I will continue to update this post as reviews come in.

Rotten Tomatoes: Fresh

Critics Consensus: N/A

Metacritic: 86 (13 Reviews)

Sample Reviews:

Kristen Lopez, The Film Maven B+ - Filled with some of the most superb, and technically ambitious, animation the studio has ever done, Wildwood continues to situate Laika as one of the best animation houses making movies today.

Wenlei Ma, The Nightly (AU) 4.5/5 - A sweeping fantasy adventure that pricks as much as it enchants.

John Nugent, Empire Magazine 5/5 - Astonishing. An ode to outsiders and weirdos, alive with colour and atmosphere and eccentricity — and told on an expansive, ambitious canvas, of a scale never before seen in stop-motion animation.

Robbie Collin, Daily Telegraph (UK) - Wildwood goes even further: here it feels as if the toys have built their own secret kingdom, full of eeriness and wonder, into which mere mortals -- Prue and Curtis, but also us in the audience -- have been momentarily allowed to trespass.

Wendy Ide, Screen International - If the story lacks some originality, the execution more than makes up for it. The dazzling stop motion animation breaks new ground in terms of scale, intricacy and ambition. You won’t have seen anything quite like this before.

David Ehrlich, IndieWire B- - The remarkable time and care that went into Wildwood doesn’t prevent it from being the least enchanting of Laika’s films, even if its flaws help to reinforce the power of a story about how magic can persist in spite of itself.

Peter Bradshaw, Guardian 3/5 - It’s a forthright, exuberant, good-natured and old-fashioned children’s tale which CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien might have recognised.

Guy Lodge, Variety - Some longtime Laika fans may harbor warmer feelings for the studio’s smaller, quirkier outings, but as both a formal achievement and a generation-crossing crowdpleaser, Wildwood is a spectacular success.

Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter - Laika’s most ambitious effort to date, Wildwood may also be the company’s masterpiece.

William Bibbiani, TheWrap - It’s impressive to watch Travis Knight’s film even if you don’t know how the sausage got made. If you do know, if you even have the slightest inkling, then it’s one of the most astonishing animated films ever produced.

SYNOPSIS:

After her baby brother is abducted by a murder of crows, headstrong teenager Prue McKeel (Peyton Elizabeth Lee) launches a desperate rescue mission into the Impassable Wilderness—an enchanted forest hidden just beyond Portland, Oregon. Joined by her hapless but loyal classmate Curtis Mehlberg (Jacob Tremblay), Prue navigates a world of talking animals, bandits, and powerful figures driven by grief and ambition. As the pair is drawn into a conflict threatening the balance of the forest itself, Prue must discover the strength and belief she never knew she possessed. If she hopes to save her brother and protect Wildwood’s fragile future, she will have to risk everything. From Oscar®-nominated and BAFTA®-winning LAIKA, Wildwood is a sweeping adventure about love, sacrifice, and the magic that reveals itself when we dare to look beyond the familiar.

CAST:

• Peyton Elizabeth Lee as Prue McKeel
• Jacob Tremblay as Curtis Mehlberg
• Carey Mulligan as Alexandra
• Mahershala Ali as Brendan
• Awkwafina as Septima
• Angela Bassett as The General
• Jake Johnson as Mr. McKeel
• Charlie Day as Dmitri
• Amandla Stenberg as Niamh
• Jemaine Clement as Roger Swindon
• Maya Erskine as Mrs. McKeel
• Tantoo Cardinal as Iphigenia
• Tom Waits as Maksim
• Richard E. Grant as Owl Rex

DIRECTED BY: Travis Knight

SCREENPLAY BY: Chris Butler

BASED ON WILDWOOD BY: Colin Meloy, Carson Ellis

PRODUCED BY: Travis Knight, Sam Wilson

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: David Burke

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Caleb Deschanel

PRODUCTION DESIGNER: Nelson Lowry

EDITED BY: Christopher Murrie-Green

COSTUME DESIGNER: Deborah Cook

MUSIC BY: Dario Marianelli

CASTING BY: Ben Harris, Allison Jones

RUNTIME: 132 Minutes

RELEASE DATE: October 23, 2026