Movie Review: WILDWOOD

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN / Staff Writer

Posted: October 24th, 2026 / 01:26 AM

WILDWOOD movie poster | ©2026 Laika/Fathom Entertainment

Rating: PG-13
Stars (voices): Carey Mulligan, Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Jacob Tremblay, Mahershala Ali, Awkwafina, Angela Bassett, Jake Johnson, Maya Erskine, Charlie Day, Tantoo Cardinal, Jemaine Clement, Marc Evan Jackson, Richard E. Grant, Blythe Danner
Writer: Chris Butler, based on the novel written by Colin Meloy and illustrated by Carson Ellis
Director: Travis Knight
Distributor: Laika/Fathom Entertainment
Release Date: October 23, 2026

Laika’s new stop-motion animated WILDWOOD can be seen as a new take on the “seemingly ordinary preteen goes on a magical quest and affects the destiny of a kingdom” YA genre. Alternatively, it can be seen as a fleshing-out of OUTSIDE OVER THERE, Maurice Sendak’s 1981 picture book for preteens about a young girl who goes to rescue her little sister after the baby is kidnapped by goblins.

Directed by Travis Knight and scripted by Chris Butler from the novel written by Colin Meloy and illustrated by Carson Ellis, WILDWOOD opens in what is clearly an enchanted castle. A boy removes a clockwork mechanism from his chest where his heart should be, then leaps from a balcony, to the anguish of his regal mother Alexandra (voiced by Carey Mulligan).

We’ll eventually find out exactly what this has to do with young Pru McKeel (voiced by Peyton Elizabeth Lee), who lives in Portland, Oregon with her baby brother Mac (voiced by Arthur Knight) and their mom (voiced by Maya Erskine) and dad (voiced by Jake Johnson).

Dad and Mom are gentle, good-natured people, but Dad has an odd obsession with warning Pru and Mac – who can’t even speak yet – about why they must avoid the Impassable Wilderness beyond Portland’s borders. Even odder, both parents absolutely forbid Pru from taking Mac outside.

Pru thinks this is nonsensical. So, when the folks go out for the day, Pru puts Mac in a little wagon hitched to her bicycle and wheels around picturesque Portland. She encounters nerdy but kind classmate Curtis (voiced by Jacob Tremblay), who accompanies Pru uninvited. All seems fine – until a murder of crows flies off with Mac.

Horrified, Pru and Curtis speed off after the crows and Mac, all of whom have disappeared into – you guessed it – the Impassable Wilderness. Somehow, the ivy surrounding the vast mountainous forest parts enough for Pru and Curtis to get inside.

Within the wood, there are many factions of humans and speaking, clothed animals and birds. The kids are soon separated, with Curtis conscripted into an army composed of uniformed coyotes. Pru, meanwhile, meets a vast array of potential friends and foes as she seeks Mac. She eventually learns that her brother’s fate is tied to that of the wildwood and its inhabitants and, more than she realizes, their survival is in Pru’s hands.

WILDWOOD is narratively dynamic and visually beautiful. Every frame brims with emotion and optical wonder, containing frequent humor as well. With its folkloric mythos and great battles and profound motivations, it is simultaneously macro and micro, epic and deeply personal.

The voice cast is excellent, with Johnson perhaps first among equals as the devoted, anxious, hippie-esque dad. Mulligan conveys righteous grief while retaining a beguiling tinge of mischief, Lee is a terrific stalwart and curious protagonist, and Tremblay nails Curtis’s doubts and determination.

Production company Laika is headquartered in Portland, Oregon. While we don’t spend as much time in the city as we do in the Impassable Wilderness, Portland and its famous bookstores, coffee spots and much more are lovingly depicted in stop-motion.

Parents should be advised that WILDWOOD is not for very young viewers, as it runs over two hours, and contains a lot of non-bloody but impactful battlefield killings, the child suicide that opens the film and the threat of infanticide. However, children old enough for, say, any of the Peter Jackson LORD OF THE RINGS films, in addition to adults accompanying them or on their own, should be engrossed.

As a bonus, there is a great though too-brief making-of section as part of the end credits, showing artists making the three-dimensional stop-motion characters.

WILDWOOD is for fans of modern mythology, good storytelling and great animation.

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A Laika stop-motion animated fantasy for older kids and adults

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