''Wildflower'' is a 2022 American

coming of age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film directed by Matt Smukler and written by Jana Savage, from a story by Smukler and Savage. It stars

Kiernan Shipka Kiernan Brennan Shipka (born November 10, 1999) is an American actress, best-known for her roles as Sally Draper in the AMC drama series ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015), Sabrina Spellman in the Netflix series ''Chilling Adventures of Sabrina'' (2018– ...

Dash Mihok Dashiell Raymond Mihok (; born May 24, 1974) is an American actor and director best known for playing Brendan "Bunchy" Donovan in the Showtime drama ''Ray Donovan''. Early life Mihok was born in New York City, the son of theater actors Andrea Mi ...

Charlie Plummer Charlie Faulkner Plummer is an American actor. Plummer began his career as a child actor in short films before appearing on the television dramas '' Boardwalk Empire'' and '' Granite Flats.'' In 2019, he starred in the Hulu miniseries ''Looking ...

Jean Smart Jean Elizabeth Smart (born September 13, 1951) is an American actress. After beginning her career in regional theater in the Pacific Northwest, she appeared on Broadway in 1981 as Marlene Dietrich in the biographical play '' Piaf''. Smart was l ...

Alexandra Daddario Alexandra Anna Daddario (born March 16, 1986) is an American actress who had her breakthrough portraying Annabeth Chase in the ''Percy Jackson'' film series (2010–2013). In 2021, she starred in the first season of the HBO series ''The White L ...

, Reid Scott,

Erika Alexander Erika Rose Alexander (born November 19, 1969) is an American actress, writer, producer, entrepreneur and activist best known for her roles as Pam Tucker on the NBC sitcom ''The Cosby Show'' (1990–1992), and Maxine Shaw on the FOX sitcom ''Livi ...

, Samantha Hyde,

Brad Garrett Bradley Henry Gerstenfeld (born April 14, 1960), known professionally as Brad Garrett, is an American actor and stand-up comedian. Possessing a distinctive deep voice, he has appeared in numerous television and film roles in both live-action and ...

, and

Jacki Weaver Jacqueline Ruth Weaver (born 25 May 1947) is an Australian theatre, film and television actress. Weaver emerged in the 1970s as a symbol of the Australian New Wave through her work in Ozploitation films such as '' Stork'' (1971), ''Alvin Purp ...

. The film premiered at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

on September 12, 2022 and was released on March 17, 2023.

Plot

Bea is the daughter of two intellectually disabled parents Sharon and Derek, and during her senior year in high school Bea is left comatose. Through flashbacks the story explores aspects of her life, including a romantic relationship with fellow student Ethan.

Cast

Development

The film was inspired by Smukler's niece, and was originally conceived of as a short film before being developed as a feature film. The script was optioned by Morning Moon production company in 2020, who produced the film in partnership with Limelight and

Entertainment One Entertainment One Ltd., trading as eOne, is an American-owned Canadian multinational entertainment company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition, distribution, and production of films and television se ...

. The filmmakers consulted disability representation activist Elaine Hall during development.

Release

The film was screened at the

on September 12, 2022. It was released by

Momentum Pictures Momentum Pictures is a film distributor and a subsidiary of Entertainment One, itself part of Hasbro. Prior to 2013, it was a brand of Canadian distributor Alliance Films used for its releases in the United Kingdom, and was one of the leading i ...

on March 17, 2023 in the United States and Canada.

Reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its acting and direction while criticizing its handling of themes such as

disability rights The disability rights movement is a global social movement that seeks to secure equal opportunities and equal rights for all people with disabilities. It is made up of organizations of disability activists, also known as disability advocat ...

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which uses a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

, assigned a score of 52 out of 100, based on 7 reviews indicating "mixed or average reviews". William Bibbiani, writing for ''

TheWrap ''TheWrap'' is an American online news website covering the business of entertainment and media via digital, print and live events. It was founded by journalist Sharon Waxman Sharon I. Waxman (born c.1963) is an American author, journalist, ...

'', said that the film "can't seem to decide if it's a big mess or a formulaic teen drama, but when it gives us tender moments between its characters, it’s hard to really care." Lovia Gyarkye of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' wrote that the film "might not be a radical departure from films of its type, but it does offer buoyant performances from both fresh and familiar faces." In a review titled "When Disability Representation Goes Wrong", Sarah Milner of ''

/Film ''/Film'', also spelled ''Slashfilm'', is a blog that covers movie news, reviews, interviews, and trailers. It was founded by Peter Sciretta in August 2005. Podcasts Six podcasts have run on the site. ''The /Filmcast'', hosted by David Chen, De ...

'' criticized its approach to portraying disability and described it as "inspiration porn." She criticized the portrayal of Sharon and Derek in particular, calling the characters "paper-thin punchlines." Wendy Ide in a review for

Screen Daily ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global film business. ...

compared the film to ''CODA'' (2021), but felt that ''Wildflower'' fell short in its portrayal of disabled parents by comparison. Charles Bramesco, writing for ThePlaylist.net, gave the film a C- rating and described its exploration of themes as shallow.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title 2020s American films 2020s coming-of-age drama films 2020s English-language films 2020s teen drama films 2022 drama films 2022 films American coming-of-age drama films American teen drama films Entertainment One films Films about intellectual disability Films scored by Chad Fischer