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“Wildflower – The Documentary” Film Details

• Runtime: 1 Hour(s) and 13 Minutes

• Released On: Digital
• Public Release Date: May 9, 2025 (Screener Provided For Review)
• Director(s): Matt Smukler
• Genre(s): Young Adult, Documentary
• Rating: Not Rated
• Distributor: Buffalo 8

Summary

Christina is an average girl. She likes hanging with her friends, working, and wants to go to college, but she does have a task not many kids have – taking care of her parents. Now, let it be clear, Mike and Sheila aren’t alcoholics, drug addicts, or anything like that. They just have disabilities. Her dad suffered from a traumatic brain injury, and her mom was born with a disability. But, together they make a way, even if sometimes it pushes Christina to go off on her parents, and as she preps for college, so comes the question of not only what’s next for her, but her parents without her?

Why Is “Wildflower – The Documentary” Not Rated?

• Dialog:
  • Cursing: Mild
  • Discriminatory Language: No
  • Innuendo: None
  • Suicide Mentions: Yes
• Violence:
  • Gun Violence: None
  • Violence Against Animals: No
  • Violence Against Children: No
  • Domestic Violence: No
  • Gore/ Blood: None
  • Body Horror: No
  • Notable Violence: None
• Sexual Content:
  • Nudity: None
  • Sexual Situations: None
  • Sexual Violence: No
• Miscellaneous:
  • Drinking: No
  • Drug Use: None
  • Vomiting: No
  • Smoking: Yes

Links

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• Official Site Link

Review and Commentary

Highlight(s)

It’s Going To Make You Cry [87/100]

The more you know about people who are considered “Special” or qualify as disabled, the more you realize how not only genetics or the body, after something traumatic, but also society, can make things difficult. Did you know people with disabilities can lose their benefits if they get married? Isn’t that wild? Or, in the case of Sheila, there are routes, with murky legality, that could have it where your parents can coerce you to get your tubes tied.

Knowing and hearing stuff like that in a news report, maybe a YouTube video, is one thing, but sitting with stories like Sheila’s, Mike’s, and Christina’s forces you to experience more than just a newsbyte. To see the joy of Mike helping to birth his daughter, to Christina’s frustrations with her parents, while wanting them to be proud of her, Wildflower – The Documentary sends you on a whirlwind of emotions, and then, when you add the grandparents?

Oh, the scripted version may have embellished, but from what we get of Mike’s mom and Sheila’s parents, it seems they may have taken creative liberties, but may not have strayed too far from the truth.

Appreciating The Comparisons You Can Make To The Movie [84/100]

It isn’t easy to talk about Wildflower – The Documentary without also talking about the 2023 movie directed by Mark Smukler and starring Jackie Weaver, Jean Smart, Kiernan Shipka, and others. Mainly because, with watching the scripted take first, you can easily piece together where they got one idea, or another, from. And I’d even say, when it comes to certain characters, like Mike’s mom, who is Jackie Weaver in the movie, whether Smukler knows something we don’t, or just expanded on what was released to the public, one very much complements the other.

I’d even say that the way Smuckler handled both stories makes me wish more stories that note they are based on true stories had documentaries so you could get a sense, for yourself, who these people are or were and see where the writer, director, and actors pulled from.

Overall

Our Rating (85/100): Positive (Worth Seeing) – Recommended

Wildflower—The Documentary gives you the truth sans embellishment for entertainment or narrative purposes, enhancing the experience of knowing Christina, Mike, and Sheila’s story. Also, in telling a story without feeling exploitative, you get a sense of how this family, with its flaws and dysfunction but unquestionable love, has navigated challenges that may be unique to them but show a resilience that can be universally inspiring.

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