Wildwood

Once upon a time, a long time ago there was a happy couple, Alexandra and her husband Grigor, who spent most of their days playing with their son Alexei, often taking their horses on nice, long rides throughout the Wildwoods (also know as the Impassible Wilderness). On one of those rides, a terrible accident occurs near a cliff causeing Alexei’s horse to become spooked, throwing him and over the cliff.

Grigor and Alexandra are unable to find Alexei’s body, as it is swallowed up by mystical and powerful sentient ivy. Unable to cope with the loss of her son, Alexandra (Carey Mulligan) turns to dark magic and, using one of Alexei’s last baby teeth, takes his soul and places it into a robot.

However, when the Robot Alexei later discovers his true identity, he commits suicide by jumping off a balcony. Grigor, having not been aware of what Alexandra was doing, declares Alexandra a fiend and has her exiled to the Wildwood.

Over a hundred years pass and Wildwood is now on the outskirts of, you guessed it, Portland, Oregon. It is here we meet another couple, their loving 12 year old daughter, Prue, and her toddler-aged brother, Mac. The mother and father leave Prue in charge of her brother while they are gone and the only rule is Mac is NOT allowed outside at any time. So what does Prue do? Disobeys, of course!

As Prue, her acquaintance Curtis, and her brother, Mac, are at the playground (if you can call it that), a murder of crows appears around the three children. Before you know the crows grab Mac and fly away him into the Wildwood—extremely dangerous, where anything can, and probably will, happen.

It’s up to Prue, Curtis and some unexpected help from others to find Mac and bring him home. Like Stephen Sondheim once wrote they must go “into the woods and out of the woods and home before dark.”

I’m fairly familiar with Laika Entertainment’s line up of stop-motion films. One in particular though has always made me walk away with a sense of unease, distrust, and really just a poor taste in my mouth, and that was their film, “Coraline” (2009). The premise of “Coraline” was about a very bratty teenager, Coraline, defying her mother and her father, running away and finding a creature called “Other Mother.” When Other Mother doesn’t turn out to be everything Coraline hopes for she runs back home to her real mom (there I spoiled it, you’ll thank me later and here’s why…)

“Coraline” was rated PG, and as I watched it, I thought to myself, “Why is a stop-motion picture like this being promoted as a children’s film?”. It contained a massive amount of moments that were either sexually provocative (like the women who bare very large amounts of cleavage), contains moments of intense terror, large themes of child abuse and neglect, and even themes of physical mutilation, body horror and even torture. To this day, I can’t stomach the film.

Why does this matter? Well the same developers behind “Coraline” created the film “Wildwood.” On the outside, this film looks like a normal adventure about a young girl in search of her lost brother. However, on the inside there is something far more sinister, far more frightening, and extremely occultic. While I’m glad this film ended up rated PG-13 as opposed to the PG-rating of “Caroline,” this could and should have been rated R.

As I said, the largest problem with “Wildwood” is the not so subtle use of occultic elements (dark magic, spells, incantations, witchcraft and human sacrifice). These elements are heavily present throughout the entire film on top of a plethora of moments where, once again, children are terrorized, hurt, die, or are in real danger. I guess you could say that “Wildwood” is a “wolf” in sheep’s clothing (you’ll get the joke later on, I promise).

To the film’s credit, the stop-motion is smooth and spectacular to look at, even though most of it is covered in a dark atmosphere and tone. No detail is left untouched, and while the film has a runtime of over 2 hours, it didn’t necessarily feel that way (and two hours is a LONG time for an animated feature of any kind). The performances by Peyton Lee as Prue and Carey Mulligan as Alexandra are fairly strong. Still, the content I’m about to go into in detail (some of it very disturbing) will likely make one rethink seeing “Wildwood.”

Serious Content of Concern

Okay… here we go…

OCCULT: Very Heavy to Extreme. Satanic practices, the dark arts, spells, incantations, mystics and seers are present throughout the ENTIRE film from start to finish. Dark magic is used to create a robot with a boy’s spirit. An infertile couple seek help from a mystic to be able to conceive a child. Multiple mystics consult a giant tree for guidance. A girl prays to a tree for a vision on what to do. Satanic imagery is acknowledged by characters.

Who is Colin Meloy, author of “Wildwood”?

He is the frontman of The Decemberists and has described himself in secular/agnostic-to-atheist terms. He has called himself “staunchly agnostic” and has been labeled an “avowed” or “ardent atheist.”

He holds Progressive Liberal political views, and has engaged in activism focused on issues like “abortion rights,” “institutional racism” and related social issues. He expressed horror and disgust at the the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and has called the U.S. “in the hands of idiots” under the Trump administration.

WOKEISM: Someone mentions Mac could grow up and marry a she, a he, or a they. Police scare tactics and paranoia are used to scare residents. There are strong themes regarding authoritarianism, critiques of bureaucratic inaction, and abuse of power. The film is set in a progressive, Portlandia-style version of Portland. The McKeel parents are portrayed as hipster/progressive types.

VIOLENCE: Extreme! A young boy (who’s actually a robot with the actual boy’s soul) commits suicide on screen, and we see his body on the ground. A murder of crows carry a younger boy away to the woods as he gives blood-curdling screams all the way. A character races through the streets on a bike nearly running people over and destroying outdoor items. Two characters are nearly hit by a train. Two coyotes viciously attack each other, drawing blood during their fight. A truck hits an already injured and bloodied coyote. Other coyotes chase two children.

It is mentioned, several times (and later actually attempted!) that an adult female character wishes to ritually sacrifice little Mac so she can obtain the power to control the Wildwood Ivy and find her deceased son’s body. Guards shoot at children. A woman tries to make a young boy kill a wounded man (when he hestitates, she does it). Guards fall off a cliff. There is an extensive violent battle in a field where characters are stabbed, mauled, bitten, shot and axed (one is even decapitated). Characters are hit by massive cannon and fireballs. Prisoners are mercilessly shot to quiet the rest.

There are impalments, people are run over and burned, a brief decapitation is witnessed from a distance, and an eye gouge. A young boy is considered dead. A cage with a young boy in it nearly falls to the ground. A young girl is slapped. Many civilians and coyotes are killed, and many are pecked to death by crows.

A giant falcon is shot with an arrow and falls heavily to the ground (two children are riding it). We later see it on the ground, bleeding out and dying. We see a field of corpses from a previous army battle. A young boy is encouraged by an adult female character to help her kill bandits in the woods. A bandit is stabbed. Guards chase a young girl as she escapes a tower. A large bronze eagle falls on several guards. Someone nearly slips off a roof. A young girl jumps out a window toward a tree but ends up falling to the ground, hitting branches and limbs along the way.

A main character is shot and killed. A wolf attacks a young girl. Mac is nearly stabbed in the heart by an adult character. Vines stab a character through the chest, killing her and hiding her body under a bunch of Ivy. We later see Alexei’s deceased body (actually a couple times: once in an early state of decay and then as a skeleton). Bandits in a cage are shot and murdered.

LANGUAGE: Oh my G*d (13), SOB (1), H*ll (1), psycho (1), stupid (3)

SEXUAL: A lesbian couple are seen embracing and sharing a kiss. A coyote licks his fur near his private parts.

NUDITY: Prue is seen waking up in just a t-shirt and boxers, nothing else. A young naked boy is seen on the edge of a balcony about to commit suicide (we don’t see any genitals but we do get a prolonged shot of his backside and a far away, angled shot of his front).

DRUGS: Prue laces her parents’ tea with a sleeping potion.

OTHER: The Wildwood world is presented as a Kafkaesque bureaucracy with a dysfunctional government. Police state tactics are on display, and there is paranoia over foreign threats. Children confront adult authorities who are often cowardly or dishonest. In exchange for the wife to be able to bear children, a couple promise their second born child (to be ritually sacrificed at the Ancient’s Grove).

Morals/Messages

Magic is a large part of this film. Not the Disney-esque magic like fairy godmothers, pixies, etc. We’re talking dark, Satanic and occultic magic, the stuff that our Lord really speaks out against multiple times in the Scriptures.

Christians are in NO WAY permitted to consult mystics, psychics, tarot readers or entertain occultic content (including in games and movies). Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and what we put in—what we engage with—is what we will produce, and so we must remain vigilant and firm in the faith.

“Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God”. —Leviticus 19:31

“But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” —Revelation 19:8

“Idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” —Galatians 5:20-21

Final Thoughts

“Wildwood” is a feat of it’s own. It is the longest stop motion animated film to date with a whopping two hours and ten minutes in length (most animated films are no more than a hour and a half). Within those two hours there are some beautiful moments with some glorious scenery and animation. At the same time, though, these characters suffer pain, loss, grief, and death and much of THOSE themes remain central to “Wildwoods” story.

But centered around all of this, lies the film’s true wickedness: the massive glorification and promotion of every occultic practice. This is the true color of the film. While magic is shown, in some instances, as an unpredictable force, it is largely shown as a means to an end, and that is NOT something God is pleased with. It does not help that the film is covered with large amounts of heavy, graphic violence and some nudity.

For these reasons, I do NOT recommend “Wildwood.” Christians are encouraged to steer very far away from this diabolical and evil film. To quote the Apostle Paul…

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” —Phillipians 4:8

• Occult: Extreme
• Violence: Extreme
• Nudity: Heavy
• Wokeism: Moderate
• Sex: Moderate
• Language: Moderate
• Drugs/Alcohol: Mild

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.