Review of Where the Wild Things Are (2009) by Duncan P — 15 Nov 2014

Dark, bleak, minimalistic and somewhat disturbing... I honestly don't really know what to think, it threw me for one hell of a loop for not being anything like what I'd expected. It reminds me a little of The Neverending Story, in a way, come to think of it.

I... think I have an interpretation of it, but I warn you, it's a bit out there, and probably makes the film seem even more bleak. Essentially, it seems to me that Max has some sort of Autism-spectrum disorder, and the film shows an allegorical fantasy he has (many, many parallels exist between The Wild and Reality) in which he tries to come to terms with the real world being strange and alien and scary, and to also attempt to deal with his self-perceived image of being a destructive force therein due to being unable to cope with it. By creating this fantasy world, he uses it as a ground to come to terms with both problems.

But hey, that's just me. At the very least, I think I can recommend it, but I also think that multiple viewings will be needed to really "get" it and not just hate it, which one quite likely would on a first viewing.