Wildland (2020) User Reviews

Absolutely haunting, but not an entertaining piece

[sumsar-02996 · 7/10 · 22 February 2021]

I would compare watching this movie with reading a classic depressed Russian novel.

At no point is it an enjoyable experience, neither is it fun, but you're still somehow compelled to finish it, clinging on to some shred of optimism for the situation depicted.

This movie perfectly and accurately depicts the staggeringly harmful effect an abusive household has on multiple generations of children; how it sucks everyone around it into its blend of misery and insanity; how the affected finally snap under the pressure of the situation as they reach the limit of coping with their situation.

I would never watch this movie again. Neither would I recommend it to anyone else. But I will likely never forget it.

DO NOT go into this movie expecting some mafia-thriller whatever. This is a psychological piece of art, not a piece of entertainment.

Family business

[kosmasp · 6/10 · 29 December 2021]

They say you can't choose family - as in you have a bond with them, whether you like that or not. Whereas friends - well you are able to ditch them and find new ones. Of course if you don't like a family member you can disown them or pretend they don't exist. But that is sort of a thing of perspective, because you'll always be connected somehow.

Even after death you ask? I would say yes, but that one is something you have to answer. And death is a factor that triggers the story here. Because her mother dies in the beginning of the movie, our main character has to move in with people she might not have in contact with otherwise. And who will shape and form the rest of her life too ... for better or worse. A drama that is sometimes hard to swallow, not easy to follow and something you have to allow ... to have its impact on you, with its slow moving pace and all that drama.

ok movie but

[maratonrunner · 5/10 · 15 February 2021]

Great actors but you could barely hear what they were saying because most actors were to lazy and speaking to fast. without subtitles it would have been impossible to hear what they saying. Movie could have been great with better scripting and training to speak.

Have seen better!

[martinjkristiansen · 3/10 · 23 October 2020]

Despite so many good actors, brilliant scenes and great performance, the movie is slow and so noisy. The story is too much planned and unrealistic! I really don't know how it was possible to make such a lazy boring movie with so brilliant and professional actors

Wasted potential

[coreleonedk · 3/10 · 31 October 2020]

Promising premise, and a few good actors. But the entire idea and story is lost, by a director who apparantly made a movie for herself, and not really for anyone else. Waste of time, efforts and what could have been a good story.

Slow and with no story at all

[apgtccb · 1/10 · 31 October 2020]

Despite great actors this movie is a waste of time. A mix of a bad american tv show about violence and drugs, a bit of mafia-vibe and a lovestory.

mesmerizing blend of malevolent and maternal

[cnilsson9 · 10/10 · 22 October 2020]

(AFI) Families come in all shapes, sizes and career inclinations. After her mother dies suddenly in a car accident, introverted 17-year-old Ida (Sandra Guldberg Kampp) is welcomed with open arms by her overbearing aunt and druggy grown cousins, who live together in the Danish countryside. Unfortunately for Ida, her aunt is the head of a criminal debt collection enterprise overseeing her trio of gangster sons. Sidse Babett Knudsen plays Ida's aunt with a mesmerizing blend of malevolent and maternal. Part coming-of-age tale, part dysfunctional family drama, part social realism, this absorbing and stylish gangster thriller is seen from the tomboyish Ida's perspective. Told with visual panache and marked by convincing performances, WILDLAND explores the destructive legacy of criminality and the notion of familial emotional debt.

Pure boredom

[Seb_3 · 1/10 · 2 February 2021]

Trough the entire run time of 1 hour and 30 minutes, nothing exciting or anything worth experiencing happened.

Expecting this to be a decent Danish film, that me and my family, could enjoy for the evening, but damh it was a bore. No story, slow and no real surprise or climax, you see it coming from miles away.

I got to give credit were credit is due though. The aunt played by Sidse Babett Knudsen, does give quite a good performance and was probably the most intriguing part of the movie, but they don't take that premise further than that.

1/10

Waste of time!

[Patrick-olah · 1/10 · 26 February 2021]

This movie is an extreme waste of time. Sorry to say it, but there is literally nothing good to say about this movie. The only scene where the acting was actually convincing, was the last scene.. spoiler, find something else to watch, like drying paint

It's a really boring and really pointless movie.

[werderweremem · 3/10 · 18 June 2021]

Three stars for the effort. It would be unfair to other movies if I gave more stars.

Boring and senseless movie trying to hard to portay to be suspenseful and dark

[kingovlegends · 1/10 · 19 February 2021]

Incredibly lame movie that has an endless number of plot holes. Completely lacks idenity. Initially it seems to urge to be some kinda of "loyal 2 la familia"-type gangster movie, but they appear more as a pack of cringeworthy trailer-park gypsies..

Some good acting here and there, but none could overcome the main actress abysmal and inauthentic acting throughout the entire movie. Not for one second did her performance appeal to me nor the audience. Souless and dreadful.

Flesh and Blood

[janehamlet · 10/10 · 17 July 2023]

The original Danish title is better, I think, but other than that I'm at a loss to explain some of the low star reviews for this film. I started watching it thinking I'd maybe give it half an hour, and then ninety minutes later when the credits rolled, I was genuinely surprised that so much time had passed.

The film is deceptively slow paced, especially at the start, but the slow build up of unsettling atmosphere is such that you don't really notice. The direction and performances are uniformly excellent, pulling you almost reluctantly from one scene to the next, because you have to know what will happen when the tension finally breaks.

The film has a moment when you think some resolution has been reached and then it completely smacks you out of left field with an ending I, for one, did not see coming.

Definitely worth your time.

Emotional, raw and beautiful

[martinpersson97 · 10/10 · 25 January 2024]

This incredible and masterful drama, is definitely highly deserving of all the praise it has gotten, it is indeed a very unique, thourough and worthwhile experience by every means.

The actors all do an incredible job, very career defining indeed, and very emotional, very raw and beautiful in sort of a celebration of life, very excellent writing to accompany it all, very well paced.

The cinematography, cutting and editing is stellar, and the film is overall very beautifully put together, very low scaled, and very unique.

Overall, definitely an incredible film, masterfully put together, and highly recommended for any lover of film!

Creeping suspenseful psychodrama

[stefanpflugradt-57240 · 8/10 · 24 April 2023]

The movie has a slow and steady pace, introducing the viewer gently to Ida's view of her manipulative and emotionally abusive family. Getting to know the family is a disruptive journey between love and hate, with the seemingly innocent Ida as the main conductor for the many and often subtlety shown emotions on screen. In a calm yet energetic way the plot unfolds while the viewer remains guessing about the complex characters and their relationships.

The deeper Ida is involved with family matters the more inevitable her inner conflict becomes. In a shocking showdown the captured energy can be released for once.