Cinema

Wildwood

By Fraser
4 November 2026

4 November 2026 – I went on my own to the Odeon cinema to see ‘Wildwood’ today. The synopsis on the cinema website was as follows:

“From the makers of Coraline, Wildwood is a sweeping, darkly magical adventure about Prue, a young girl who journeys into a hidden forest to rescue her younger brother.”

This was an animated film, and I normally avoid these. But in this instance, I noted that it had been made by the makers of Coraline, which was a film that I found to be captivating, and this film was even better.

The leading voices of the cast were: Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Jacob Tremblay, Richard E Grant, Jake Johnson, Maya Erskine and Tom Waits ; and the film was directed by Travis Knight, known for ‘Kubo and the Two Strings’, ‘Paranorman’ and ‘Missing Link’. The writers were Chris Butler, Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis

The fantasy plot, setting and acting were all superb, and I was completely engaged with the story. This film had (appropriately, I would say) a 12A certificate, and had as much to engage adults as it had for children. I [was surprised and delighted by how much I liked this film, and I would definitely recommend it both adults and older children for that very reason.

I gave it a score of 8, whilst IMDB gave it 8.6, and the Rotten Tomatoes score was 9.8 (98%).

Fraser

AI Contribution: Claude provided a summary of UK reviews, which was then edited and checked for accuracy by Microsoft Copilot (see below). No human verification took place.

Please provide a full summary of UK film reviews of the 2026 film ‘Wildwood’, showing sources.

UK reviews of Wildwood are broadly enthusiastic, with the strongest praise going to Laika’s stop-motion craftsmanship and ambitious scale. The more qualified responses concern its familiar storytelling, length and disturbing material. The BFI lists a London Film Festival screening on 11 October 2026; Screen Daily gives its UK cinema release as 23 October. Together, the reviews suggest a visual landmark, though not an unqualified storytelling triumph.

Critical reception

Empire’s John Nugent emphasises the film’s production design, technical advances and more mature narrative canvas, while Time Out’s Phil de Semlyen regards it as Laika’s best film, praising both its imaginative world and its characters. Matt Rodgers at Flickering Myth is similarly enthusiastic about its visual detail and emotional impact. The Telegraph’s exceptionally favourable verdict is corroborated by World of Reel’s round-up, although its full review and five-star rating have not been independently checked here.

The main qualification is whether the story matches the spectacle. Screen Daily’s Wendy Ide finds familiar fantasy tropes but considers the execution more than sufficient compensation. Peter Bradshaw’s three-star response is more restrained than the strongest notices, rather than dismissive. The available evidence therefore supports broad acclaim, not unanimity—and claims that every critic regards the film as a masterpiece go too far.

Length and audience

The film’s scale also affects its audience. The BFI lists a running time of 132 minutes and a UK 12A certificate, with a warning about upsetting scenes; Screen Daily reports a US PG-13 rating and suggests that its length and disturbing content will appeal more to older family audiences. Published runtimes differ slightly, so 132 minutes is best attributed to the BFI rather than treated as universally agreed. The claims that it is the longest stop-motion feature ever made and Laika’s first PG-13 film remain incompletely verified here.

Critical acclaim should also be kept separate from commercial performance. IBTimes UK reported a 99% Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score and a production budget of approximately $100 million (£75 million) on 28 October 2026. Those are dated, reported figures—not a verified current score or audited budget. Its discussion of the opening weekend raises questions about profitability, but does not establish the film’s eventual financial outcome.

Source-checking note: Searches located the Empire, Time Out, Flickering Myth and Screen Daily reviews directly. Bradshaw’s three-star rating was corroborated by his Letterboxd entry. Little White Lies also published a review on 22 October, and The Observer lists Wildwood coverage on the same date, correcting the original suggestion that neither had been found. The Times’ attribution and rating, the detailed Telegraph quotations, and the original Guardian quotations and screenplay reservations were not fully verified from the retrieved material and have been omitted from this summary. Searches did not establish whether The Independent, the Evening Standard, the FT or Total Film published reviews; that is not evidence of their absence. Checks made on 6 November 2026.

Sources checked