Wildland (AFI Fest 2020); Grade: B

Strictly Films welcomes you back to more coverage of this years AFI Film Festival! Our next film on the block: Wildland.

Wildland tells a story about a young girl named Ida (Sandra Guldberg Kampp) whom recently lost her mother due to cardiac arrest. Ida will now have to live with her Aunt Bodil (Sidse Babett Kundsen), whom runs a household with her sons, as their way of income is by illegal activity. Witness a young gal have to go through an unfortunate situation, followed by yet another unfortunate situation.

Wildland from a visual standpoint t’was nice to watch, as there are some striking images including one shot in the finale that is rather traumatizing. Followed by a Score in which perhaps t’was forgettable, as I don’t even recall it having seen this a couple days ago. The cast all in all was solid as a whole. Ida played by Sandra Guldberg Kampp had a solid performance, as this is the better kid performance I’ve seen as of late. We honestly feel bad for Ida having to deal with this new beginning, more so what transpires later on due to the illegal crimes her cousins were partaking in. How Ida handles the difficult situation at hand was reasonable, as one whom has lost a parental figure of her own, wouldn’t want the same to happen for this young child as well.

Wildland for what it is t’was an effective drama. Though some pacing issues follows as you wish this was more of a fast paced drama. Still for the most part the story at hand is interesting, engaging, as it does follow some rather interesting characters at hand. Watching Ida go through two extremely difficult situations at hand t’was very saddening to see, as you can tell this was just a helpless gal that deserved the best. As Ida did grew somewhat of a new connection, what follows later really made Ida see differently of this family. There is times where Ida wants to go forward and tell on this family for their wrong doing, as she does feel for this young child that lost a parental figure. However it’s worth noting that if Ida does tell on her Aunt and cousins, she would have no family left, so she is in a rather difficult situation. The finale was very saddening and unfortunate. Though Ida is in a better place, it’s also worth noting just how one family member of her own was dealing with depression, as he couldn’t handle what he had done as of earlier.

Overall, Wildland t’was a solid film. I recommend checking this one out. -Mitch Smietana