‘Wildflower’ review: Kiernan Shipka plays daughter of neurodivergent parents in coming-of-age film

As Obedient Elder Son, Matt Smukler’s film debut, wild flowers, adheres to the conventions of its genre. A coming-of-age story for Bea, a normal teenager who lives with neurodivergent parents. The wavering mood of pampered family members in need of filters. These must-have snippets are complemented by a gallery of featured characters. wild flowers, Inspired by the Smukler family, it may not stray radically from its genre, but it does deliver hilarious performances from familiar and new faces.

Kiernan Shipka (is Law Suit s Sabrina’s Grim Adventures) leads a captivating cast in an animated portrayal of Bea. We meet his character as he is in a coma in a hospital bed, surrounded by worried family members. How she got there is the question that drives Smukler’s bildungsroman, which takes us through flashbacks of Bea’s life from childhood to the recent past, trying to piece together the moments leading up to her hospitalization. This memory exercise is illustrated with Bea’s omniscient subliminal narration.

before it becomes the past wild flowers With Bea’s family relationships, smoldering resentment, inconsistent communication style, and general chaos reigns. Her bickering grandmothers, Loretta (a wonderfully angry Jackie Weaver) and Peggy (an equally astute Jean Smart) are constantly at each other’s throats. In the midst of their argument are Bea’s neurotic Aunt Joy (Alexandra Daddario) and her equally anxious husband, Ben (Reid Scott), who urge the family to stay positive. Compared to the rest of the clan, Bea’s parents Sharon (Samantha Hyde) and Derek (Dash Mihawk) are quiet and reserved, firmly believing their daughter will wake up.

Bea (short for Bambi, Sharon’s favorite cartoon character) grew up hearing other adults describe her parents as “special”, a euphemism she later realized was neurodivergent. She tells how Sharon and Derek met, the speed of their marriage and the thrill of their birth. While Bea’s parents were never insecure in their ability to pursue their goals (professional and romantic), everyone else was and made that clear. Peggy and EarlEveryone loves raymond.Brad Garrett), Sharon’s parents struggle to trust their daughter to make decisions. Loretta, Derek’s mother, takes care of Sharon’s family, but is less worried. There is an unrecognized but suffocating assumption that new parents simply cannot do it.

But Sharon and Derek are a solid duo. They move out of their parents’ house in Van Nuys, California and go out alone in Las Vegas with Bea. like sian hader CODA, wild flowers breaks up the experience of its handicapped characters through a child turned caregiver. While there are depictions of under-represented experiences, the film prioritizes Bea’s perspective and our understanding of neurodivergence is filtered through her neurotypical lens. However, when CODA stayed right in sentimental territory, wild flowers More free and self-aware.

The first years of Bea’s life are full of adventure and freedom. Her first real home is in a mobile community, where Sharon and Derek befriend people who help take care of the kids. Eventually, they save enough money to move to the suburbs, a move that causes friction between Bea and her parents. Living away from her immediate family changes Bea’s understanding and lessens her tolerance for Sharon and Derek. She sees his nonchalant attitude as odd and finds his carefree approach to life frustrating. Ryan Kira Armstrong shields herself like young Bea: there’s a quiet confidence in her movements that accurately reflects a child’s growing resentment toward her parents.

After failing a driving lesson and receiving a visit from a social worker, Bea is sent to live with Aunt Joy and Ben. Although the couple, who have two children, teach Bea skills she lacks, like swimming, and introduce her to different experiences, her neuroticism irritates her. The correction takes a while.

wild flowers Fast forward to Bea’s senior year, when she sells school raffles with her best friend Mia (Law) in hopes of winning a free trip to Disney. We don’t see the years between Bea’s return and this recent past, but it’s clear from her attitude that she has a renewed appreciation and understanding for her parents.

wild flowers It covers so much ground before getting to the main action that the intro can’t help but feel a throat clearing. The film gains space after being replaced by Bea in the recent past, who shows her new romance with the new boy at school, Ethan (Charlie Plummer); A tough battle with Mia; her advisor’s insistence that she apply to college; and a small disagreement with his school’s resident girl.

In the background of these interactions is Bea’s biggest struggle: overcoming her condescending relationship with her parents and, therefore, those around her. When Smukler focuses on that tension, wild flowersIts main characters (Bea, Sharon and Derek) take on an interesting clarity and dimension. It’s during these scenes that Shipka, Hyde, and Mihok go beyond serious archetypes and interact with each other rather than clichés.

Because what’s at stake is how Bea relates to her parents. When he starts to see them in the same light as the rest of the world, he makes up for it by pretending to be considerate. This unforced responsibility rekindles childhood resentments and reveals hard-to-swallow truths. The movie ends with a tumultuous bang, but it’s no spoiler to say that relationships have been mended, and Bea learns some valuable lessons along the way.