Martin Carr reviews the Amazon original series The Wilds…
Lord of the Flies is a seminal piece of literature which resides on every syllabus around the world alongside arduous stuff like Beowulf. Written by Nobel Prize winning author William Golding it charts the disintegration of teenagers trapped on a remote island devoid of adults. Laden with symbolism, rife with allegorical undertones and universally lauded as a pivotal work of fiction, there have been many who have sought inspiration there. On first impressions this Amazon original might appear to draw from a similar well with the conspicuous substitution of girls for boys, but The Wilds created by Sarah Streicher and executive produced by Susanna Fogel mines decidedly different recesses to that of its classic companion piece.
What becomes apparent early on is that this series has no intention of making easy choices. Aside from the fact it is shouldered by a dramatically nuanced ensemble cast, The Wilds embraces some hard topics on route to its final destination. With hints of The Truman Show it devotes an episode each to every member of this plucky troupe. Between them all there is no clear stand out performance, but rather moments where every actor gets the opportunity to shine. Whether we are dealing with Dot Campbell (Shannon Berry) a full time high school student caring for an ailing father, or Leah Rilke (Sarah Pidgeon) who is besotted with an older man and dealing with the pressures of adolescence, every character gets a tangible sense of progress.
That this survival thriller can balance these elements and still remain fresh and engaging is commendable. Sibling rivalry, bulimia and body image also get touched on adding depth to a programme which might have felt thin otherwise. Gretchen Klein (Rachel Griffiths) plays the Svengali who manipulates events from a distance without making her intentions clear. Monitored by cameras and controlled by nefarious methods, this voyage of discovery and personal growth is aided through narrative flashbacks.
What this does is make these people more fragile revealing doubt, uncertainty and a degree of social pressure which taps into universal truths. The Wilds might be a young adult series with clear demographic boundaries, but it embraces concerns which apply irrespective of age and gender. Observations are sharp, dialogue is measured and thankfully lacking in too many obvious cliché based tangents. At just under an hour per episode it has time to invest in backstory, create idiosyncrasies and play with audience expectations.
Over the course of ten hours The Wilds proves to be an engaging slice of Amazon entertainment which circumvents preconceptions and offers up food for thought. For those in need of companion pieces to other young adult adaptations such as Alex Rider, this female centric William Golding hat tip is not a bad place to start.
The Wilds premieres on Amazon Prime Video December 11th.
Martin Carr
