Anna spends her entire childhood under the care of a mysterious man she only knows as Daddy. He keeps her locked in an attic making her fear the Wildling, a child-eating monster that roams the outside. At age 16, Anna is freed by small-town sheriff Ellen Cooper who helps her start a new life as a normal teenager. But as Anna's body begins to blossom, her childhood nightmares return with a vengeance, leading to the conclusion of a terrifying secret.
A supernatural "What's Happening to My Body?" parable in company with "Carrie," "Ginger Snaps" and last year's "Thelma," "Wildling" is low-key with an undertone of menace, skillfully directed by Fritz Böhm in his feature debut.
Wildling is a phenomenal, original horror film that transcends the genre, offers a trio of strong performances from Powley, Dourif, and Tyler, and marks a debut for the ages for writer and director Fritz Böhm.
With curious fluctuations in tone, questionable motivations, a dull look and jagged editing that takes us out of potentially affecting moments, this tall tale feels slight.
This creature feature from the director Fritz Böhm is functional but lacks flavor, an imaginative spark that might distinguish it from any number of other I-was-a-teenage-monster movies.
The script needs a reworking to figure out how the third act evolution from character drama into bloody violence can be organic and relevant to the rest of the narrative with substance
At its best, "Wildling" is very smart about how we humans like to compare ourselves to animals - from the names of our sports teams to the way we describe the feeling of cutting loose.
