wild life movie review

Review: ‘Wild Life,’ a visually stirring portrait of land preservation and self-preservation

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It may not achieve the white-knuckle visceral kicks found in their Oscar-winning 2018 documentary “Free Solo,” but co-directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin deliver another rewardingly triumphant, visually stirring portrait of overcoming adversity with their latest effort, “Wild Life.”

Honoring the legacy of entrepreneur-turned-environmental philanthropist Douglas Tompkins and his equally tenacious wife, Kris, who would ensure the lofty goals she shared with her late husband would be attained despite considerable odds, the film is at once gently intimate and breathtakingly expansive in scope.

There are midlife crises and then there are the seismic shifts in direction taken by Tompkins, a successful American businessman who in 1964 channeled his love of the outdoors into the North Face lifestyle brand and two years later co-founded (with his first wife, Susie) the influential fashion company Esprit.

But by the late ‘80s, the former bon vivant became disenchanted with consumerism and relocated to Chile, where he had gone rock climbing as a youth. He’d also meet his future wife, Kristine McDivitt, who had been instrumental in helping Tompkins’ longtime friend Yvon Chouinard build Patagonia into a leader in the outdoor apparel industry.

The Tompkinses, who married in 1993, shared an ambitious vision of giving back to the planet through buying acres of wilderness piecemeal and creating protected national parks under their nonprofit land trust with the intention of donating them back to the Chilean government.

Despite their noble intentions, the bold conservation project was pitched at a time when environmentalists were essentially regarded as eco-terrorists, especially in an extractive economy-based (mining) country with no real history of land philanthropy.

As a result, the couple found themselves eyed with distrust by the government and local media, and were the subjects of increasingly bizarre xenophobic conspiracy theories, resulting in tapped phones and death threats.

Undeterred, the Tompkinses would keep pushing their unorthodox mission, which also involved rewilding lands with species that had been on the brink of extinction, until Doug’s death from hypothermia in a 2015 kayaking accident , leaving grief-stricken Kris experiencing not just loss, but “an amputation.”

“You can live off this story … tell everybody about this life you had,” she says of her options at the time. “Or you can go to work and don’t stop.”

Her ultimate choice is movingly laid out by directors Vasarhelyi and Chin , himself an avid climber and skier who had first met the Tompkinses in 2010 and is invited to join Kris and mutual friend Rick Ridgeway on a climbing trip up Cerro Kristina, the southern Andes mountain that Doug had named in his wife’s honor.

With 400 hours of footage shot over the course of six years, along with another several hundred hours’ worth of archival footage at their disposal, the filmmakers have assembled a deftly edited, gorgeously shot testament to devotion in all its inherent meanings.

Neither simply motivational ecological documentary nor moving love story, “Wild Life” is committed in equal measure to the formidable challenges of land preservation and self-preservation.

'Wild Life'

Rated: PG-13, for brief strong language Running time: 1 hour, 33 minutes Playing: Starts April 21 at Laemmle Monica Film Center, Santa Monica; Landmark Pasadena Playhouse; and AMC Burbank

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‘wild life’ review: ‘free solo’ directors deliver a stirring depiction of conservationism tinged with loss.

Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin's new documentary looks at the love story between Doug and Kris Tompkins and their quest to turn Chilean wilderness into national parks.

By Daniel Fienberg

Daniel Fienberg

Chief Television Critic

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With Sara Dosa’s Fire of Love earning a well-deserved Oscar nomination and Laura McGann’s The Deepest Breath getting a buzzy Sundance bow, the documentary subgenre of romances forged against photogenic and death-defying backdrops (sometimes featuring real-life tragedy) continues to thrive.

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Separately, Kris and Doug Tompkins were integral to the founding and cultural explosions of the North Face, Esprit and Patagonia brands. Together, after a midlife marriage, they became central to what is described as the largest land donation in human history — a process of buying up millions of acres of wilderness in Chile and, through collaborations with an initially reticent government, transforming them into vast and protected national parks.

Theirs is a remarkable, environmentally staggering achievement, colored by Doug’s death in 2015. That event moved the mantle of heroism onto Kris, fighting through grief to realize this shared dream.

Bucking a recent trend that has begun to get on my nerves, Wild Life doesn’t treat Doug’s death as a late-film twist. The documentary begins with Kris and several people in her sphere, including Chin, climbing a Chilean peak that was important to Doug as she reflects on his corporeal absence but his spiritual presence. His death is included here in an animated sequence that, punctuated by the swelling score from Gustavo Santaolalla and Juan Luqui, is moving without being excessively graphic.

Even more mind-boggling than the wealth Doug brought into his land-acquisition and transformation process — one subject is careful to emphasize that Doug wasn’t playing with billions, only hundreds of millions, so… I guess that’s more relatable — is the work that had to go into making these national parks.

There’s a section in the middle of the documentary that’s almost all about the negotiations with local and national politicians and the extensive pushback they received. Even if that stuff is peppered with gorgeous Patagonia photography and explanatory charts and animation, it’s quite wonderfully wonky. It’s hard to fathom how Doug and Kris conceived of this as a goal, much less how they executed it.

Wild Life also fails a little when it comes to integrating Chin’s connection to the story. It isn’t unusual for the National Geographic photographer and seasoned climber to have a presence in their documentaries — he’s right there in Free Solo — but it initially feels like Chin will be a more central on-screen presence, and yet the film doesn’t exactly convey that personal link. Or maybe the personal link just comes through in how comfortable Kris and other subjects are in talking to the filmmakers about the closeness of their relationship with Doug. Kris goes so far as to read/narrate painful chapters from her own diary, some whimsical and tinged with puppy love, others drowning in melancholy.

Despite the crushing loss at the center of this documentary, Wild Life never feels depressing because of how Kris turned her pain into motivation — something that could apply or be extended to anybody facing loss, with or without millions of dollars to parlay into wildlife replacement and national parks infrastructure. Throw in the soaring aerial photography of the Patagonian mountains, impressive archival material from Doug’s earlier adventures — see also previous documentaries 180° South and Mountain of Storms — and a reasonable call to action on global change, and you get a film less about somebody who died and more about a love and an aspiration that lives on.

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Wildlife review – director Paul Dano luxuriously evokes smalltown woes

Carey Mulligan and Jake Gyllenhaal’s marriage capsizes in 50s Montana in an impressive directorial debut by Dano, based on the Richard Ford novel

T his 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.

With his partner, the screenwriter and actor Zoe Kazan , Dano has adapted the novel by Richard Ford about Joe, a teenage boy who has moved to a small town in 1950s Montana with his parents. They are on the genteel middle-class poverty line, living from pay cheque to pay cheque, and then to lack of pay cheque. When Joe’s restlessly angry and unemployed dad leaves to take a low-paying job fighting wildfires up in the hills, it ambiguously signals the end of the marriage, and Joe is the intimate witness to his mother Jeanette’s private depression and her courage in facing up to her new life choices.

She treats him like an adult, or like an ersatz husband or best friend, and he is poignantly admitted to what writer Betty Friedan would later call “feminine mystique”. He and we see a gradual change in her – she reverts from the cheerful, respectable wife and mother that he is used to seeing around the house, to the sensual and rebellious young woman that his father originally fell in love with. But all this in a spirit of quiet desperation and caricature, as she begins to weigh up what’s involved in accepting the advances of a wealthy, good-humoured car salesman and war veteran whose own wife has left him.

Jake Gyllenhaal plays Jerry Brinson, the dad, a man who looks permanently gaunt and exhausted, deeply dismayed by his failure to master the American dream or Dale Carnegie-style tricks of achieving popularity and social advancement. When we first see him at work, it seems that he is an assistant at the local golf course, but appears to have calamitously misjudged how up close and personal he is expected to be, actually cleaning the members’ shoes while they are wearing them, an embarrassing servility that jars with his cheery greetings and farewells.

Ed Oxenbould plays Joe, a role that requires what might be considered a series of mute reaction shots, his cherubic face often set in a ruefully suppressed grimace as he impassively sizes up his father’s humiliation and depression and his mother Jeanette’s disappointment with life. Jeanette is played with terrific gusto by Carey Mulligan . It is one of the best roles and best performances, of her career – giving her a chance to display maturity, wit, savvy and the emotional battle scars of life, and taking her away from the rather girlish image in which she has often been confined.

She is a fighter, a smiler, never-say-die-er, but only so long as her husband is prepared to do his part. We see her breezily wave away the issue of a cheque that has bounced at the bank and through sheer persistence get a job as a swimming instructor at the YMCA, a job that allows her to become socially acquainted with a certain adult pupil, her would-be beau, the corpulent, opulent Warren Miller, played by Bill Camp. Once Jerry is off the scene, he invites Jeanette and Joe to dinner at his house. Joe wanders into his bedroom while the grownups are talking and encounters Warren’s leg caliper gruesomely hanging up in the closet, and a hardly less gruesome contraceptive in his nightstand drawer. The relationship takes its course, and it’s Joe who has to get himself to school, get his own meals and wonder what his role is to be in this new fractured family.

It’s an extremely watchable movie, beautifully and even luxuriously appointed in its austere evocation of small-town America – though maybe a little self-conscious in its emotional woundedness. Perhaps the character of Joe himself is its flaw, required to give us nothing much more than wordless dismay or acceptance of everything that is going on. His face is often seen in silent closeup, but the movie does not give us the kind of access to his feelings that we have with Jerry or Jeanette. Joe is, incidentally, working part-time as the assistant to a portrait photographer in town, and Dano periodically gives us nicely observed still images of the customers’ heartbreaking family portraits: a bourgeois-aspiration effect that has been used in Mike Leigh’s Secrets and Lies and Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master . Dano has given us a satisfying drama of damaged lives.

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• Cannes 2018
• Carey Mulligan
• Jake Gyllenhaal
• Cannes film festival

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‘Wild Life’: Conservationists in love

The new movie from the makers of ‘free solo’ and ‘the rescue’ lacks the suspense of those tales but is still a galvanizing tale of philanthropy.

Since winning the best documentary Oscar for “Free Solo,” the awe-inspiring 2018 account of rock climber Alex Honnold’s rope-free scaling of El Capitan, husband-and wife filmmakers Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi have continued to capture triumphs of the human spirit. “ The Rescue ,” their 2021 film about the British cave divers who helped extricate a Thai boys’ soccer team from a flooded cave , was another exquisite white-knuckle chronicle. But last year’s “Return to Space,” a portrait of Elon Musk and SpaceX, treated its subject with all-too-forgiving reverence.

Vasarhelyi and Chin split the difference between the highs and lows of their filmography with their latest documentary, “Wild Life.” In this National Geographic production, the filmmakers tenderly cover conservationists Kris and Doug Tompkins’s decades-long love story, Doug’s death in 2015 , and Kris’s quest to fulfill her late husband’s dream of preserving the South American wilderness. If you keep an eye on environmental news, you’ll know how this ends: In 2018, Kris gave away a million acres to the Chilean government, marking the largest private land donation in history and facilitating the creation or expansion of eight national parks across the country.

“Wild Life” lacks the pulse-pounding suspense of “Free Solo” and “The Rescue,” but its depiction of selfless philanthropy is galvanizing all the same. As two Americans who made their fortunes in outdoor attire — Doug founded the North Face; Kris is a former CEO of Patagonia — the Tompkinses faced plenty of pushback when they settled in rural Chile in the 1990s and amassed vast swaths of land. Unpacking the scale of the accomplishment, Vasarhelyi and Chin examine the anti-American skepticism, far-right conspiracy theories and economic counterarguments that hindered the couple’s ecological ambitions.

As with “Return to Space,” Vasarhelyi and Chin could have cast more scrutiny on their subjects. Doug’s younger days, as an apparent womanizer living a life of excess, are barely dwelt on. The same goes for Kris’s admission that she broke off her engagement to another man after becoming romantically involved with Doug. The film also could have grappled more with the notion of privilege, and the optics of a wealthy White couple throwing their financial weight around Latin America.

But it’s also hard to see the aspirations of the film’s subjects as anything other than altruistic. That much becomes evident with the help of talking heads such as former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet; Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, whose own rags-to-riches tale and philanthropic efforts get their due; and Chin himself, an accomplished mountaineer, as shown in “ Meru ,” the first film he co-directed with Vasarhelyi.

“On any scorecard, nature is losing,” Kris says during one of her interviews, filmed both at her home and during a 2018 expedition to a Chilean peak her spouse once summited. “Wild Life” also deploys extensive archival footage of Doug, including remarkable images from a 1968 trip to the Patagonia region that sparked his passion for South American landscapes. In the film’s most wrenching moment, Doug reflects on his mortality and the realization that he may not live long enough to see his life’s work completed.

When it comes time to address his death at age 72, from hypothermia during a kayaking accident in southern Chile, Vasarhelyi and Chin gracefully re-create the harrowing incident through impressionistic animation. It’s not the only artistic flourish in a film that uses stark graphics to depict the accelerating rate of global deforestation and sets sweeping vistas of the Chilean mountains to a soaring score from composers Gustavo Santaolalla and Juan Luqui, whose work can be heard in “The Last of Us.”

Although Kris doesn’t seem as comfortable in the limelight as Honnold in “Free Solo,” the divers in “The Rescue” or Musk in “Return to Earth,” you can expect to be shattered by her grief following her husband’s death — and uplifted by her strength as she carries on his legacy. In fact, “Wild Life” is at its best when it focuses on Kris’s path toward renewed purpose after an unspeakable loss. By committing that journey to film, Vasarhelyi and Chin show off an invaluable skill: knowing when a story is worthy of preservation.

PG-13. At the Angelika Pop-Up. Contains brief strong language. 93 minutes.

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Wild Life Reviews

Filled with sad and happy tears, 'Wild Life' is a story of love and care told with love and care. Chin and Vasarhelyi honor their subjects, allowing the words' and footage's poetry and tenderness to drive the narrative into your heart.

Full Review | Jun 2, 2023

Some voice over comes from Kris Tompkins as she reads diary entries revealing deep struggles and fears, giving the project its heart and inspiring sense of hope.

Full Review | May 30, 2023

While the cinematic journey here isn't without its flaws, it's nonetheless a visually arresting journey with a story worthy of being told. Chin and Vasarhelyi tell the story with respect, compassion, and remarkable tenderness.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.0/4.0 | May 29, 2023

As corny as it sounds, it is as if the Tompkins were trying to save the world so they could continue to live in it together.

Full Review | May 17, 2023

It's so well made, and puts you in the middle of some really breathtaking scenery.

It's beautifully told. A little shapeless, but still affecting.

One fascinating aspect of “Wild Life” is the sense of entitlement the Tompkins and Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, have for themselves and their lofty plans to save the earth through capitalism.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | May 10, 2023

An inspiring true story about conservationism that proves not all billionaires suck. A bit too sanitized, likely due to the filmmakers relationship with their subject, but informative nonetheless. Outdoor photography is unsurprisingly excellent.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | May 8, 2023

Watching the movie may prompt some adventurous eco-tourists to visit Chile and Argentina, to see if it’s as beautiful and wild as it looks on the screen.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | May 5, 2023

This is not only an incredible story of environmental activism, but one of scrappy, rugged individuals not only scaling physical heights but succeeding against all odds in the business world. And it’s a love story.

Full Review | May 3, 2023

It’s a biographical portrait of the Tompkins, yes, but its focus is geared more toward their conservation and rewilding efforts and, more poignantly, toward Kristine.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 27, 2023

Wild Life is committed in equal measure to the formidable challenges of land preservation and self-preservation.

Full Review | Apr 21, 2023

Wild Life is very well-made, but I’d have preferred it made perhaps by more disinterested parties than these directors, who seem to move in largely the same deep-pocketed, globe-trotting, brand-affiliated circles as the couple who are their subjects here.

Full Review | Apr 20, 2023

Another breathtaking journey from Chin and Vasarhelyi, one that fits snugly in their canon about indomitable rule breakers who achieved greatness and broke their barriers by persistence and unwavering dedication.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Apr 19, 2023

A warming, epic story that exemplifies how it’s not too late to make big changes.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Apr 17, 2023

There’s no denying that Wild Life is a flawed film, and less formally ambitious than most of what Chin and Vasarhelyi have before attempted... But despite these considerable question marks, Chin and Vasarhelyi remain deeply empathetic filmmakers.

Full Review | Apr 17, 2023

This is a different type of high-wire act for the filmmakers, but one that is no less harrowing.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Apr 16, 2023

A documentary that comes off mostly as a PR stunt.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Apr 14, 2023

Although the various elements don’t always come together, the film — like the Tompkins — has its ecological heart in the right place.

Full Review | Apr 14, 2023

A winsome nature documentary.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Apr 14, 2023

‘Wild Life’ Review: Clothing Magnates Turned Conservationists Return Chile to Itself in a Seductive, Slightly One-Sided Eco-Doc

'Free Solo' directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin honor Kris and Doug Tompkins' remarkable achievement in claiming millions of acres of Chilean wilderness as national parkland, but gloss over its eco-colonialist implications.

By Guy Lodge

Film Critic

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Not all Chileans, however, take such a rosy view of incoming billionaire Americans buying up vast swathes of the country in what they determine to be its own best interests. Over the years, the Tompkinses have faced sometimes hostile opposition from local politicians and protesters who deem what Kris terms “a dogged, relentless pursuit of beauty” a more imperial act of what one politico prefers to describe as “businessmen masquerading as ecologists.” To date, their work has resulted in the preservation and gradual rewilding of over 14.7 million acres of land in Chile and Argentina, now protected as national parks: a triumph of environmentalism and climate change resistance that is eminently noble at one level, but equally hard not to see as a manner of colonialism, however good-hearted, enabled by American capitalism.

It’s a conflict that this handsome, emotionally stirring documentary — directed by Vasarhelyi and Chin with the same balance of sweeping natural spectacle and heart-on-sleeve human feeling that they brought to their previous National Geographic releases “Free Solo” and “The Rescue,” albeit with less adrenaline-fueled material — never fully negotiates. “Wild Life” presents the Chilean side of its story via selected political talking heads, most notably former president Michelle Bachelet, who mostly concede and even celebrate the national value of the Tompkinses’ investment.

As it is, much of the film is given over to her and her late husband’s more personal story, detailing in shorthand their respectively adventure-seeking salad days and their separate ascendancies in the clothing industry — with Yvon Chouinard, Doug’s long-term best friend and Kris’s business partner at eco-conscious outdoor wear company Patagonia, on hand to braid their narratives until they met and married in middle age. Knowing that there are limited inspirational returns in stories of how the super-rich become so, “Wild Life” is smart to quickly move on to the more spiritual rewards of their relationship: Both burned out on business by the time they wed in 1993, they settled together in the mountainous Patagonian region that had earlier lent its name to Chouinard’s brand, and set about building — or in a sense, very much not building — their future in “land philanthropy.”

Theirs is a persuasively idealistic, starry-eyed romance, given emotional heft by achingly felt, self-narrated extracts from Kris’s diary, pulling from both before and after Doug’s untimely death, itself rather artfully dramatized via striking oil-painting animation. But it’s effectively a love story with a third partner: the soaring Chilean landscape that first brought them together on a climbing trip, captured by Chin’s own camera — a portion of the film is shot on an extended hiking tour of the region taken by Chin with Kris and her colleagues, though his on-screen presence in the film is oddly inconsistent — with all due awe and majesty.

In the face of these images, how can we not cheer the large-scale preservation — and indeed natural enhancement, as Tompkins funds its rewilding, including the reintroduction of assorted endangered animal species — of such a paradise? Tompkins further invites sympathy by pointing out that even her millions of acres count for little “when you consider what’s being saved versus what’s being destroyed — we’re on the losing team.” Sidestepping thornier questions of optics and ownership, “Wild Life” ultimately takes the side of nature over politics, and most viewers will follow suit.

Reviewed online, March 23, 2023. (In Telluride, SXSW, CPH:DOX festivals.) Running time: 93 MIN.

• Production: (Documentary) A National Geographic Documentary Films presentation of a Little Monster Films production. Producers: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Bob Eisenhardt, Anna Barnes. Executive producers: Carolyn Bernstein. Music: Gustavo Santaolalla, Juan Luqui.
• Crew: Directors: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin. Camera: Chin, Clair Popkin. Editor: Bob Eisenhardt, Adam Kurnitz.
• With: Kristine Tompkins, Rick Ridgeway, Yvon Chouinard, Michelle Bachelet, Claudio Alvarado, Jimmy Chin. (English, Spanish dialogue)

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Review: In ‘Wildlife,’ Passions Run Rampant

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‘Wildlife’ | Anatomy of a Scene

Paul dano narrates a sequence from his film, featuring carey mulligan and ed oxenbould..

My name is Paul Dano. I am the director of “Wildlife.” This is a film about family. And right now, the father, Jerry, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, has left his family to go and fight these forest fires. And the mother, Jeanette, played by Carey Mulligan, is taking her son on an unexpected journey to go see them. Right now, we’re passing what is called the stage-up, where all the firefighters stay. We went through a lot of work to get some period cars and costumes and all these extras muddied up, all for one shot. Because we wanted to sort of keep it from the kid’s point of view. We didn’t want to break that. So a lot of work for one passing shot. I really like these shots here, because it’s sort of a super simple and really muscular way to sort of old school, like car driving, again, because it’s sort in line with our kid’s POV here. But frankly, we did not have the budget for, like, some huge jib arm swinging off of a truck to, like, circular a camera around the car. And that was not the aesthetic of this film anyways. I was really trying to keep things simple and clear and kind of get to the essence of whatever the moment was. Here, Joe, played by Ed Oxenbould, is stepping out of the car to look at something that we’ve really heard quite a bit about in the film thus far, but we haven’t yet seen it. This is a scene that was really inspired by the location. We’re in Paradise Valley in Montana. It’s a really magical place. I had this moment in my head when writing it for years, and, as soon as we scouted, suddenly thought of a new way to reveal the fire in this film that felt really exciting to me. “Do you like it?” “No.” By basically withholding the information — I’ve always liked that in film, the way information is revealed. “You had to see what he finds so important. I’m sorry we both can’t sympathize with him.” “And then going to this close-up before revealing what the kid is actually looking at, and just trying to really be sort of sucked into his face and into his inner life. And here, this is a point when making a film, where every director says, it has to be real. It has to be real. And then, of course, you’re making a film, and somebody tells you, you can’t do it for real. So this was the only shot in the film that I really wanted to burn the heck out of something. And it’s probably too dangerous and expensive. So we used some good trickery and a wonderful VFX team at Digital District. And we worked for a long time on this one shot.” [fire blazing]

By Glenn Kenny

• Oct. 18, 2018

In the very first scenes of “Wildlife,” the smoke coming off the tops of the mountains north of Great Falls, Mont., is easy to take for fog, or for cloud cover. After all, the sky above that smoke is so blue, and the town below seems so tidy. The impression doesn’t last long.

Fires are indeed consuming the mountain forests; kids in the local school attend a special class session in which they’re warned of the dangers of its spreading closer. One student, a lifetime local, tells her classmate, who is new in town, that he needn’t pay attention. If the destructive force of the fire gets close enough, it will be too late for them to do anything about it.

Set in the 1960s, this superb film, directed by Paul Dano from a script he and Zoe Kazan adapted from the 1990 Richard Ford novel, puts its main adult characters in the way of destructive forces of their own conjuring soon enough. Jerry Brinson (Jake Gyllenhaal), an American dreamer whose air of optimism seems forced, has moved his wife, Jeanette (Carey Mulligan), and teenage son, Joe (the new classmate, played by Ed Oxenbould), a little too frequently for either of their liking. After Jerry is fired as a golf pro at a country club, Jeanette grits her teeth and tries to offer solutions. He is offered his job back — golf pros are presumably difficult to come by in these parts — but insists, “I won’t work for people like that.” Instead, he takes a low-paying job as a firefighter in the nearby mountains, leaving Jeanette and Joe to fend for themselves.

Joe, quiet and industrious, gets a part-time job at a photo shop, while Jeanette, who has been working as a swimming instructor, notices the friendly attention of one of her students, Warren Miller (Bill Camp). He is an older, stocky, prosperous owner of a car dealership, and she decides to return his attention. Rather than hide her escalating liaison from her son, she drags him into the affair, as if she needed Joe to understand just how unhinged her married life has finally made her.

“Wildlife” is a domestic drama both sad and terrifying. The entire cast does exceptional work (Oxenbould is an exciting find), but the movie is anchored by Mulligan, who gives the best performance of any I’ve seen in film this year. The stiff simulation of determined cheer with which Jeanette often speaks has a vehemence to it, particularly in the sibilants she pronounces. Her physical bearing is also striking: In this role, Mulligan can say more by just tensing her neck than most actors can with a lengthy, impassioned soliloquy. It is mesmerizing to watch the character struggle with the question of whether or not she is entitled to her rage before she lets go and gives into it — and finds that doing so gives her no satisfaction whatsoever.

Dano’s direction is meticulous in every respect, which enables him to keep the characters at a remove that is both cleareyed and compassionate. The sharp cinematography by Diego Garcia is ideal for Dano’s purpose. The whole of the film is a potent collaboration in every respect, and a remarkable directorial debut.

Wildlife Rated PG-13 for language and themes. Running time: 1 hour 44 minutes.

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‘Wild Life’ Review: Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi Helm an Uncharacteristically Thin Doc

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Directors Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi have made their careers capturing humans who use nature as their playgrounds, challenged by the world’s peaks and crevices that are as dangerous as they are majestic. From their Oscar-winning “Free Solo” about Alex Honnold’s risky climb to their 2021 venture “The Rescue” about the cave divers who helped save a stranded Thai boys soccer team, the couple’s brand implies both gorgeous vistas and cinematic thrills.

Their latest, “ Wild Life ,” trades in many of the same themes, and yet carries little of that tension. This time around, Chin and Vasarhelyi are ultimately unwilling to fully engage with the more controversial elements of their subject matter in favor of an easier triumph-of-love narrative.

“Wild Life” tells the story of Douglas and Kristine Tompkins, a billionaire couple who bought up millions of acres of land in Chile and Argentina to turn into national parks. The film, which uses Kris as its primary source, is a paean to their good deeds and a memorial to Doug, who died in a kayaking accident, dramatized on screen with animation.

Chin and Vasarhelyi capture Kris’ overwhelming love for Doug and her palpable grief, but they also aim to convince the film’s audience of the importance of their work, not only preserving these landscapes but also rewilding them, bringing native animals back to their rightful habitats. But, watching the film, there’s a gnawing feeling you aren’t getting the full picture, mainly because the directors fail to dig into the inherent links between capitalism and conservatism in the Tompkins’ work.

These rich people are the good guys, we are told, and it is mostly left at that.

And they are very, very rich. Doug made his money founding The North Face and Esprit, alongside his first wife Susie. Kris, meanwhile, was the CEO of the brand Patagonia. An adventurer first and foremost, Doug gave up his business life in the late 1980s and moved to Chile. He pursued Kris in what she describes as a whirlwind romance that ended with her leaving both her job and another fiancé and joining him in South America, where they delved into their conservation work.

“Wild Life” frames this tale around footage of Kris on a climb in memory of Doug where she is joined by their friends and Chin himself, who was invited on the trip. This imagery of stunning snowy mountaintops is what audiences have doubtless have come to expect from these filmmakers, however, the movie is also reliant on interviews and archival footage as it gives an overview of both of their careers before their marriage and their ambitious park plan. Though this material takes up a good chunk — maybe too much — of the doc, it also feels surface-level, like the Cliffs Notes version of their lives, where everything is twinkly-eyed and anything too complicated is brushed over or unacknowledged.

The same is true as the film moves into the section about their work in Chile and Argentina. Chin and Vasarhelyi certainly acknowledge the controversy surrounding the Tompkins’ projects, as well as the resistance from local residents, but it doesn’t interrogate the idea of these Americans coming in and buying up land with a strict notion of what was the “correct” way to preserve it. In a review of a Tompkins’ biography by Jonathan Franklin in a 2021 issue of The Atlantic, Michael O’Donnell wrote that a “harsh paternalism informed his dealings with the people of Patagonia: I’m going to take this land of yours and show you how it ought to be used.”

In the documentary, Tompkins Conservation Attorney Pedro Pablo Gutiérrez tells the camera: “We behaved, Chileans, very badly.” It’s an easy hand wave of an explanation for an entire country’s complicated emotions . Kris, at one point, describes Doug’s “dogged, relentless pursuit of beauty,” and the land certainly is beautiful, but the value of the aesthetic over the human feels telling.

The entire running time of the movie could have easily been devoted to the Tompkins’ struggles to open their parks, which Kris ended up accomplishing after Doug’s death. The directors, however, are also intent on framing this as their love story and, indeed, Kris’ unimaginable sadness in wake of Doug’s death is upsetting to watch and deeply moving.

At the same time, “Wild Life” is incomplete even as a portrait of that sorrow, because it spreads itself too thin trying to tackle such a wide swath of time. Doug, not there to speak for himself, looms over everything and yet still comes off as mysterious, this ruthless businessman who was also ruthless in his conservation.

What results is a documentary that comes off mostly as a PR stunt. Where “Wild Life” could have been a nuanced look into how wealth and ecology collide, instead it’s merely just a celebration of these rich people doing the “right thing” with their money. But who really pays?

A Nat Geo release, “Wild Life” will hit select theaters today, with a broadcast debut on the National Geographic Channel on Thursday, May 25 and a streaming release on Disney+ on Friday, May 26.

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Summary Wild Life follows conservationist Kris Tompkins on an epic, decades-spanning love story as wild as the landscapes she dedicated her life to protecting. After falling in love in mid-life, Kris and the outdoorsman and entrepreneur Doug Tompkins left behind the world of the massively successful outdoor brands they'd helped pioneer -- Patago ... Read More

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Directed By : Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi

Kristine Tompkins

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Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe," published in 1719, was an instant best-seller, and ran through many editions. The book has "lived" for 297 years at this point, with no fallow period where it dropped into obscurity, an incredible feat for any novel. The book has sparked conversation and argument for centuries. Jean Jacques Rousseau loved it. Jonathan Swift hated it, and " Gulliver's Travels " is clearly a satirical and vicious counterpoint. James Joyce referred to Robinson Crusoe as "the true prototype of the British colonist," a valid criticism. There have been many film versions, dating to the beginning of cinema. There have also been many novels that tell the story from the point of view of a secondary character. And now comes "The Wild Life," an animated film from the Belgian animation studio nWave, co-directed by Vincent Kesteloot and Ben Stassen , which tells the Robinson Crusoe story from the point of view of the adorable close-knit group of animals who live on the island where Crusoe finds himself shipwrecked.

"The Wild Life" is a loose adaptation (no cannibals, no slave trade), and suggests (humorously) that Crusoe perhaps was not the paragon of self-reliance that his reputation claims. The film tries to pack in a little bit too much in its running time, and there isn't a comedic moment until well into the film, a strange choice in a movie for kids, but "The Wild Life" has its moments of charm, hilarity, and slapstick that worked really well at the 2D screening I attended, a screening packed with kids. ("The Wild Life" will be released in both 2D and 3D.)

Before Crusoe's arrival, the island is an untouched paradise. The animals live together, gather food together, and get each other out of scrapes. The leader is Mak ( David Howard ), a colorful parrot who senses a wide world is out there beyond the ocean and he wants to see it. There's a sassy emotional tapir (Laila Berzins), a chameleon with a formal Shakespearean voice (Colin Metzger), a squeaky-voiced kingfisher (Lindsay Torrance) who wishes Mak would be happy where he is. A couple of other creatures—an echidna, a blind goat—round out the group. When a ship crashes into the island during a terrible storm, and a gangly man and his dog emerge onto the shore, the animals peek at him from their perches, fascinated. They think he's a new species and find him vaguely terrifying. Mak, though, feels vindicated. He always knew that the island wasn't all there is!

Crusoe (Yuri Lowenthal) begins his struggle for survival, and the animals make tentative advances. Before you know it, the animals help him build his treehouse and his lookout tower, problem-solving and working together, and Crusoe's created world has become a Utopia, an ideal society. Unfortunately, two scrawny cats (Debi Tinsley, Jeff Doucette ) have also emerged from the shipwreck, and crouch from the cliffs above, looking on the happy communion below, vowing to get their revenge on ... anyone who is happy. The cats sneer and scheme like the Macbeths, the "wife" a murderous powerhouse, egging on her more reluctant (and, in the film, stupid) "husband." The cats are agents of chaos and destruction, interrupted only by the wife giving birth to a litter of unpleasant villainous kittens. The film features some pretty violent moments against those cats: they are thrown across a room on the ship, thrown down the stairs ... it's actually rather brutal, whether they are villains or not.

Crusoe names Mak—with whom he has the strongest bond although they cannot understand one another's language—" Tuesday " (a nod to the book, where Crusoe named his servant "Man  Friday ," a term, of course, that has entered the lexicon). The cats' urge to dominate the island is a bit of a bore, although it pays off in a gigantic group fight later in the film, Crusoe's animal-friends against the cat-couple's endless offspring, who keep coming from every corner. The movie includes some violent images that may be a bit too real for little kids: Crusoe points a musket right at the camera during target practice, he gets axes whipped at his head by pirates, and is slapped—hard—across the face a couple of times while hanging upside down. Violence like this is totally unnecessary in a movie geared for the six-year-and-under set. The slapstick violence that makes up the final standoff between Crusoe's animal-team and the cats is funny, with a harmless Looney Tunes panache, where you don't spend much time worrying about the harm done to the Road Runner.

The animation is beautiful, with star-crowded night skies, ferocious storms, blazing sunsets, Crusoe's lookout tower hovering in the dark air above the ocean, and then, later, impressive and thrilling circular shots taking us down through Crusoe's impressive treehouse, his makeshift water pipes, through convoluted cave passageways. There's always a lot to look at. The script (Lee Christopher, Domonic Paris, Graham Welldon) is so-so, but the total lack of snark and cynicism in the film is refreshing.

Sheila O'Malley

Sheila O'Malley received a BFA in Theatre from the University of Rhode Island and a Master's in Acting from the Actors Studio MFA Program. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

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Film Credits

The Wild Life (2016)

Rated PG for mild action/peril and some rude humor.

Matthias Schweighöfer as Robinson Crusoe (voice)

Ilka Bessin as Tapir Rosie (voice) (as Cindy aus Marzahn)

Dieter Hallervorden as Ziegenbock Zottel (voice)

Aylin Tezel as Stachelschwein Epi (voice)

Kaya Yanar as Papagei Dienstag (voice)

Ron Allen as Bosun (voice)

David Howard as Mak (voice)

• Vincent Kesteloot
• Ben Stassen

Art Director

• Anthony Leveque

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There’s Nothing Remotely Interesting about The Wild Life

• Ryan Duncan
• Updated Nov 23, 2016

With its lackluster animation, sluggish pacing, and one-dimensional characters, this latest retelling of Robinson Crusoe would have done better distracting children as a Saturday morning cartoon. 1 out of 5 .  

On a tiny island in the South Pacific, a group of friendly animals live in picturesque harmony. However, a parrot named Mak ( David Howard ) has grown bored with the endless repetition of island life, convinced that real adventure lies just beyond the horizon. One day after a chaotic storm, the animals discover a broken ship has washed ashore, carrying with it Robinson Crusoe (Yuri Lowenthal) and his dog Aynsley. The animals resolve to help the wayward adventurer, unaware that two savage cats have also survived the wreck, and are determined to make Crusoe pay for the years they spent living in the darkness of the ship’s hull. As all sorts of mischief ensues, the friends must work together with their newfound human to save their island home.  

What Works?

Not much, to be honest. The film is relatively clean, and doesn't present too much objectionable material for young viewers. Other than that, there’s precious little about The Wild Life which deserves praise.  

What Doesn't?

The animation, at first glance, looks passable, but once the story gets rolling the screen fills with a lot of rigid movement. Worst of all though, are the voices. A few of the animals possess voices so grating parents will likely be searching for a reprieve halfway through the movie. Adding insult to injury, The Wild Life is built almost entirely on wooden dialogue. All in all, this is not one of the summer's better films.  

Christian Worldview Elements / Spiritual Themes

Cautions (may contain spoilers)  .

• MPAA Rating: PG for slapstick violence and perilous situations
• Language/Profanity: Squeaky clean.
• Sexuality/Nudity: A few butt jokes, mostly at the expense of the tapir. A cat gets pregnant and gives birth though nothing is shown.
• Violence/Frightening/Intense: Muskets are shot, several animals are almost shot, musket powder catches fire and explodes, cats bite and scratch characters, a goat and lizard fall over a cliff but survive, the animals think a boat is “dying," cats almost eat birds, a dog and cats fight, pirates talk about getting hanged, pirates attack Crusoe and get hit by a rowboat, Aynsley dies in a fire, a lot of slapstick humor at Crusoe's expense.
• Drugs/Alcohol: Several pirates drink rum and are shown to be inebriated; the animals have a “pineapple hangover."  

The Bottom Line

RECOMMENDED FOR:  Parents hoping to distract small children for an hour, people looking for a quiet, dark place to take a nap.

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR:  Teens, adults, animation lovers, literature fans, movie lovers, Pixar enthusiasts.

The Wild Life, directed by Vincent Kesteloot and Ben Stassen, opened in theaters September 9, 2016; available for home viewing November 29, 2016. It runs 90 minutes, and stars Yuri Lowenthal, David Howard, Laila Berzins, Joey Camen, and Colin Metzger. Watch the trailer for The Wild Life here .  

Ryan Duncan is an Editor for Crosswalk.com.

Publication date : September 9, 2016

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The world stops spinning for fifteen year old Rudolph Priest when he survives a deadly school shooting. His heart breaks in two when he realizes his best friend, Donny, did not. Things spira... Read all The world stops spinning for fifteen year old Rudolph Priest when he survives a deadly school shooting. His heart breaks in two when he realizes his best friend, Donny, did not. Things spiral further out of control when it is revealed that Rudolph's older brother, Randy, was the ... Read all The world stops spinning for fifteen year old Rudolph Priest when he survives a deadly school shooting. His heart breaks in two when he realizes his best friend, Donny, did not. Things spiral further out of control when it is revealed that Rudolph's older brother, Randy, was the man behind the murders, and that their parents will stop at nothing to keep him out of pri... Read all

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The Wild Life Parent Guide

Although this robinson crusoe adaptaion is only 90 minutes long, it moves along at a plodding and tedious pace..

The animals of a small, uninhabited island are curious when a shipwrecked stranger (voice of Yuri Lowenthal) washes ashore. This take-off of the Robinson Crusoe story is told from the perspective of a parrot (voice of David Howard).

Release date September 9, 2016

Run Time: 90 minutes

Official Movie Site

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The guide to our grades, parent movie review by donna gustafson.

Life on a tropical island looks like paradise to most, but not to a bored parrot (voice of Kaya Yanar) who is sure better adventures lurk in faraway bluer oceans. Then, much to his surprise and delight, all the excitement he could hope for washes ashore in the form of a shipwreck. While the broken oddities and splintered boat are interesting, nothing is more amazing than the human being who emerges from the rubble.

As it turns out, the castaway is Robinson Crusoe (voice of Matthias Schweighöfer), a character made famous in Daniel Defoe’s classic nove l. This version of the story is told through the eyes of the parrot who is eventually named Tuesday, and the rest of the bird’s animal pals: Rosie the Tapir (voice of Ilka Bessin), Carmello the chameleon (voice of Gerald Schaale), Pango the aardvark (voice of Tobias Lelle), Scrubby the goat (voice of Dieter Hallervorden), Epi the porcupine (voice of Aylin Tezel) and another feathered friend called Kiki (voice of Melanie Hinze).

Not all of the danger is harmless however. Some drunken pirates make an appearance and try to force the landlubber to join their ranks. And a couple of mangy cats (voiced by Ghadah Al-Akel and Tommy Morgenstern), that also managed to escape the sinking ship, prove to be an ongoing threat. Angry and hungry the pair resolve to seek vengeance on the man, wreak havoc on the larger critters, and eat the smaller ones. (They do succeed in killing a character, and that death is depicted.) The felines have a secret weapon as well – their ability to multiply! Soon their increased population is invading the whole ecosystem.

Although The Wild Life is only 90 minutes long, it moves along at a plodding pace. The script has little intelligence to share, including (thankfully) any of the agendas many moviemakers seem determined to impart to an impressionable audience. For young viewers, the very black and white characters, silly action and not too scary bad guys may be mildly entertaining. However, it is probably safe to say, most of the adults who accompany them will be as eager to get off this tedious island as Tuesday and Robinson Crusoe.

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Donna Gustafson

The wild life rating & content info.

Why is The Wild Life rated PG? The Wild Life is rated PG by the MPAA for mild action/peril and some rude humor.

Violence: Portrayals of slapstick and non-graphic violence are frequent. These feature weapons use, hitting, falling, crushing, fire and explosions, as well as hanging from cliffs and ropes. Characters face perilous situations, including shipwreck and pirate attacks. A character is killed, and the deaths of serval others are implied. A character suffering from seasickness vomits. Scary looking cats hunt and try to harm other characters: they are also abusive to each other. Skeletons of dead animals are shown. Cannibalism, walking the plank, and the gallows are mentioned.

Sexual Content: Mild sexual innuendo occurs. A pregnant cat shows off her large belly and nipples.

Language: A couple of mild profanities are used.

Alcohol / Drug Use: Pirates frequently drink alcohol, and some of these characters are depicted as intoxicated.

Page last updated July 17, 2017

The Wild Life Parents' Guide

By definition, an invasive species is one that is not native to its location, and reproduces/spreads to such a degree that it is considered harmful to its environment. Examples of this in real life include the introduction of rabbits into Australia , or the spread of Killer Bees . How do the cats in this film fit this description? How might too many of any animal be a problem for the survival of other animals living in a small space, like the island?

As Robinson Crusoe makes the island more habitable for himself, he also makes life easier for his furry and feathered friends. What are the benefits of these lifestyle changes? What are the dangers of domesticating wild animals?

News About "The Wild Life"

This movie was originally titled Robinson Crusoe and the animation is loosely based on the classic novel by Daniel Dofoe .

From the Studio: GET READY FOR A NEW TAKE ON A CLASSIC TALE AS WE GET LOST WITH ROBINSON CRUSOE AND A BUNCH OF ADORABLE ANIMALS ON A DESERT ISLAND. FROM THE MAKERS OF A TURTLE’S TALE AND THE HOUSE OF MAGIC COMES A FUN-FILLED ADVENTURE WITH EYE-POPPING 3D FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY TO ENJOY.

The most recent home video release of The Wild Life movie is November 29, 2016. Here are some details…

Home Video: The Wild Life Release Date:   29 November 2016 The Wild Life releases to home video (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD or DVD) with the following special features: - A Wild World: Making The Wild Life - Meet the Characters - Tips for Your Trip - The Wild Life Musical Adventure

Related home video titles:

Surviving on a deserted isle is also depicted in the movies Swiss Family Robinson and Nim’s Island .

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The destruction of a marriage can make those invol

Adults in the movie behave very poorly; no clear c

A mother slaps her teen son. A man sets a house on

Married woman passionately kisses another man. Fli

A use of "f--k." Also "goddamn," "damn," "hell," "

Main character gets drunk at dinner. Secondary cha

Parents need to know that Wildlife is a 1960s-set drama about a disintegrating marriage and its effect on a 14-year-old boy. It's based on a novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Ford and marks the directorial debut of actor Paul Dano. It has some iffy sexual material: A naked male bottom is shown,…

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The destruction of a marriage can make those involved feel helpless and powerless.

Positive Role Models

Adults in the movie behave very poorly; no clear consequences other than separation/divorce. Father is somewhat admirable for going off to fight fires, but his decision is shown as more desperate than heroic, even though his son still admires him.

Violence & Scariness

A mother slaps her teen son. A man sets a house on fire with gasoline. Intense arguing. Bloody cut.

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Sex, Romance & Nudity

Married woman passionately kisses another man. Flirting. A naked man gets out of a bed he's shared with a married woman; his naked bottom is shown. Discussion of parents' sex life in front of teen.

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A use of "f--k." Also "goddamn," "damn," "hell," "my God," "Christ."

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Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Main character gets drunk at dinner. Secondary character regularly drinks beer, buys a six-pack of beer after being fired. Driving while drinking beer. Cigarette smoking in more than one scene. Cigar smoking. Teen tastes whiskey (doesn't like it).

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Wildlife is a 1960s-set drama about a disintegrating marriage and its effect on a 14-year-old boy. It's based on a novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Ford and marks the directorial debut of actor Paul Dano . It has some iffy sexual material: A naked male bottom is shown, and extramarital sex is suggested. A married woman also flirts with and kisses another man. Characters have intense arguments, a mother slaps her son, and a man sets a house on fire with gasoline. A bloody cut is briefly shown. Language includes a use of "f--k," plus "goddamn," "hell," and more. Characters drink in several scenes, and a main character gets quite drunk. Characters also smoke cigarettes and cigars, and a teen tastes whiskey. The performances are strong, and there are touching moments, but the material is dispiriting and airless overall. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (1)
• Kids say (2)

Based on 1 parent review

Beautifully acted film, pro-family themes, definitely for adults

What's the story.

In WILDLIFE, it's the early 1960s, and teen Joe Brinson ( Ed Oxenbould ) has moved to a new house with his parents and is trying to do his best in school. But then his father, Jerry ( Jake Gyllenhaal ), loses his job as a golf pro. Joe's mother, Jeanette ( Carey Mulligan ), gets a job teaching swimming, and Joe himself begins working in a photography shop. After much sulking, Jerry decides to take a job as a volunteer firefighter, battling an enormous blaze that's threatening to take over the countryside. Jeanette doesn't take this news well and starts acting erratically. She drags Joe to a dinner at the home of the wealthy Warren Miller ( Bill Camp ) and keeps her son there for hours as she allows herself to be seduced. Miserable, Joe counts the days until the snows begin and his father can come home, in the hopes that things can be set right again.

Is It Any Good?

The directorial debut of actor Paul Dano , this dispiriting domestic drama is somewhat salvaged by its dedication to fine acting and by moments of stillness in which such acting can flourish. Based on a novel by Richard Ford (but feeling rather unlike Ford at the same time), Wildlife sometimes plays like a David Lynch -ian nightmare, in which characters sit around stiffly and speak banalities that cover up their true, roiling emotions. It's probably supposed to take place in a world before people spoke so openly about their feelings, but at the same time, it can't seem to find the connection between the characters' external actions and internal desires.

Gyllenhaal isn't on-screen long enough to flesh out his character, but his Jerry has some touching moments, especially his goodbye to his son before he leaves for the fire. Mulligan is the movie's centerpiece. With her "old soul" and pain-filled eyes, she takes the disconnect between her life and her inner turmoil and squeezes it together into madness. Jeanette's deterioration is truly disturbing, and yet somehow touching, too. Oxenbould's Joe is a passive character, mostly observing, mostly obedient, but the actor allows quiet, revealing moments of hurt to seep through, and he's heartbreaking. Camp is also quite good, somehow making his character into more of an enigma than a creep. It's not an easy watch, but Wildlife is an interesting calling card for Dano.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about Wildlife 's sexual content. Is it graphic? Are things shown or suggested? How does the sex scene affect your view of the characters involved?

How are drinking and smoking depicted? What makes the characters turn to drinking? Is it glamorized? Are there consequences? Why does that matter?

Are the characters likable? Are they forgivable? Do you root for them to stay together? What makes them interesting?

Does the movie's violence seem gratuitous, or does it follow the logic of the movie? What's the difference?

If you've read the book, how does the movie compare?

Movie Details

• In theaters : October 19, 2018
• On DVD or streaming : May 26, 2020
• Cast : Jake Gyllenhaal , Carey Mulligan , Ed Oxenbould
• Director : Paul Dano
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : IFC Films
• Genre : Drama
• Topics : Book Characters
• Run time : 104 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : thematic material including a sexual situation, brief strong language, and smoking
• Last updated : January 9, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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Customer Ratings & Reviews

The Wild Life [DVD] [2016]

User rating, 4.1 out of 5 stars with 38 reviews.

Customer reviews

Rating 4.1 out of 5 stars with 38 reviews

Rating Filter

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

I won't describe the plot for obvious reasons, but let me just say that the film is entertaining and does not contain violence that nearly every film these days contains. Not quite 5 stars, but pretty good.

This review is from The Wild Life [Blu-ray/DVD] [2 Discs] [2016]

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Kids wee glued to the TV and they wanted to see it again a week later, which is a sure sign that they like the movie. If you have children under 10 years of age, I think they will like it. Adults will enjoy it too. This is a nice break from the vile blood and guts sewage being pumped into our homes by TV and Hollywood.

Great kids movie

Movie was good plot like most now days is good versus evil, was hoping more about life and mischief on a dessert island.

Great movie!

My daughter really enjoyed this movie! I lost interest, but she will keep watching it!

A Good movie.

It was a good movie, but I'm a afraid to say it's not a very memorable one.

The Wild Life Review

I thought the movie The Wild Life was very cute. I enjoyed it very much.

This review is from The Wild Life [DVD] [2016]

Movie was good. Could have been a better story but its a kids movie.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

Good quality funny at times

It started out out slow and then picked up . It had some funny parts and kept me interested but I was not laughing from beginning to end. This would have made it a great movie if it had done this. Quality was good characters were good good ending as well.

This is a good family movie.My daughter (2) likes this movie.

Kids liked it

It was alright to me, but my kids really enjoyed it.

A very cute movie

I bought this movie for my grandson and he enjoyed it.

Very funny, or story line. Great characters. Liked it.

Not bad, not great. Just watch all the way through.

Awesome animation!!

I love animation movies and this one does not disappoint in the least. If you like animation as much as I do, add this movie to your collection.

Good for kids

I'm an avid cartoon fan, and when I saw the ad for this I thought it looked very good. But it's really made more for kids and didn't appeal to me too much. It was cute, but I'll probably give it away to somebody who has kids.

Great movie for the grand kids

The value was great and the movie was well the grand kids just would not leave the movie. Really loved it.

Wildlife Review

Excellent movie for the kids. One of the better movies to see that never received much advertising. Entertaining and fun story line.

Cute for kids

I really like animated movies, and this one was fun-but I think most of the good scenes were in the ads. It's not a bad movie, and your kids will like it.

good kids movie

great for kids with a bit of humor for adults. Has good lessons too.

Great Movie

I bought this and several other movies for my grandkids and they loved it.

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