Wildlife

Friday, October 19 - Thursday, December 20, 2018

14-year-old Joe is the only child of Jeanette and Jerry–a housewife and a golf pro–in a small town in 1960s Montana. Nearby, an uncontrolled forest fire rages close to the Canadian border, and when Jerry loses his job–and his sense of purpose–he decides to join the cause of fighting the fire, leaving his wife and son to fend for themselves. Suddenly forced into the role of an adult, Joe witnesses his mother’s struggle as she tries to keep her head above water.

Actor Paul Dano makes an impressive debut as a filmmaker and–along with co-writer Zoe Kazan–elegantly adapts Richard Ford’s novel of the same name. Carey Mulligan delivers one of her finest performances as a complex woman whose self-determination and self-involvement disrupts the values and expectations of the 1960s nuclear family. With precise details and textures of its specific time and place, Wildlife commits to the viewpoint of a teenage boy observing the gradual dissolution of his parents’ marriage.

Official selection: Sundance Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, New York Film Festival

• Country USA
• Running Time 105 minutes
• Distributor IFC in Theatres, LLC
• Director Paul Dano
• Writer Richard Ford (book), Paul Dano (screenplay), Zoe Kazan (screenplay)
• Cast Carey Mulligan, Jake Gyllenhaal, Bill Camp, Ed Oxenbould

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.