**This is a spoiler-free review so feel free to read on!**
“We trust each other…right?”
Wilderness premiered on September 15th 2023 on Prime Video with all six episodes available to stream now. The revenge thriller series (based on the novel of the same name) stars Jenna Coleman, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Ashley Benson, and Eric Balfour. Each episode runs for approximately 50-58 minutes.
A spontaneous vacation turns into a nightmare when a seemingly happy couple begins to unravel, leading to a downward spiral of betrayal and revenge.
Here is the trailer:
Wilderness attempts to channel films like Gone Girl and Promising Young Woman with a Lifetime-esque tone, leading to plenty of juicy twists along the way. Is it worthy of YOUR next watch? Let’s find out…
The Pros:
Dream cast.
I’m a huge fan of Ashley Benson from Pretty Little Liars and I was super happy to see Buffy the Vampire Slayer alum, Eric Balfour on this too. The cast was the best part of this series. Everyone played their part very well, but I wish some characters had gotten a little bit more screen time because everyone was electric together on screen and the character dynamics really worked.
Jenna Coleman put forth a strong effort as Olivia, giving me quite a few chills throughout my watch. She was fantastic.
Starts off with a lot of potential.
I thoroughly enjoyed the first few episodes of this series. The premise was juicy and enticing. It seemed to fit neatly into a guilty pleasure watch and I even liked the random soundtrack (heavy on Taylor Swift) that overpowered certain scenes. Somehow that worked…
The Cons:
Goes off the rails…
I would say that I was hooked by the end of episode two (which was the strongest episode by far). Once we got to the second half of the series, things became really chaotic and confusing. We started to spiral off into something messy and uninspiring. I was still invested enough to finish the series and there were a few redeeming moments worth sticking around for, but this was disappointing because the show started off so strong.
I also wasn’t a huge fan of the voice-over narration and it led me to believe that we were headed toward a more extreme ending than we actually got.
I think what’s so frustrating about this series is that it did enough to earn a watch, but it could have been so much better. I think it played it safe rather than throwing itself into something unpredictable, which might have worked out a lot better in my opinion.
So am I in or out?
I’m in about 75 percent…
Watered down guilty pleasure thrills with a cast to be excited about, but don’t expect this series to do anything that extraordinary. It was a decent watch if you enjoy revenge thrillers, however.
I hope you enjoyed the review and feel free to post your own thoughts and theories on Wilderness in the comments section below. Thanks so much for reading and happy viewing!
Best,
Amy Koto, TV Fanatic Girl
PLAY BY THE RULES…STAY ALIVE…
A harmless night of fun turns deadly for six college friends but the game has only just begun. Take a mystery thrill ride right from your own living room. Dash and Seek is out now! I hope you enjoy!
READ IF YOU DARE…
Dash and Seek is available here!
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