WILDLIFE

Fourteen-year-old Joe is the only child of Jeanette and Jerry, a housewife and a golf pro, who live in a small town in 1960s Montana. Nearby, close to the Canadian border, an uncontrolled forest fire rages, and when Jerry loses his job, he decides to join the cause of fighting the fire, leaving his wife and son to fend for themselves. Suddenly forced into the role of an adult, Joe witnesses his mother's struggle as she tries to keep her head above water and observes the gradual dissolution of his parents’ marriage.

Paul Franklin Dano (1984) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer and musician. This critically acclaimed actor has worked with directors such as Paul Thomas Anderson, Kelly Reichardt, Denis Villeneuve, Steve McQueen and Paolo Sorrentino. His best-known films include Little Miss Sunshine, There Will be Blood, 12 Years a Slave and Love & Mercy. Dano made his directorial debut with the 2018 drama film Wildlife. The film had its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. It received an award for Best Feature Film at the Torino Film Festival.

This handsomely made, meticulously acted period picture is an impressive directorial debut for Paul Dano - and a triumph for its production designer Akin McKenzie and cinematographer Diego García, who create some soberly beautiful tableaux of postwar American life.

Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian