This movie deals quite frankly, & in a hyper-realistic tone, with some heavy themes largely centering on sexual trauma. While the depictions are subtle, sensitive, and non-exploitative, they are unflinching & unsettling. The bare bones breakdown of Wildlike concerns teenager Mackenzie (Ella Purnell, chewing the sleeves of her oversized hoodie, thick black lined eyes always watching, always apprehensive, an exposed nerve of brilliance), her escape from her Uncle, (Brian Geraghty, whose expressionless, many shades of blue eyes, intense fixating stares, forced cheerful condescension, & façade of concern are a creepy tour de force), a man terrifyingly versed in child grooming, and the craggily loner, Bart, (the consistently competent & kind faced Bruce Greenwood) she meets during her desperate trek.
Much of the power at…