Set in 1960s Montana, Paul Dano’s directorial debut Wildlife is an eloquent film with a seamless style. The narrative follows teenager Joe (Ed Oxenbould) caught amidst the demise of his mother (Carey Mulligan) and father’s (Jake Gyllenhaal) marriage, where meticulous shots contrast the haphazard relationships of its characters. Held together by its clear directorial eye, the film’s plot is layered, its music is minimal, and visuals are stunning.
Opening with a scene of the put-together family, this, among other illusions, collapses as the film progresses. The audience is soon exposed to the family’s struggle to meet expectations and maintain order as they are met repeatedly with a disorderly reality. After being fired, the boy’s father descends quickly from conceited to depressive, and the housebound mother becomes suddenly ambitious. Minimal dialogue allows silences to emphasise what goes unsaid. And, where speech is present, it has a tendency to be passive aggressive and superficial, overcoating all relationships with a fragile tension. The neat house is soon perceived as bland, and the mother’s elegant dresses evolve into weapons against her marriage. Lines between truth and deceit gradually blur, as Joe navigates through the newly disrupted peace of his family life. By the end of the film, the image of the picture-perfect family has completely dissolved, ironically ending with a final shot of the mother, father and son posing for a portrait – flaws now unhidden.
Wildlife is a vivid and well-styled film. Despite finding it frustrating that so many films at this year’s Melbourne Film Festival were unclassified and thus 18+ by default, I am glad Wildlife was the one I had the chance to see.
Wildlife
Melbourne International Film Festival
Madison (16)