Wild

This film tells the story of a woman who goes onto a one thousand mile hike along the mountain trails, in order to find herself after being hurt by major life events.

I had high hopes for "Wild" because it was directed by the same person who directed "Dallas Buyers Club", which I thought was brilliant. After reading the plot summary of "Wild", I thought there would be much soul searching, honest introspection and many tears.

"Wild" tells the plain story of Cheryl hiking for three months. The very first scene of her dropping her boots off a cliff is already the most captivating scene in the whole film. Like the boots, the film goes downhill from there. Cheryl's hike is poorly prepared, but she does not really endure much life threatening hardships. I find the hike rather uneventful. The most exciting adventure she has is so see a snake on her path. The transient connections with the other hikers are so superficial and non consequential, that they could have been edited from the plot. Even when she is running out of water, I felt no captivation by the plot, or any sympathy for her.

The flashbacks into her past give a glimpse of her life before the hike, but this subplot feels disjointed because viewers are at a complete lost as to why she ended up the way she was. Fortunately, the subplot about the sick mother is better, but it is not enough to carry the whole film.

I think the main problem with the film is that the aim of it is unclear. There is no clear reason as to why she hiked, and there is no clear objective as to what she wants to achieve from it. The portrayal of the mental state during the hike does not really tie in into her past, so the hike and the flashbacks have a wide disconnect.

In contrast to "Into the Wild" which was a captivating and profoundly moving film, "Wild" fails to achieve anything. It is a literal meandering through the wild, with no emotional roller-coaster. Even the ending monologue is a stale, meaningless mumble. I was disappointed by "Wild".