WILDLIFE
An uneven family drama best saved for discerning adults at home.
Should You Watch It?
WILDLIFE offers beautiful photography of rural Montana, carefully observed 1960s settings, and excellent performances from Jake Gyllenhaal and Carey Mulligan. Its strongest material shows how a family’s pain reaches a 14-year-old boy who loves both parents.
But this is a slow, long-winded film with little of the compelling story structure many viewers expect. The family’s marriage crumbles through pride, abandonment, and adultery, while foul language, violence, sexual content, and heavy drinking make it unsuitable for children and young teens.
If you are a discerning adult who values strong acting and quiet family drama, you may find something worthwhile here. For most families, however, wait to watch it at home—and only with adults.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESIn 1960s Great Falls, Montana, Jerry, his wife Jeannette, and their 14-year-old son, Joe, struggle after Jerry loses his job. Jerry’s pride keeps him from returning to his former position, so Jeannette goes back to work as a swimming instructor.
When Jerry takes a low-paying job fighting forest fires far from home, the family begins to come apart. Joe watches his parents make painful choices and must face what their failing marriage means for all of them.
Is It Any Good?
Two stars mean WILDLIFE has real craft but limited entertainment value. The film is beautifully photographed, with scenic views of Montana’s mountains and detailed costumes, homes, and town settings that depict the 1960s convincingly.
Gyllenhaal and Mulligan give excellent performances, and the characters receive careful development. However, the movie moves very slowly, relying on long takes and scenes that become stale. It feels more like a glimpse into a young family’s life than a fully compelling story with a strong beginning, middle, and end.
The Worldview
WILDLIFE presents a mixed worldview with romantic and moral elements. It affirms love and honoring one’s parents, and it shows that Jerry and Jeannette initially love one another and try to make life easier for each other. Joe’s continued respect for his parents despite their failures is one of the film’s remarkable moral notes.
At the same time, the marriage collapses because of Jerry’s pride and Jeannette’s adultery. The film suggests that people are essentially good but that their emotions triumph over their better qualities. Jerry and Jeannette do not have God in their lives: they do not pray, attend church, or read the Bible. When life becomes difficult, they respond from emotion rather than trusting that God will provide.
The film’s central longing is for a family to remain loving and honorable despite suffering. Scripture gives a clear command: “Honor your father and your mother” (Ephesians 6:2), while also calling people to live under God’s care rather than being ruled by destructive emotions.
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
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Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements
Mixed pagan worldview with Romantic, moral elements reflecting principles of love and honoring one’s parents, in the beginning parents truly love each other and do their best to make life easier on the other, wife cooks dinner and encourages husband, husband provides for the family and plays with son in the yard, but human qualities of pride and shame eventually triumph, husband leaves family out of pride, wife commits adultery out of pain, the remarkable note is their son continues to respect his parents despite all the pain they inflict into his life, movie says man is essentially good but his emotions triumph, husband and wife don’t have God in their lives, they do not pray, go to church or read the bible, thus when life gets challenging they react from their emotions and not with the faith that God will provide; •
Foul Language
Three obscenities (including one “f” word), two strong profanities, and one light profanity, plus a shot of a dirty condom; •
Violence
Strong and light violence includes husband and old man fight in the snow, they kick and push each other, nobody is severely hurt, but husband comes home with a bloody cut on his head, husband yells at his wife and slams his hands against the wall after he discovers she committed adultery, violent forest fire shots depicted in the woods, and husband lights a home on fire out of revenge; •
Sex
Married woman dresses up and flirts with an older man in front of her son, married woman wife dances sexually and passionately kisses man, a scene of implied adultery, brief discussion of parents’ sex life; •
Nudity
Rear-end male nudity after man sleeps with a married woman separated from her husband, shot of a naked woman’s back sleeping in bed, and image of an old man’s naked backside; •
Alcohol Use
Heavy drinking, husband drinks a couple beers after work, husband buys a six pack of beer with his son and drinks one while driving, and wife gets drunk with wine and whiskey and commits adultery; •
Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse
Parents smoke often in and out of the home in scenes set in the 1960s, but no drug content; and, •
Miscellaneous Immorality
Strong miscellaneous immortality includes bad role models, dysfunctional family portrayals, lying, and husband travels to the wilderness to work as a firefighter apart from his family and his wife feels abandoned, leading to their eventual divorce
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
How can pride damage a family, and what does humility look like when work and money become difficult?
Proverbs 16:18 · Philippians 2:3–4Joe continues to respect both parents despite the pain they cause. What does it mean to honor parents while still recognizing when their choices are wrong?
Ephesians 6:2 · Acts 5:29What is the difference between being controlled by emotions and bringing emotions honestly to God?
Psalm 42:5 · Galatians 5:22–23How does adultery wound a marriage and a family, and what does Scripture teach about faithfulness?
Exodus 20:14 · Hebrews 13:4The Final Word
WILDLIFE is beautifully shot and strongly acted, but its slow pace, fractured family, sexual content, violence, and mixed worldview make it a poor family choice. Discerning adults who want to see it should WAIT FOR HOME — ADULTS ONLY. For more suitable options, see.
