Comingsoon.net is packing up a bindle and heading out into the woods to find the best movies that take place in the wild. Check out what we found in the gallery below!
More movies should take place outside. It’s one thing to utilize meticulously crafted sets and engrossing production design on a Hollywood set, but it’s something completely different to scout and shoot at some of the greatest locations nature has to offer. Setting one’s film in the wild is honestly one of the most interesting choices a filmmaker can make, and these films prove that.
Now, a movie that takes place in the wild doesn’t have to be set in the middle of the wood (although it certainly helps, for sure). The wild can be defined as anything outside of a city or a suburb, anything that immerses itself in a landscape that isn’t civilized yet or hasn’t been civilized for a long time. With this in mind, let’s take a look at some of the best movies that take place in the wild.
wild movies
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Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)
Werner Herzog’s early films are unimpeachable, demonstrating an expert at work and a singular vision on full display. Aguirre, the Wrath of God follows a group of conquistadors as they head down the Amazon River in search of El Dorado, surrounded by wilderness in the unpredictable Amazon Rainforest.
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Children of Men (2006)
Alfonso Cuarón just got done impressing audiences with his Netflix Original Film Roma, but he’s actually been a critical darling for quite some time. His post-apocalyptic drama Children of Men, which sees a dystopian world where babies are no longer born, is one such example of this fact. Its version of the wild is not far off from the world we live in now, trading the cities we know for future versions in shambles.
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Into the Wild (2007)
Recounting the true story of a young man who gave up everything to go live alone in the wilderness, Into the Wild is a much more grounded take on the wild. The world is the same, but Christopher McCandless’s view of it is truly one-of-a-kind.
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Stalker (1979)
Andrei Tarkovsky is the man. A Soviet filmmaker with expert precision, Stalker shows off his ability to turn tiny budgets and neglected areas of his home country into a truly transcendent science fiction film—it’s a wild unlike anything seen before or after (except maybe in Alex Garland’s Annihilation, which is clearly a chip off of Tarkovsky’s block).
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Stand by Me (1986)
Rob Reiner had the 80s in the palm of his hand. This Stephen King adaptation about a group of kids who run away into the woods to find a dead body is one such example, depicting childlike wonder and loss of innocence in a way few others could.
