who intends to hike across Denali National Park, in memoriam to his late wife, with whom he had travelled the route many times. Despite his great reluctance, circumstances force ‘Bart’ to take Mackenzie with him, and soon the childless man and the fatherless child discover truths about each other, themselves and the world.

Wildlike is a movie for those who still appreciate drama without violence or super-heroes. It is a quiet movie that takes full advantage of the setting, the relative isolation of Juneau, and the empty wilderness that surrounds it. There are crises but not much of a climax, though how the film ends is satisfying for those who don’t need finales to be explained to them.

The writing is very good. The dialogue is unexceptional and natural yet manages to convey certain aspects well. Particularly telling is how the uncle talks to (and text-messages with) Mackenzie after she flees his molestation. He speaks of how ‘we screwed up’ and how the girl must be ‘confused’ because of events; refusing to accept what he did. The viewer can understand the fear that prompted Mackenzie’s flight.

Both Mackenzie and Bart are very well defined. The adolescent is not the obnoxious teen that many similarly aged characters are in movies. She is resentful of her situation, but is smart enough to know that she must simply deal with what is happening. Bart, for his part, is even more of a rarity in films today: an ordinary, decent middle-aged man, without hang-ups but grieving in his own private way.

Without the quality of the talent in front of the camera, Wildlike would have died a painful death. Greenwood gives a performance that teeters on the edge of portraying a curmudgeon, which would have been fatal; that would have veered the story toward comedy. Instead, he shows Bart as a good man who finds a girl interfering with what he must consider an almost sacred action, committed in the memory of his wife. He lets down his guard about his loss once, which itself leads to a telling moment. Initially, Mackenzie follows him because she learns he is from Seattle, and thinks he is an easy way back home, but it might be that Bart’s very indifference to her is welcome after her uncle’s behaviour.

Though eighteen at the time of filming, Purnell is very convincing as barely-teenaged Mackenzie, half-child, but trying at times to be a woman, and struggling with the consequences of both qualities. Though English, no viewer would guess it from her performance. (Greenwood is Canadian, perhaps an easier source from which to imitate an American.)

The direction is good without being superb. Green permits the actors to express feelings, rather than speaking them. There is admirable restraint used, as when Mackenzie’s uncle comes into her bedroom; like many cinematic moments, what is not seen can be very frightening. As for the setting, it might be argued that it would be hard to do poorly with such scenery as Alaska, but others have done so. Green uses a number of shots well, such as showing the mild urbanization of Juneau, becoming the touristy outskirts with their undoubtedly pricey retailers, and then the deserted countryside beyond.

A fine movie about relationships, Wildlike shows the dangers of some human interactions, along with the rewards of others, and demonstrates that when we allow them, those rewards can be great.