Shadows on the Wall | The Wilderness

The Wilderness

dir-scr Spencer King
prd Amy Berg, Aaron Paul, Hunter Doohan, Lily Blavin, Larissa Beck, Ali Edwards
with Hunter Doohan, Lamar Johnson, Sam Jaeger, Aaron Holliday, Matt Gomez Hidaka, Vinessa Shaw, James Le Gros, Arie Thompson, Sean Avery, Liana Liberato, Adam Johnson, Colleen Baum
release US 17.Oct.25
25/US 1h47

TORONTO FILM FEST

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Beautifully shot in spectacular landscapes, this outdoor-experience drama has an easy-going pace that worms its way under the skin. There are also dark undercurrents in this story about a teen who is forced into this intense place against his will, but writer-director Spencer King plays up the warm, inspirational elements. This extends into a tendency to moralise as the story develops through some intentionally edgy twists and turns.

Grabbed from his bed in the middle of the night, troubled teenager Ed (Doohan) is driven into the Utah desert for survival camp led by child psychologist James (Jaeger). Teaching discipline, trust and faith, James wants to turn teen boys into self-reliant men in his mould, saying he won't keep them here longer than is needed. Reluctant to speak or socialise, Ed connects with long-time camper Miles (Johnson) as they hike through canyons and learn skills like making fire. They also begin to make plans for the future, starting with an escape across the mountains.

Flashbacks show Ed at the beach learning to surf with his guru-like dad (Le Gros), then developing a drug addiction that nearly kills him. Which explains why his mother (Shaw) sent him on this wilderness programme. Some elements of this back-story are simplistic, including a cliched drug den, feeding into the film's more obvious messaging about self-determination. Meanwhile in the desert, there are intriguing events along the way, from the haphazard escape attempt to a brief sojourn at a girls' camp.

Doohan has quiet charisma as Ed, revealing layers of personality without saying much. We can see that there's substance to him, and it's nice to watch him begin to look forward to something positive in his life. Johnson's Miles is much less hopeful, which adds an element of danger to their interaction, and also some unexpected emotion. Le Gros provides some warmly engaging gravitas. And the other campers (Holliday and Hidaka) and staff members (Thompson and Avery) add textures of their own.

With his calm confidencer, Jaeger's James comes across as thoughtful and concerned, but also sinister because this is kidnapping with parental complicity. A final note refers to hundreds of preventable deaths on these experiences. So while his ideas sometimes help these kids sort through their priorities, it becomes clear that another shoe is going to drop rather violently at some point. Then as important issues creep in, the film instead reveals that its motives are more preachy than punchy.

themes, language, violence 3.Oct.25

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