Wild parents guide

Wild Parent Guide

Viewers may have a variety of reactions to this film. While it's commendable that Stayed reconciles her past, parents may be concerned about how teens interpret it.

Overall C

Cheryl Strayed's (Reese Witherspoon) wild life has led to loss and divorce. Desperate for a different path, she decides to hike more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail all by herself.

Release date December 5, 2014

Violence B-
Sexual Content D
Profanity D
Substance Use D

Why is Wild rated R? The MPAA rated Wild R for sexual content, nudity, drug use, and language.

Run Time: 116 minutes

Official Movie Site

Parent Movie Review

There’s an old adage about “walking it off”, whether it applies to anger, frustration or a multitude of other feelings. In Wild, Cheryl Strayed (Reese Witherspoon) carries her emotional baggage in a very literal way as she embarks on a trek of the Pacific Crest Trail (known as the PCT) with a backpack that likely matches her body weight. Starting in the Mojave Desert of California, the inexperienced hiker huffs and puffs her way through a few miles each day. As the audience, our journey is to discover what motivates Strayed to punish herself in such a deliberate manner.

Cheryl Stayed (this movie is based on her memoir, Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail,) was married at the age of 19. But when her mother (played by Laura Dern) died a few years later, Stayed rapidly fell into a psychological decline that led her to become sexually promiscuous and addicted to heroin. Her history, including the impact of her physically abusive father, is unveiled during a multitude of flashbacks that are deftly edited into her experiences on the PCT.

As she travels through deserts, snow drifted mountains and rain forests, Stayed meets a multitude of people—including a few men who range from sexual opportunists (after begging a ride into town, an older tractor-riding guy implies she can come home with him where they can have a shower—turns out he’s married too) to outright predators. However there are a few decent males in this female-driven movie, like the one that helps her trim down her gear, continuing the metaphor of emotional weight. Perhaps the most noble is her ex-husband, Paul (Thomas Sadoski). He leaves her letters of encouragements at various waypoints.

Over the course of Stayed’s quest to understand her wild life, we see scenes of sexual activity with nudity, along with conversations laced with innuendo and vulgar comments. The script features over two-dozen sexual expletives, terms of deity and scatological slang. Drug use is depicted (needle injections and smoking), as well as alcohol abuse. Yet, admittedly, the most wincing moment is watching the protagonist peel a bloodied toenail off of her damaged foot.

As for the hope of a positive message by trail’s end, viewers may have a variety of reactions depending on their own life’s experiences. Stayed’s conclusion, as stated in the narration, is she wouldn’t do a thing differently, reasoning “What if all those things I did are the things that got me here?” While it’s very commendable she has reconciled her past, parents may be concerned teens might interpret the lessons from her right of passage to mean we must subject ourselves to high-risk behavior before we can learn to appreciate the simple joy of a long walk in the park.

Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée. Starring Reese Witherspoon, Gaby Hoffmann, Laura Dern, Michiel Huisman. Running time: 116 minutes. Theatrical release December 5, 2014. Updated

Wild
Rating & Content Info

Why is Wild rated R? Wild is rated R by the MPAA for sexual content, nudity, drug use, and language.

Violence: Domestic violence is depicted with a father threatening to punch his young daughter; we later see his wife with a large bruise on her face. A character removes her hiking boots and reveals a badly injured toe covered in blood; she then begins to remove the toenail and screams in pain. Two men make predatory remarks to a woman who is hiking alone. The woman also encounters other men who imply they will only assist her in return for her sexual attention.

Sexual Content: The movie containsfour scenes of nudity (breasts, buttocks and genitalia) in sexual and non-sexual contexts. Two scenes of these scenes involve simultaneous drug use. Sexual innuendo and dialog is heard.

Language: The script features at least 25 sexual expletives, along with a variety of scatological slang and other terms of deity.

Alcohol / Drug Use: Drug use, involving cocaine and heroin, are portrayed in four scenes. Social drinking is depicted.

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Wild Parents' Guide

The Pacific Crest Trail runs from the Mexican to the Canadian borders and was developed over most of the 20th century, finally being declared finished in 1993. Time.com offers a brief history. While the scenery in Wild is beautiful, much of it was not filmed on the Pacific Coast Trail due to fear of damaging the fragile ecology with large film crews and equipment.

In her memoir Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, Cheryl Strayed kept her ex-husband’s identity private, using the pseudonym Paul. However Marco Littig from Missoula, Montana is the man who continued to encourage his former wife and assisted her through her darkest times. The UK paper, The Daily Mail, offers an exclusive interview and calls him, “The real hero [of the] new movie Wild”.

Few leading roles are available for women in Hollywood. Reese Witherspoon is determined to help change that situation by creating a production company called Pacific Standard. So far this company has produced Wild, Gone Girl and The Good Lie.

From the Studio:

With the dissolution of her marriage and the death of her mother, Cheryl Strayed has lost all hope. After years of reckless, destructive behavior, she makes a rash decision. With absolutely no experience, driven only by sheer determination, Cheryl hikes more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail, alone. WILD powerfully captures the terrors and pleasures of one young woman forging ahead against all odds on a journey that maddens, strengthens, and ultimately heals her. - © Fox Searchlight

Home Video

The most recent home video release of Wild movie is March 31, 2015. Here are some details…

Home Video Notes: Wild
Release Date: 31 March 2015
Wild releases to home video (Blu-ray/Digital Copy) with the following special features:
- The Real Cheryl Strayed
- The Real Location Is The Best Location
- How Much Does A Monster Weigh?
- The Pacific Crest Trail Interactive Map
- Deleted Scenes – with Optional Commentary by Jean-Marc Vallée
- Seven Promotional Featurettes
- Audio Commentary by Jean-Marc Vallée, Bruna Papandrea and David Greenbaum
- Experiencing the PCT: A Special Message From Cheryl Strayed
- Theatrical Trailer
- Gallery

Related home video titles:

In Tracks, another woman undertakes a long walk to find solace for her soul. And a grieving father hikes The Way to deal with the loss of his son.

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