In writer-director Timothy Hines’s feature comedy, The Wilde Girls, a pair of sisters learn there is more to life in the great outdoors than the lap of luxury in New York City. Our story is about heiresses Mattie (Cali Scolari) and Tinsley Wilde (Lydia Pearl Pentz), who once enjoyed a life of luxury. Tinsley is the self-absorbed, argumentative narcissist, and Mattie is the even-keeled, nice sister who finds herself unwittingly caught up in Tinsley’s Karen-like behavior.
The pair finds their pampered lives turned upside down after the collapse of their family fortune from the Great Depression and their father’s sudden death. Unfortunately, what little remained of his fortune was left to their evil aunts, Beatrice (Susan Goforth) and Florence (Heidi Kravitz), who forced Mattie and Tinsley to live at their wilderness home if they wanted any chance of receiving an inheritance. Soon, the Wilde sisters are cast out of high society and forced to flee the city. Their destination: the remote, unforgiving forests of the Pacific Northwest—a land untouched by the conveniences they once took for granted.
Completely unequipped to survive, the sisters’ only hope is a man they met on the side of the road, known as Button (Matt Silver). Button turns out to be a real “button man” — a hired assassin secretly sent by their aunts to eliminate them. Out of sheer dumb luck, Mattie and Tinsley escape Mr. Button with the help of Silas (Teddy Smith), a reclusive mountain man who, though reluctant, becomes their unlikely guide and protector. As they confront threats from the wild and those hunting them, the girls are pushed far beyond their comfort zone, stumbling through basic survival tasks and learning to depend on each other in new ways. Can the Wilde sisters finally work together to stay alive and learn life lessons in the wilderness?
“…the girls are pushed far beyond their comfort zone, stumbling through basic survival tasks…”
The Wilde Girls is an ambitious little comedy. Writer/director Timothy Hines takes us back in time to the golden era of film, specifically the comedies. The sisters remind me of Laurel and Hardy in the sense that the comedy and plot surround the dynamics between Tinsley and Mattie, wonderfully played by Lydia Pearl Pentz and Cali Scolari (respectively). Tinsley is the narcissist who demands that everyone focus attention on her and fulfill her every whim. Mattie is the grounded center of the pair. As Tinsley goes off in wild directions, she is always drawn back to Mattie as she attempts to come out on top despite her sister’s antics.
The look and feel of the entire film are quite ambitious. As an indie filmmaker, I’m in awe of how Hines was able to create a period piece on a low indie budget. He combines sepia-tone filters, soft-focus close-ups of the women, and green-screen matte paintings to convincingly evoke 1920s-era buildings and landscapes.
Ultimately, The Wilde Girls works because of the relationship between Tinsley and Mattie and the clever dialogue, sight gags, and silly situations the ladies are in. Kids in the double-digit age range may find the fun in the film.
"…quite ambitious."
