REVIEW: Wildlife is a beautifully acted and directed depiction of a marriage crumbling to bits

IN Wildlife, a superb Carey Mulligan, Jake Gyllenhaal and Australian Ed Oxenbould depict a fragile family unit about to malfunction in telling, worrying and believable ways.

At the heart of Wildlife, an unsettling domestic drama about a marriage slowly falling apart, is a scenario which can only go one of two ways.

Will someone be there at the end to pick up the pieces?

Or will someone else sweep them under the carpet as if it all never happened?

HUNTER KILLER A BIG, DUMB SUBMARINE ACTION THRILLER

WHY YOU’LL LOVE BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY BIOPIC

NEW MICHAEL MOORE DOCO TURNS UP WORTHWHILE HEAT

Carey Mulligan in a scene from Wildlife’. Picture: Scott Garfield/IFC Films

The year is 1960, just as Jerry Brinson (Jake Gyllenhaal), his wife Jeanette (Carey Mulligan) and their teenage son Joe (Australia’s Ed Oxenbould) have arrived to a new home in Montana’s mountain country.

They are a tough-to-read trio, as we can’t quite tell whether they have moved there in the hope of making a fresh start, or are forlornly giving everything one last shot.

Once the immature and emotionally stunted Jerry loses his job as a golf pro and nicks off to become a firefighter, it is left to the dissatisfied and repressed Jeanette to decide what
will become of this fragile family unit.

Carey Mulligan, left, and Jake Gyllenhaal play husband and wife. Picture: IFC Films

It does not take long for Jeanette to show her hand, once a local car dealer some years her senior (a strong supporting effort by Bill Camp) sends some attention her way.

As for poor young Joe, he can see what is happening, and is powerless to stop it.

Jeanette is not inclined to cover her tracks, and her son could end up as collateral damage from her actions.

Carey Mulligan, left, and Jake Gyllenhaal in a scene from Wildlife. Picture: Scott Garfield/IFC Films

Directed by actor Paul Dano from the 1990 novel by Richard Ford, Wildlife is a quietly intimidating experience, with three precision-tooled lead performances sharpening the edges of its tale throughout.

While this marks Dano’s first time behind the cameras, it certainly will not be his last. In fact, by the halfway point of the movie, it becomes clear Dano’s considered and insightful work here ranks with that of Bradley Cooper’s stellar direction of the current hit A Star is Born.

Jake Gyllenhaal, left, and Carey Mulligan in a scene from Wildlife. Picture: IFC Films

Wildlife is now showing at selected cinemas around Australia.

WILDLIFE (M)

Rating: Four stars (4 out of 5)

Director: Paul Dano (feature debut)

Starring: Carey Mulligan, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ed Oxenbould, Bill Camp.

‘Til desperation do us part

Originally published as REVIEW: Wildlife is a beautifully acted and directed depiction of a marriage crumbling to bits