The Fundy Film Society

Wild

Devastated by the death of her mother from cancer in 1991, the twenty-two-year-old Cheryl Strayed (Reese Witherspoon, Mud, Walk the Line) soon spirals into a deeply self-destructive decline that destroys her marriage and leaves her addicted to heroin. Four years later, in a bid to leave her demons behind, she makes a rash decision and embarks on a life-changing journey. Haunted by memories of her mother Bobbi (Laura Dern, The Master) and with absolutely no experience, she sets out to hike more than a thousand miles on the Pacific Crest Trail all on her own.

Based on Strayed’s best-selling memoir Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, Canadian director Jean-Marc Vallee (Dallas Buyers Club, Café de flore, The Young Victoria) and screenwriter Nick Hornby (An Education) bring her extraordinary adventure to the screen. Wild tells the story of her journey, alternating remarkable moments from the novice hiker’s unaccompanied trek with flashbacks of the traumas that triggered her inspiring feat. The film powerfully reveals her terrors and pleasures—as she forges ahead on a journey that maddens, strengthens, and ultimately heals her.

Vallée, who is rapidly becoming one of Hollywood’s foremost filmmakers, relates these parallel narratives with a dexterous touch, balancing vivid depictions of Strayed’s gruelling exertions with instances of heartfelt introspection. Hornby’s screenplay, meanwhile, retains the compelling blend of humour and pathos that won Strayed’s book such wide acclaim. This follow-up to Vallée’s Oscar-winning Dallas Buyers Club is an extraordinary odyssey of loss and self-discovery, powered by Witherspoon’s award-worthy characterization.

“There are other movies out this year that are more technically ambitious than Wild (I’m thinking Birdman). There are others that are wider-reaching in scope and sheer audacity (the 12-years-in-the-making Boyhood). But there aren’t any others that offer the power and profundity of Wild. This movie is a gift. It’s also a journey.” (Mike Scott, New Orleans Times-Picayune)

“Wild may sound like a film about redemption, but it’s more about learning to live with what you can’t control—and accepting what you can control, which is sometimes just as difficult.” (Connie Ogle, Miami Herald)

“As for Witherspoon, there’s not a shred of her America’s Sweetheart persona in this work. She strips naked, literally and otherwise, in a raw, brave performance.” (Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times)