*This is a spoiler-free review so feel free to read on!*
“Not on my river…”
The River Wild (River Wild) released on Netflix on August 1st 2023. Loosely based on the film starring Meryl Streep and Kevin Bacon from 1994, the adventure thriller remake stars Leighton Meester, Adam Brody, Taran Killam, Eve Connolly, and Olivia Swann. It runs for approximately 92 minutes.
Joey accepts her brother’s invitation to go whitewater rafting with a group, but when they end up in a dangerous situation, someone begins to sabotage their attempts at survival as secrets are revealed.
Here is the trailer:
The River Wild will get your heart racing with a solid cast and some shocking moments, but is it worthy of YOUR next watch? Let’s find out…
The Pros:
Fun cast!
Leighton Meester and Adam Brody are married in real life and both starred on two of my favorite series so I was excited to see them in this one. Leighton is making a comeback in Netflix thrillers!
It was going to be hard to top Meryl Streep and Kevin Bacon’s performances, but I thought this cast really held their own and I cared about what happened to these characters, which is important in films like this.
Gets more and more intense as the plot unfolds…
Things started off a little slow, but as the movie continued, I was quickly on the edge of my seat. Everything kept building more and more, making this a consuming watch. I’m not sure I’ll be attempting whitewater rafting any time soon, but this movie really got my adrenaline pumping and I felt like I was there!
It really made me want to re-watch the original film again, which you should watch immediately if you haven’t yet. Trust me…it’s fantastic!
The Cons:
Should have been a standalone thriller to prevent comparisons…
The plots really have nothing to do with one another except for the fact that they are whitewater rafting and someone in their group means to do them harm. Other than that, this is a completely different thriller and I’m wondering why it was called the same name.
As a standalone film, this one checks off all the boxes for me as a fantastic “movie of the week.” It’s actually really solid and my only con is that it doesn’t come close to the original. This film was strong enough to have its own name and identity and I think sharing the name with the original film hindered it slightly.
So am I in or out?
I’m in!!!
Leighton Meester shines in this intense and entertaining thriller!
If you enjoy quick survival thrillers, there’s plenty to appreciate in this one.
I hope you enjoyed the review and feel free to post your own thoughts and theories on The River Wild (2023) in the comments section below. Thanks so much for reading and happy viewing!
Best,
Amy Koto, TV Fanatic Girl
DON’T TAKE THE JOB…
It was only supposed to be temporary…but when Olivia Crewe accepts a new position that seems too good to be true, she soon discovers that twelve other girls previously had the same job as her. Only none of them lasted for more than thirty days. No notice. Nothing…right before they mysteriously disappeared without a trace.
My supernatural thriller Girl Number Thirteen is out now! I hope you enjoy!
Girl Number Thirteen is available here!
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