Wildwood (2026) Fathom/Fantasy-Adventure RT: 130 minutes Rated PG-13 (strong fantasy violence/bloody images, thematic material, suicide-related material, brief partial nudity, language) Director: Travis Knight Screenplay: Chris Butler Music: Dario Marianelli Cinematography: Caleb Deschanel Release date: October 23, 2026 (US) Cast: Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Jacob Tremblay, Carey Mulligan, Mahershala Ali, Awkwafina, Amandla Stenberg, Tom Waits, Charlie Day, Arthur Knight, Angela Bassett, Richard E. Grant, Jake Johnson, Maya Erskine, Tantoo Cardinal, Blythe Danner, Rob Delaney, Jemaine Clement, Marc Evan Jackson, Olafur Darri Olafsson, Len Cariou, Colleen O’Shaughnessy.
Rating: ****
Not all animated films are for children. Case in point: Wildwood; the brilliant new stop-motion animated film from Laika, the studio behind Coraline and Kubo and the Two Strings. It’s PG-13 and for good reason. It’s dark and very violent. People die horrible (non-bloody) deaths. The villain isn’t just a harmless meanie; she’s truly malevolent. She means to kill a baby. It deals with serious themes that the little ones wouldn’t understand. For them, it’s just nightmare fuel. You might want to choose something else for family movie night.
Last month, I raved about Forgotten Island, a wonderfully whacked-out animated comedy-adventure that undeservedly bombed at the box office. I stand by my review of it, but I now think that Wildwood deserves to take home the coveted gold statuette for Best Animated Feature. It is the end result of 15 years of hard work on the part of Team Laika. The fantasy-adventure required 136 sets, 231 puppets and thousands of shots. Its meticulous attention to detail is breathtakingly beautiful, especially in how it captures the unique beauty and oddity of the Pacific Northwest. Best of all, the stop-motion animation is just that with minimal touch-up use of VFX. It gives the animation a smoother feel. It’s a visual feast for the eyes. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Directed by Travis Knight (Kubo and the Two Strings), Wildwood has an awesome story to tell, one as dense as the enchanted woods in which it takes place. Painted in shades of Coraline and Lord of the Rings, it has as much plot substance in its 130-minute run time as any given season of Game of Thrones. It centers on Prue (Lee, Andi Mack), a rebellious Portland teen tired of her hippie parents cautionary tales about the Impassable Wilderness on the edge of town and their rule about never allowing her baby brother Mac outside. When left in her care, it’s the first thing Prue does.
While at the local playground, Mac is abducted by a murder of crows. Prue gives chase accompanied by annoying but well-meaning classmate Curtis (Tremblay, Wonder), a bespectacled gamer who loves fantasy role-playing games. They’re led right to the edge of the Impassable Wilderness and find it’s not so impassable, at least not for Prue. Once inside, they discover an unbelievable world of magic and anthropomorphic animals. It’s ruled by the evil dowager governess Alexandra (Mulligan, The Great Gatsby) who’s also behind Mac’s abduction. A terrible tragedy in her past turned her into a vengeful figure determined to get back what she lost even at the expense of destroying the fabric of Wildwood.
Prue’s initial goal is to rescue her brother, but she discovers that her presence in Wildwood might not be all that random. She has a connection to the place. Also, she appears to be the only one capable of uniting the warring factions of Wildwood in the fight against the real enemy, Alexandra.
Wildwood isn’t just the best animated movie of the year; it’s one of the best of all time. I know it sounds like I’m overstating, but I assure you it’s really that great. It’s that rare film that gets every single thing absolutely right. I can’t praise the visuals enough. It is an astonishing sight to behold. The effort that went into it is evident in every single frame. The fluidity of movement brings the characters and settings to tactile life. The movie practically has a heartbeat.
The roster of voice talents assembled by Knight is mighty impressive. Lee is outstanding as Prue, a teen dealing with more than the usual growing pains. Sure, she and her parents don’t see eye to eye on most things and she’s annoyed by her existence. That’s every teen girl. What’s not so usual is having to deal with the realization that all the stories her parents told her and Mac aren’t just stories. Magic is real and it’s right there in front of her. It basically upends her world as she thought she knew it, but Prue doesn’t fall apart. This young lady has pluck. She steps up in a big way. Lee nails it perfectly.
Mulligan positively oozes malice tinged with sadness as the villain of the piece. Shaped by a tragedy no mother should have to endure, she wants to set her world right with no thought as to how it will affect those who live in her orbit. Tremblay is similarly great as the nervous teen who learns what it truly means to be a warrior. He comes through for Prue in the way only a true friend would even if she finds him annoying.
The cast also includes Mahershala Ali (Moonlight) as the brave leader of the Bandits, Angela Bassett (Black Panther) as giant golden eagle General, Amandla Stenberg (The Hate U Give) as a female Bandit, Tantoo Cardinal (Killers of the Flower Moon) as the elderly leader of the Mystics, Richard E. Grant (Wicker) as a wise old owl and in another comic gem of a voice performance, Awkwafina (Raya and the Last Dragon) as helpful rat Septima. What a lineup!
Wildwood has a dark comic edge as well. It’s unusually sharp for an animated film. Take the governor (Jackson, The Good Place). He’s an ineffectual buffoon who has no idea what he’s actually doing. Tell me that’s not a pot shot at most politicians. Then there’s Awkwafina. Her natural energy comes through even when she’s only heard and not seen.
Wildwood is epic in every sense of the world. The climactic battle is every bit as awesome as any you would see in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Even better, it’s not overedited to the point of confusion. You know exactly what’s going on and everybody’s physical position at all times. Knight and his team of artists take great care in every little movement.
I cannot heap enough praise on Wildwood. It is truly a modern masterpiece. It is a new standard of excellence to be used for all future stop-motion movies.
