'Wildwood' Review: Laika Builds a Forest Worth Getting Lost In

‘Wildwood‘ arrives after 16 years of development, which is a staggering stretch for any film, let alone a stop motion one. It is Laika’s 6th feature, directed by studio chief Travis Knight, and it adapts the 2011 novel by Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis. After such a long wait, I walked in hoping the studio had built something that justified the patience.

The story follows Prue McKeel, a Portland teenager voiced by Peyton Elizabeth Lee, whose baby brother Mac is snatched away by a murder of crows. She and her classmate Curtis, voiced by Jacob Tremblay, follow him into a hidden, forbidden forest. Along the way they meet talking animals, roguish bandits and powerful figures with dark intentions, and Carey Mulligan voices Alexandra, a woman shaped by her own terrible loss, while Mahershala Ali plays Brendan, the Bandit King.

Here is the thing. This is a breathtaking piece of filmmaking, and I mean that almost literally. Every frame feels crowded with handmade life, and the scale is something Laika has never attempted before, with armies of coyote soldiers marching into battle and a flight across the sky on the back of a giant golden eagle voiced by Angela Bassett. I was grinning in my seat more than once.

What surprised me most is how much emotional weight the film carries. It opens on a dramatic and painful note, and it is Laika’s first release to earn a PG 13 rating, with real violence, blood and death on screen. This is a fairy tale that respects young viewers enough to let the stakes feel real, and the grief running through Prue’s journey gives all that spectacle a beating heart.

It is not perfect. At more than 130 minutes, it is the longest stop motion feature ever made, and while it rarely drags, the story beats are familiar and the script never quite matches the ambition of the visuals.

Some of the physical comedy and punchlines also clash with the heavier material around them, pulling you out of moments that deserved room to breathe. A few characters in the sprawling cast could have used more time too, which feels like an odd complaint for a film this long.

Still, those wobbles never dim the wonder. In a time when so much animation feels streamlined, this one feels like it was made by people who cared about every corner of the frame. You can sense the human touch in every shot, and it makes the journey feel earned.

There are places you don’t go. One choice changes everything. Watch the Teaser Trailer for Wildwood now, and see the movie in theatres everywhere October 23. #Wildwood https://t.co/1COoQT3REY
— LAIKA (@LAIKAStudios) May 13, 2026

I left ‘Wildwood’ moved and a little dazzled. The craftsmanship is extraordinary, the emotional core holds firm, and the flaws in the script and humor look small next to what Knight and his team pulled off. It is easily one of the most memorable animated films I have seen in years, and I give it 9 out of 10.