The Wilderness 2025 Movie Review
If you search “wilderness reform camps,” you will find a long list of options. These camps have existed for decades, without any federal law or central licensing program providing oversight. In his new film, The Wilderness, writer and director Spencer King examines his own experience at a wilderness camp, telling a story that forgoes melodrama for a tense, realistic portrayal of what can and does happen in these spaces.
The movie starts with a young man being blindfolded and abducted from his home in the middle of the night. We soon discover that Ed (Hunter Doohan) was sent to a wilderness therapy camp by his parents. He has a conversation with the camp director, James (Sam Jaeger), who explains that Ed will be a part of this experience until he is deemed ready to go home by those in charge. As things begin, Ed is told that he must be separated from the other boys while he learns the basics of making a backpack, starting a fire, and building shelter. He is given a pamphlet, some materials and is left to his own devices.
As time passes, Ed does form some friendships, particularly bonding with Miles (Lamar Johnson), a young man who has been part of the program for a long time. As the two of them talk, Miles confides that it is almost impossible to leave the program and that he is planning his escape. Ed is concerned for Miles’s safety, but as time passes, it is clear that everyone is at some risk.
Filmed on location in Utah, The Wilderness is a spectacularly shot movie. Director of Photography Sean Mouton has gifted audiences with some of the most beautiful and sweeping vistas put on screen this year. This, paired with the gentle score from Isaac Middleton, makes this film one that is best experienced in a theater, if possible.
This is a movie that is not going to hit you over the head with lots of big action scenes or dramatic revelations. There is drama in The Wilderness, to be sure, but it is of a subdued nature. There are times when it can almost feel detached, which may be a turn-off for some viewers, but this adds a layer of realism to the film that might have been compromised by making it overtly dramatic.
The less overwrought storytelling means that some of the characters fall into the background. Outside of Johnson and Doohan, the other boys feel almost like caricatures rather than fleshed-out people. What allows this film to feel grounded and authentic is a stellar performance from Doohan. He is restrained when he needs to be, but allows moments of genuine vulnerability that will enable the character to feel three-dimensional. Johnson adds to this with his performance as well, creating moments of real connection between the two of them that we can invest in.
This movie will not be for everyone. The slower pacing, the choice to avoid melodrama, the slightly unresolved feeling at the end – these could all leave some viewers feeling a bit of a letdown. But for those who choose to engage with the story, The Wilderness will reward you with beautiful visuals, compelling performances, and an insider look at a treatment that can be worse than what it aims to heal.
