"Every scene, every small detail, from the movement of a strand of hair to the colour of each leaf, is remarkable"

From the studio that created Coraline, Wildwood is an equally dark fantasy animation about grief, sorrow and finding strength in community.

Directed by Travis Knight, Wildwood is set in Portland, Oregon, where a family of hippies lives a seemingly normal life. That is, until their daughter, Prue, disobeys her parents’ warnings, takes her little brother out into the city, and he ends up being abducted by a murder of crows.

What was supposed to be a normal day suddenly turns into a nightmare when Prue discovers that the cautionary tales her dad used to read at home were not fiction after all. The forest surrounding their city is truly dangerous, filled with both good and dark magic.

With the help of her friend Curtis, Prue sets out to find and save her little brother, Mac. However, this turns out to be trickier than expected when the wild forest they have been granted passage into is riddled with talking animals, three factions at war with one another, and a witch trying to use dark magic to end her own personal suffering.

When we think of animation, two things come to mind: the polished work created by Pixar and Disney, and the more niche but equally carefully crafted films brought to life through stop-motion animation.

To this day, Laika remains one of the leading production companies when it comes to the stop-motion technique in filmmaking. And Wildwood can be considered its biggest project so far, with a runtime of 131 minutes, making it the longest stop-motion animated film ever created.

There is a lot that can be said about the work behind this film, but words alone would not do it justice. Describing how every scene has been crafted with the utmost attention to detail is simply not enough to give proper recognition to the team behind Wildwood.

Every scene, every small detail, from the movement of a strand of hair to the colour of each leaf, is remarkable. Each character has their own unique features, and the attention to detail results in a visually stunning film that feels meticulously crafted in every single frame.

Blended with its magical and mystical elements, the central message of Wildwood is about the strength of community and unity, even in the face of cultural differences.

In a world where it is easy to feel isolated or divided, working together, accepting one another and embracing our differences are what allow us to overcome adversity and grow. Ultimately, Wildwood reminds us that even in the darkest of forests, we do not have to find our way out alone.