Where to watch:

Wildflower (2023)

Name: Wildflower
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Released: 2023-03-17
Duration: 105 min
Rating: 7.4
Cast: Kiernan Shipka, Dash Mihok, Charlie Plummer, Alexandra Daddario, Brad Garrett

Wildflower (2023), directed by Matt Smukler, starring Kiernan Shipka and Dash Mihok.

03/17/2023 BR Comedy and Drama 1h 45m

User
score

Quiz about this movie

A little heartache, a lot of love.

Synopsis

The story of Bea Johnson from birth to graduation as she navigates life with an intellectually disabled parent and an extended family who can't quite agree on the best way to help.

Jeff CutterCinematography
Matt SmuklerDirector, Story
Joseph C. Bond IVEditing
Austen RydellProducer

About the film

Wildflower is a 2022 American coming of age comedy-drama film directed by Matt Smukler and written by Jana Savage, from a story by Smukler and Savage. It stars Kiernan Shipka, Dash Mihok, Charlie Plummer, Jean Smart, Alexandra Daddario, Reid Scott, Erika Alexander, Samantha Hyde, Brad Garrett, and Jacki Weaver.

The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2022 and was released on March 17, 2023.

Read the full article (3k characters)

The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival 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 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. The filmmakers consulted disability representation activist Elaine Hall during development.

Release

The film was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2022. It was released by Momentum Pictures on March 17, 2023 in the United States and Canada.

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 60% of 35 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Wildflower benefits from its appealing ensemble cast, but their efforts aren't quite enough to distinguish this middling coming-of-age story." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 52 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.

William Bibbiani, writing for TheWrap, 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 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 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 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

Wildflower at IMDb

Text from Wildflower (2022 film) on Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildflower_(2022_film)

Trivia

It premiered on March 17, 2023, a Friday.
It runs 1h45 — a typical feature length.
As of September 20, 2026, it is available in Brazil by subscription on Amazon Prime Video, Diamond Films Amazon Channel.
This film's quiz has 13 questions — enough to play more than once without repeats.

Production

StudiosEntertainment One, Hunting Lane Films, Limelight, Morning Moon Productions
CountriesCanada, United States
LanguagesEnglish
StatusReleased

Where to watch

Videos

Photos

Cast

Quiz about this movie

Questions from the whole catalogue.

Play now

If you liked this one

Crew

Jeff Cutter Cinematography
Matt Smukler Director
Joseph C. Bond IV Editing
Austen Rydell Producer
Billie Lourd Producer
Chris Parker Producer
Dylan Sellers Producer
Ethan Lazar Producer
Jamie Patricof Producer
Katie McNeill Producer
Kyle Owens Producer
Chad Fischer Original music
Jana Savage Writer
Matt Smukler Story

Questions about this film

What is Wildflower about?

Wildflower: The story of Bea Johnson from birth to graduation as she navigates life with an intellectually disabled parent and an extended family who can't quite agree on the best way to help.

Who directed Wildflower?

Wildflower was directed by Matt Smukler in 2023.

Who stars in Wildflower?

The cast of Wildflower includes Kiernan Shipka, Dash Mihok, Charlie Plummer, Alexandra Daddario and Brad Garrett.

How long is Wildflower?

Wildflower runs for 105 minutes, or 1h45.

Where can I watch Wildflower?

Wildflower is available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Diamond Films Amazon Channel, Claro video, Apple TV Store and Amazon Video. Availability changes often: the list on this page is the most recent we received.