Wildling (2018)

Wildling is the kind of horror-fantasy that feels alive under the skin: a feral, female-centered coming-of-age story where dread and wonder grow from the same root. Bel Powley is terrific as Anna, playing innocence, curiosity, and mounting power with a rawness that makes every quiet moment as gripping as the shocks, while Fritz Böhm’s direction wraps it all in moody woods, icy light, and an atmosphere that suggests fairy tale as much as thriller. The film’s real hook isn’t just the mystery of what’s true, but how it turns adolescence into something mythic and unnerving, letting empowerment and terror share the frame without winking at either. It’s not for everyone—there’s some harsh material and bloody violence—but if you like horror that means something and lingers after the credits, this one earns your time.

Wildling is aiming for a moody, coming-of-age fairy tale wrapped in horror—part trauma metaphor, part creature feature—with Bel Powley selling the confusion and feral vulnerability at the center. The problem is the film leans harder on eerie imagery and “what’s happening to her?” mystery than on sharp character work or satisfying storytelling, so the pacing can feel drift-y and the dialogue a bit thin when it needs to carry emotional weight. If you’re expecting a tightly plotted thriller or a genuinely inventive monster movie, it may come off like a strong premise searching for a stronger script. Still, if you like atmospheric, slow-burn genre hybrids and don’t mind some rough edges (plus intense content involving attempted sexual assault and bloody violence), there’s enough mood and performance to make it worth a cautious watch.