Wildwood

Wildwood follows Prue and her classmate Curtis, who are pulled into a magical forest of enchanted creatures, loyal allies and formidable adversaries. Their quest is to rescue Prue's abducted baby brother from a murder of crows led by a mysterious woman named Alexandra. The setup is a clear, high-stakes rescue adventure with a personal emotional anchor, and the 130-minute runtime leaves room to build the world.

The voice cast is strong on paper. Peyton Elizabeth Lee and Jacob Tremblay play the young leads Prue and Curtis, and Carey Mulligan voices the antagonist Alexandra. Mahershala Ali, Angela Bassett, Awkwafina, Jake Johnson and Charlie Day fill out the supporting roles. The casting suggests the film takes its characters seriously, but how well the performances land will depend on the finished film.

Travis Knight directs, and a production from LAIKA suggests a studio with a distinct identity. The premise gives him a clear structure to work with: a rescue mission, a hidden world and a pair of young heroes. The pacing and tone over 130 minutes are the main things to judge. That is long for a family-oriented animated adventure.

Dario Marianelli is the music director. A fantasy quest through an enchanted forest gives a composer plenty to work with, from the wonder of the setting to the menace of the crows. I can't speak to specific themes or cues, so the score is scored on the strength of the setup and the composer's involvement rather than on detail.

As an animated fantasy, the film depends on its visual world, with a forest of enchanted creatures and a murder of crows as its main threat. Those elements give the animators room to show off character design and atmosphere. The visuals are likely to be a draw, though the score here is cautious until the full craft can be assessed.

The film combines a child-in-peril rescue, a fantasy world and a well-known voice cast, which should appeal to families and to fans of animated fantasy. Audience data is thin so far, with no aggregate score and only 20 external votes, so there is no reliable read on reception yet. The certification is also not listed, so parents should check it before taking younger children.