Film: Wildwood
Director: Travis Knight
Screenplay: Chris Butler
Based on: Wildwood by Colin Meloy & Carson Ellis
Studio: LAIKA
Distributor: Fathom Entertainment (U.S.)
Released: October 23, 2026 (USA)
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 2h 10m
Content note for parents: Wildwood is LAIKA’s first PG-13 film, and it earns the rating. It’s long, intense, genuinely spooky and full of dark themes. Older kids and teens should be fine, but think twice before taking little ones.
🔒 This review is completely spoiler-free. Everything below is safe to read before you buy a ticket.
✋ Know this first: every frame of Wildwood was made by hand. It’s a stop-motion film, built from real puppets and real sets, moved a fraction at a time, and it’s reportedly the longest stop-motion animated feature ever made. It’s also only being distributed by a small company, so see it in a theater while you can.
🌲 Fifteen Years, Made by Hand
LAIKA, the Oregon studio behind Coraline, ParaNorman and Kubo and the Two Strings, optioned Colin Meloy’s novel Wildwood back in 2011, just weeks after it was published. Roughly 15 years later (Knight has described it as a 16-year journey), the result is the studio’s most ambitious film yet.
The numbers are staggering: 231 practical puppets, 136 sets, and more than a thousand artists working on a film whose every movement had to be created by human hands. Director and LAIKA CEO Travis Knight has said the studio had to build up “the creative tools, the technology and our storytelling muscles to do this book justice.”
And it arrives at exactly the right moment. As Hollywood flirts with generative AI, Wildwood has become a rallying point for art made by people. As NBC News put it, it makes a case for the magic of handmade animation.
Every frame made by human hands.
When her baby brother is snatched by a murder of crows, headstrong teenager Prue McKeel (Peyton Elizabeth Lee) sets off on a desperate rescue mission into an enchanted forest hidden just beyond Portland, Oregon. Joined by her hapless but loyal classmate Curtis (Jacob Tremblay), she finds herself caught up in a world of bandits, talking animals and powerful figures driven by grief and ambition, including the mysterious Alexandra (Carey Mulligan).
The voice cast is stacked: Mahershala Ali, Angela Bassett, Awkwafina, Charlie Day, Jake Johnson, Maya Erskine, Richard E. Grant, Jemaine Clement, Amandla Stenberg and even Tom Waits. Critics are unanimous: 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, with audiences right behind them at 97% on Fandango and an A CinemaScore.
Our verdict: Wildwood is a landmark in animation, a dark, daring and breathtaking fantasy epic, and quite possibly LAIKA’s masterpiece.
A Landmark in Animation
✨ Two Hours of Awe
Once you understand how films are made, you can lose some of the wonder you felt as a kid. Stop-motion is one of the few art forms that still feels like pure magic, because it’s almost impossible to imagine how it’s done. Wildwood pushes that feeling further than ever.
One critic described being in a state of awe for basically two straight hours, and called it his favorite stop-motion film of all time, better even than Kubo and the Two Strings. He went further, predicting that today’s kids will grow up to become animators who point to Wildwood as the film that made them want to do it, the way an earlier generation talks about Akira.
It’s a big claim, but critics and audiences seem to agree, with a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score and an A CinemaScore. In that critic’s words, every scene is firing on all cylinders, the way early Pixar did when every film was a classic.
A Story That Takes Chances
So many studio movies today feel tested and sanded down until nobody could possibly object to them. Wildwood doesn’t. It takes real risks with its characters, its structure and its themes, and the writing is every bit as impressive as the animation.
🧭 Prue
A headstrong, determined hero you’ll root for from the very first scene. Peyton Elizabeth Lee is terrific.
🃏 Curtis
A shy, nerdy card-game fan who wants to be a hero, and gets his chance. His arc is one of the film’s great joys.
🐦⬛ Alexandra
A villain with a genuinely understandable motivation, voiced by Carey Mulligan.
🏹 The Bandits
Outlaws who seem like the bad guys at first, but have their own reasons. Nothing in this forest is simple.
The characters make choices you don’t expect from an animated film, and the story goes to places that will genuinely surprise you. You can feel how much the animators, who literally shaped these characters with their fingers, loved them, and that love is just as clear on the page.
🎃 Not a Movie for Little Kids
This is important to know before you go: Wildwood is dark. It’s LAIKA’s first PG-13 film, and the rating isn’t for show. It’s intense, it’s frightening in places, and it deals with grief and loss head-on.
That’s a big part of why it works, but parents should take the rating seriously. One critic, a dad, said there were many moments where he was glad he hadn’t brought his young kids, even though they’d begged to go after seeing the standee in the lobby. Older kids, teens and adults are the audience here.
The upside? This is destined to be a fall classic, a film people rewatch every year when the leaves change, alongside Coraline and Over the Garden Wall.
Built for the Big Screen
⚔️ An Epic in Every Sense
Wildwood isn’t a small, quiet stop-motion film. Its action sequences are as thrilling as any live-action fantasy epic, with bicycle chases, sprawling battles, a full-on war and frantic chases through corridors.
It’s shot by legendary cinematographer Caleb Deschanel and scored by Dario Marianelli, back for his third LAIKA film after The Boxtrolls and Kubo and the Two Strings. Locals have been praising how lovingly it captures Portland, too.
And despite running over two hours, it flies by. It’s a long film that never feels long.
Any Complaints?
Honestly, very few. The biggest risk is simply that not enough people see it. LAIKA’s films have rarely been big box office hits, Wildwood is being released by a smaller distributor, and the runtime and dark tone may put off some families. Online, a few people have even dismissed the look from the trailer, a take that critics and most audiences clearly don’t share. Thankfully, early box office suggests it’s off to a solid start, keeping pace with LAIKA’s classics.
📋 Before You Watch
• Rated PG-13, LAIKA’s first, and 2 hours 10 minutes long
• In theaters now, released by Fathom Entertainment, so showtimes may be more limited than a big studio release
• Based on the 2011 novel by Colin Meloy (of The Decemberists), illustrated by Carson Ellis
• Premiered at the BFI London Film Festival in October
• If you care about handmade animation, buying a ticket is the best way to show it
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
The Good
The Bad
The Ugly
Breathtaking Craft231 puppets, 136 sets and every frame made by hand. A landmark in animation.
Not for Young KidsIt’s dark, intense and over two hours. Families with little ones should wait.
It Might Get OverlookedA small distributor and a dark tone mean it could vanish from theaters too soon.
Brave StorytellingReal risks with its characters, structure and themes. Nothing is sanded down.
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Prue and CurtisTwo young heroes with real heart, and arcs that land.
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A Villain You UnderstandAlexandra’s motivations make her far more than a cackling witch.
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Epic ActionChases, battles and a war that rival any live-action fantasy.
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The Verdict
Wildwood is the kind of film that only comes along once in a long while. It’s a dark, daring, deeply felt fantasy epic, made by more than a thousand artists over the better part of two decades, and it shows in every single frame. The animation is breathtaking, the story takes risks most studio films wouldn’t dare to, and its characters, heroes and villains alike, feel like real people.
It belongs in the same conversation as the animated films that shaped generations: Spirited Away, Akira, Toy Story, Coraline. And at a moment when art made by humans feels increasingly under threat, it’s a stunning reminder of what people can create with their own hands.
The honest read: go see Wildwood in a theater, as soon as you can, and bring everyone old enough to handle it. This is one to support with your wallet, and one you’ll be revisiting every autumn for years to come.
Hey, I’m Alex, but you might know me as Asmodeus. I’m a dedicated gaming content creator with a passion for helping communities thrive. I specialize in crafting in-depth guides for RTS and base-building strategy games, breaking down complex mechanics so players can master their favorite titles. Strategy is my playground, and I love sharing the best tips to build, defend, and conquer. Let’s strategize and win together! 🏰🎮
