Wildflower (2022 film)

Wildflower is a 2022 American coming of age comedy-drama film directed by Matt Smukler and written by Jana Savage, from a story by Smukler and Savage. It stars Kiernan Shipka, Dash Mihok, Charlie Plummer, Jean Smart, Alexandra Daddario, Reid Scott, Erika Alexander, Samantha Hyde, Brad Garrett,  and Jacki Weaver.

The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2022 and was released on March 17, 2023.

Plot
Bea is the daughter of two mentally disabled parents Sharon and Derek, and during her senior year in high school Bea is left comatose. Through flashbacks the story explores aspects of her life, including a romantic relationship with fellow student Ethan.

Development
The film was inspired by Smukler's niece, and was originally conceived as a short film before being developed as a feature film. The script was optioned by Morning Moon production company in 2020, who produced the film in partnership with Limelight and Entertainment One. The filmmakers consulted disability representation activist Elaine Hall during development.

Release
The film was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2022. It was released by Momentum Pictures on March 17, 2023 in the United States and Canada.

Reception
Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 52 out of 100, based on 7 reviews indicating "mixed or average reviews".

William Bibbiani, writing for TheWrap, said that the film "can't seem to decide if it's a big mess or a formulaic teen drama, but when it gives us tender moments between its characters, it’s hard to really care." Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the film "might not be a radical departure from films of its type, but it does offer buoyant performances from both fresh and familiar faces."

In a review titled "When Disability Representation Goes Wrong", Sarah Milner of /Film criticized its approach to portraying disability and described it as "inspiration porn." She criticized the portrayal of Sharon and Derek in particular, calling the characters "paper-thin punchlines." Wendy Ide in a review for Screen Daily compared the film to CODA (2021), but felt that Wildflower fell short in its portrayal of disabled parents by comparison. Charles Bramesco, writing for ThePlaylist.net, gave the film a C− rating and described its exploration of themes as shallow.