Film REVIEW: Wildwood (2026) - ★★★★★
Produced by the iconic Laika animation studio, Wildwood is the 16-year labour of love that’s set to stun cinema-goers. Check out our guide to the stop-motion masterpiece starring Carey Mulligan (The Great Gatsby, Pride & Prejudice), Mahershala Ali (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Richard E. Grant (Star Wars Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker, Loki) and more.
Director: Travis Knight
Writer: Chris Butler
based on Wildwood by Colin Meloy, Carson Ellis
Stars: Carey Mulligan, Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Jacob Tremblay, Richard E. Grant, Awkwafina, Amandla Stenberg, Tom Waits, Charlie Day, Blythe Danner, Angela Bassett, Mahershala Ali.
Genre: Adventure, Animation, Fantasy
Themes: Stop Motion Animation, Epic Fantasy, Teeenage Girl as Protagonist
The adventures of Prue McKeel as she sets off to the forests outside Portland to find her kidnapped brother.
The film received widespread acclaim from critics, with many calling it the studio's magnum opus.
MIX UP REVIEWS:
Stewart - ★★★★★
"A stunning stop-motion animation with lots of fantastic characters and designs and a thrilling storyline. Voice actors also all do fantastic work. It's not for very young kids as there's a lot of violence and death and trauma plays a pivotal role.
It's a wonderful film and the animation is impeccable and pretty amazing achievement from the studio. A beautiful masterpiece."
Mix Up Junir (Age 7) - ★★★★★
"I love it but some of it is very sad. The best character is the witch because she has great powers though she has a sad story."
Have you seen it?
Wildwood film buzz - Why is everybody talking about the new Laika movie?
So here’s an odd thing. In modern times, movie-making technology has taken countless quantum leaps. The sleekest visual effects are just a mouse click away. And yet, nothing gets people as excited as the jerky stop-motion genius of Oregon animation studio Laika.
Stop-motion might have been developed back in the late-1800s, but since 2009’s Coraline – not to mention ParaNorman (2012), The Boxtrolls (2014), Kubo And The Two Strings (2016) and Missing Link (2019) – Laika has elevated it to a true artform.
Now, Laika brings its latest slice of bewitching, profound, life-changing awards bait to the big screen. As director and studio CEO Travis Knight (Bumblebee) told the Annecy International Animation Film Festival: “Wildwood is by far the biggest and most ambitious thing we’ve ever done.”
Is Wildwood connected to Coraline?
Not exactly. Each Laika film has its own story and characters. But both are set in Oregon and perhaps there’s a symbolic connection. To celebrate the release of Wildwood, Empire ran a special animated magazine cover that showed the Coraline character opening a door into the world of the new movie’s heroine, Prue McKeel.
“As Coraline is celebrating her 15th anniversary this year, it felt right for our first female film heroine to pass the baton to Prue,” explained Laika executive David Burke.
Is Wildwood based on a true story?
No, it draws on the 2011 fantasy novel of the same name by indie-folk musician Colin Meloy of The Decemberists (with illustrations from his wife, Carson Ellis). Both the Wildwood book and film employ what you’d call ‘magical realism’, set in a stylised-but-recognisable Oregon, before rapidly spinning off into a dark fairytale world of enchanted forests and wolf soldiers.
What is the film Wildwood about? Wildwood plot revealed
It’s likely Wildwood will get pretty mind-bending by the end, but this new Laika film at least opens with a solid premise. Prue (Peyton Elizabeth Lee - Secret Society of Second Born Royals, Prom Pact) and her adorable baby brother Mac are peas in a pod. But when the toddler is snatched from a playground by a murder of crows, Prue recruits her classmate Curtis (Jacob Tremblay - Luca, Wonder) to mount a rescue mission and take on the birds’ dark mistress, Alexandra (Carey Mulligan).
There are shades of Jim Henson’s classic Labyrinth in the setup, and maybe a little Lord Of The Rings in the mix (Knight acknowledges that his project “breathes the same air” as the Tolkien books). But Wildwood is perhaps even madder, stranger and more spellbinding, unfolding like a fever dream on the big screen.
“It’s a film full of contrasts, just like life,” says Laika animator Guillem Ignasi Bauzà Cabot, “and I don’t think it will leave anyone indifferent.”
Cast of the Wildwood film - Who stars in the new Laika movie?
Laika always manages to secure a killer voice cast (previous movies have featured Hugh Jackman, Zoe Saldaña, Simon Pegg, Ben Kingsley, John Goodman and more). For Wildwood, the studio has once again tapped a winning blend of legends and rising stars.
Everybody knows The Great Gatsby’s Carey Mulligan (playing the conflicted villainess Alexandra), Mahershala Ali (as a bandit named Brendan), Jumanji’s Awkwafina (as Septima the rat) and Black Panther’s Angela Bassett (as a giant golden eagle known as The General, whose animation will make your eyes literally pop out of your head and roll around the cinema aisles).
Keep your ears open for more A-listers, too, in the form of New Girl’s Jake Johnson (Jurassic World) (as Mr McKeel), Charlie ‘voice of Luigi’ Day (Pacific Rim, Monsters University) (as Dmitri the coyote), Moana’s Jemaine Clement (Avatar: The Way of Water, Despicable Me) (as Roger Swindon), grizzled-voiced singer-songwriter Tom Waits (The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, The Outsiders) (as Maxim) and national treasure Richard E. Grant (as Owl Rex).
Wildwood trailer - What footage from the new Laika film can we watch now?
The Wildwood trailer is right here, ready to watch, and even Laika fanboys won’t quite believe the studio’s leap forward since Missing Link. As director Travis Knight says, he started work after Coraline and it took 16 years to get to this point.
“I was waiting until our shop had developed the tools, techniques and tricks that would allow us to pull off a movie of this scale. After five films I finally felt we were ready. The universe basically laughed and said, ‘Good luck.’ We’ve suffered beautifully for this choice, but I’m incredibly proud of the movie.”
Wildwood movie age rating - Who can watch the new Laika movie?
Hmm. Laika movies are a tricky one. Nobody would describe the PG-rated Coraline as a horror movie, exactly, but it’s definitely creepy so if you were ok with that you'll likely enjoy Wildwood. Wildwood has officially been rated a '12A' so a trusted adult is needed for the little ones on this one due to fantasy violence and themes of bereavement.
Wildwood trivia - What's a fun fact about the new Laika film?
When Wildwood director Travis Knight saw an advance copy of Colin Meloy’s book – and suggested a movie adaptation – the author had his concerns. “Colin’s only request was, ‘Please don’t have the movie come out before the books,’” recalls the filmmaker. “I told him, ‘You don’t need to worry about that. Stop-motion is filmmaking at the pace of a glacier. It’s like continental drift.’”
Wildwood is in cinemas now – and ‘spellbinding’ doesn’t do justice to the experience of the new Laika movie on our immersive big-screen. “The implicit contract between a filmmaker and an audience is an invisible handshake,” says Travis Knight. “If you give me your time and attention, I’ll make it worth your while. Wildwood has intensity and heaviness, but it’s ultimately joyful, uplifting and hopeful.”
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