London Film Festival Day 2: Moonlight, A Monster Calls, Christine & More
4. Wild
A down-on-her-luck young woman falls in love with a wolf in this sizzlingly controversial yet unexpectedly hilarious off-kilter romance. In a highly challenging role, lead Lilith Stangenberg gives a staggeringly multi-faceted performance.
Director Nicolette Krebitz does a fantastic job grounding her outrageous premise by building a trenchant psychological picture of the film's troubled protagonist, and at first her approach seems to beg a more distant, tasteful approach.
That's not quite what happens, though. Krebitz commits wholly to the seedier and more shocking aspects of her story, delivering numerous scenes of sexual and sensual exchange between the woman and her new pet that are sure to have audiences amused and disgusted in about the same measure.
While some may find the later lurches into one-liner comedy to clash a little with the more stern tone earlier on, the movie overcomes this thanks to Stangenberg's astounding, highly unflattering performance, and Krebitz's on-point observational direction.
Rating: Too "sick" for many, but a compelling look at an unconventional form of love, and one that dares to take its concept way past the line of cinematic decency. 7/10