Wildwood

2h 11min, PG 12 – PG 13, October 2026

SPOILER-FREE!
Everything is lovingly handcrafted, no AI whatsoever – that alone should count as top recommendation. It took 15 years (!!) to complete this stop-motion fantasy animation film. And all that effort was definitely worth it. Top rating at Rotten Tomatoes and among audiences, to which I can only agree. The story is gripping, profound and, like any good story, it’s a bit of a comedy, a bit of horror, a bit of fairy-tale-ish teenage angst, and at times more of adult themes with commentary on contemporary everyday life. What the Laika team has brought to the screen with their sixth film is simply breathtaking – all those details, you can hardly take in all their splendour in just one viewing (click on the opening image as an example). And you can hardly believe that these are meticulously animated little puppets set in incredibly realistic-looking models of towns and landscapes.

You are immediately captivated by this magic world and then you totally forget that it’s animated characters – you live, suffer, laugh with them (don’t forget to bring tissues). The movie is based on the 2011 book, when the whole animation project started

The plot:
When a murder of crows abducts her little brother, Prue (Peyton Elizabeth Lee) and her classmate Curtis (Jacob Tremblay) enter the nearby woods to save him. In this enchanted forest in the vicinity of Portland, Oregon, the two teenagers find themselves caught in the middle of a conflict between the ruthless Dowager Governess (Carey Mulligan) and a range of wonderous creatures …

A top-notch voice cast – besides the abovementioned – are breathing life into the characters, such as Oscar winner Mahershala Ali and the four Oscar nominees Carey Mulligan, Richard E. Grant, Tom Waits and Angela Bassett. Director Travis Knight (Bumblebee, Masters of the Universe) has experience in stop-motion animation when directing eg. Coraline, but this film is record-breaking in several categories: Over two hours long, it is the longest stop-motion animated movie to date, and with a budget of 100 million the most expensive – hardly surprising given the long production process. I can therefore only recommend to support these wonderful artists – the men and women responsible for this masterpiece – by buying a movie ticket – perhaps watch it more than once? Considering the production costs, it won’t be easy just to break even …

Director
Travis Knight
Writers
Chris Butler, Colin Meloy, Carson Ellis
Stars
Peyton Elizabeth Lee – Prue
Jacob Tremblay – Curtis
Carey Mulligan – Alexandra
Awkwafina – Septima
Tom Waits – Maksim
Rob Delaney – Samuel
Angela Bassett – the General
etc
Photos: Screenshots of IMDB/Wildwood page