The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

There is definitely an excellent idea hidden in the background of the film. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find it.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

At no time did I not feel for the female lead in this movie. The actress portrayed the huge struggles in her life with her face and eyes despite the minimal script, or because of it... and all the trauma of being abused, afraid, entrapped, alone and homeless, and then surviving as best she could, with utmost realism. Not once did she err on the side of overacting or melodrama.The male leads were also perfectly cast and did an excellent job.I have no idea what was going on with the countryside in the Alaskan mountains, whereby either the camera was hand-held and the scenery was jumping or it was superimposed... that was weird but only lasted for about 10 minutes of the movie... not in a big way but it was a little amateurish.I would have liked to have learned why the girl's father died... we didn't and so, under the assumption that her mother was an addict who was supposed to be in 'treatment' but who checked herself out and disappeared, did this poor young protagonist have a father who od'd, was dysfunctional etc etc??I got the impression that the situation presenting in this movie regarding the sexual abuse was not new to the girl in the role and that perhaps this 14 year old had just being going the 'easy route' with a long list of abusive mother's boyfriends for years... it certainly wasn't portrayed as if this kind of abuse was new to her, rather that the way she had learned to cope with it was to deal with it as per the movie shows.In my experience, if a young person feels unsupported and that there is no one who cares or to turn to, they develop low key coping mechanisms but begin to show the long term side effects of the abuse as a 'life skill'.All very well done until the worst ending in living history, making me feel I had just sat and watched an intelligent and powerful movie until the director or somebody got bored and yelled 'cut' without any even vaguely, not even close to an intelligent ending.I have no idea what happened. Frankly, the guy should have been taken to the police and so on. No idea what happens in the end. I was left feeling like a pancake... flat and covered in layers of sugar coated junk.

(Originally published on www.Blogcritics.org) Wildlike, a film by writer/director Frank Hall Green, was shown during the eighteenth Dances With Films (DWF) indie-film festival in Hollywood, May 28 – June 7. Dances With Films promotes itself as relying on "innovation, talent, creativity, and sweat equity" rather than celebrity. All those good qualities are evident in Wildlike.The film has an intriguing story, great characters, and an interesting production history.The Story Wildlike stars newcomer Ella Purnell (Maleficent, Never Let Me Go) as Mackenzie, a 14 year old whose father has died. Her mother, played by Diane Farr (NUMB3RS, Rescue Me), says she needs time to get her life in order and continue her therapy, so she sends Mackenzie from their home in Seattle to spend time with her uncle in Alaska. The uncle, portrayed by Brian Geraghty (The Hurt Locker, Flight), turns out to be a sexual predator. Unable to contact her mother, Mackenzie decides to flee into what is to her the alien world of Alaska.Desperate and alone, she stalks and latches on to Rene Bartlett, a lone backpacker played by Bruce Greenwood (I,Robot, Star Trek, Mad Men). Their relationship, challenged by the rugged nature of Alaska, bears, police, and ultimately the creepy uncle, moves them through a range of emotions and growth.The Characters Purnell's portrayal of Mackenzie is impressive. She begins as a barely tolerable teenager (aren't they all), but we manage to feel sympathy for her because she does have real problems. She starts full of self-pity and low self-esteem. She is forced to grow as she must maneuver in a world without adult support.Greenwood's character, Rene, has his problems, too. He wants to be alone with the memories of his recently deceased wife, re-visiting the trails they walked upon. The last thing he wants is an obnoxious teenager following him around. His character also grows in response to the challenges.I was particularly impressed with the character of Rene. He is faced with challenges and temptations and behaves in an unexpected manner. He is something rarely seen in current films: a good, moral man.The Production I spoke with writer/director Frank Hall Green after the screening. This film, Green's debut as a director, not only tells the story of a long journey, its road to Dances With Films was a long journey as well.Green, a backpacker himself, had explored Alaska many years ago. He completed the first draft of Wildlike in 2010 and walked the route he envisioned for Mackenzie.During 2010-12, Green lined up the cast. He saw Ella Purnell in Never Let Me Go, and was impressed. Purnell, a native of England, auditioned with a perfect American accent and that sealed the deal.During pre-production, to find locations, Green and producer Joseph Stephens trekked along Mackenzie's path yet again. The production began in Anchorage. On the tenth day of filming the cast and crew formed a caravan and began a 3000 mile trip around Alaska. Making things more challenging, in order to capture the beauty of Alaska, they recorded the movie on 35mm film. Those cameras are heavy, but the crew carried them up and down mountains and glaciers.After the film was completed, the next part of the journey began.Wildlike has been invited to over 90 film festivals and has won 50 festival awards, including 21 Best Film and Audience Awards. According to Green, a distribution deal is near. To find out when Wildlike will go to theaters and VOD, sign up at the film's website.

I saw WildLike recently at a tiny nonprofit in Houston called 14 Pews. Once a church in its lower middle-class neighborhood and no larger than the surrounding wood-frame houses, 14 Pews screened WildLike on behalf of the indie film festival whose main venue was downtown. Frank Hall Green, the writer-director, was present for a post-screening discussion. The movie was the only WorldFest-Houston film I had chosen to see. Midway through the movie I felt the euphoria of discovery. In this intimate, quasi-sacred setting, and in the presence of the director himself, I was watching a really fine film!WildLike is about a 14-year-old girl named Mackenzie (Ella Purnell), a teenage runaway, who flees the uncle with whom she has been living in Juneau, Alaska. Mackenzie wants to return home to her mother who lives in Seattle but lacks the resources to get there. She quickly discovers that wandering Juneau alone and attempting to manipulate others (young men) into rescuing her is a dismal, risky business. Quite by accident, however, Mackenzie runs into fortyish Rene Bartlett (Bruce Greenwood) in Juneau en route to Alaska's Denali National Park for a long planned solitary trek through the wilderness. Rene instinctively recoils from Mackenzie's annoying adolescent wiles and does everything to lose her. Seattle is also Rene's home. WildLike is the story of the relationship between Mackenzie and Rene.If you're looking for a feel-good story about the personal "journeys" of two people who learn wonderful life lessons through their fortuitous father-daughter encounter, WildLike isn't it. You'll fall for the film anyway, because writer-director Frank Hall Green's WildLike is a much grittier, subtler, more fascinating study. In steadfastly avoiding the Hollywood tropes, clichés and moralizing that could have spoiled WildLike, Green's focuses instead on the innumerable details of performance and story, on subtle gestures and body language that prove so revealing, in life as well as in movies. Green has let nothing false, unlikely or contrived creep into his movie, and that makes it a really wonderful experience for those of us who are allergic to such things. WildLike's characters are flawed and imperfect, its ending modest but suspenseful and deeply satisfying. Luckily, Greenwood and Purnell are the perfect talent for Green's approach. Greenwood's gift for conveying inner experience through the lines on his face is mesmerizing, and Purnell perfectly realizes Mackenzie's cool but desperate, hopelessly naive efforts at being a grownup.WildLike may not be exactly what audiences expect. It is a surprisingly fine film about an imperfect relationship between ordinary people that moves awkwardly toward a fortunate conclusion. It will appeal to anyone who loves to study the interplay of dissimilar personalities through cinema. And the scenes set in Denali are wonderful. You will not be disappointed. After the screening, Green described how he fine tuned every detail of WildLike's screenplay. Nothing happened by accident. I am certain Green has found his voice in this movie.

Had the pleasure of viewing the film WildLike at the Phoenix Film Festival and just loved it. Also, really enjoyed the Q&A with one of the film's producers after the screening. WildLike contains an Engaging story, excellent performances and the Alaska scenery earning a 10+ rating.Cast: Ella Purnell (Mackenzie), Bruce Greenwood (Renee Bartlett), Brian Geraghty (Uncle), Ann Dowd (Jeanie) , Gerard Funk (Tommy) & Diane Farr (Mom) all brought their 'A' Game and then some. Again just loved this movie and highly recommend this film to those who cherish strong plot in the hands of gifted actors.