Wendy Ide 

Wildhood review – languid Canadian coming-of-age drama

There are shades of Terrence Malick in this striking if unresolved tale of a teenager running from abuse and finding love
  
  

Joshua Odjick and Phillip Lewitski embracing
‘Smouldering’ Joshua Odjick, left, and Phillip Lewitski in Wildhood. Photograph: Riley Smith

A teenage boy and his younger brother flee their abusive father and set out across Canada to locate the mother they never knew and, until recently, believed to be dead. It’s a twofold voyage of discovery for Lincoln (Phillip Lewitski). He is exploring the Indigenous heritage that is his mother’s legacy. At the same time there is a gay sexual awakening, courtesy of a smouldering, handsome Mi’kmaq boy Pasmay (Joshua Odjick).

Writer and director Bretten Hannam favours a languid, homoerotic, Malickian atmosphere, with montages of tussling teens in fields of long grass and chiselled cheekbones artfully lit in the magic-hour glow. It’s striking, certainly, but teasingly elusive when it comes to story resolution.

Watch a trailer for Wildhood.
 

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