While this great break is gaining momentum, Rose increasingly alienates herself from her children. Mother is always there to enable this behavior to a point. The heart of Wild Rose is the battle between one’s dreams versus one’s reality. Rose’s talent is sure to make her a star, but she is also responsible for the raising of two small children. Like all big decisions in life, we put it off as far as we can until the worst possible moment. It also doesn’t help that Rose has been lying to Susannah hiding not only her prison conviction for narcotics but her children too.
“…it’s the brilliant and charismatic performance by its lead Jessie Buckley that will leave you starstruck in the end.”
Every life-changing opportunity presented to Rose starts to unravel, Rose has to make the hard choice between family and career. The fact the choices are equally weighted makes the conflict most fascinating. As a dramatic film, Wild Rose succeeds with a fantastic performance from Jessie Buckley (I’m just repeating myself. I mean she’s fantastic in this film) and Julie Walters as her long-suffering mother.
Nicole Taylor’s story of the star on the rise is brilliant. Rose’s rise and fall play out with a great deal of authenticity. A little spoiler, but Rose does make it to Nashville, and again the story plays out real and unexpected. The film ends in a satisfying manner ending with a let’s-sum-up-the-entire-experience-in-a-song song, that will drag a tear from your eye. Wild Rose is one of those films that you have to hunt for, and it’s well worth the effort.
Wild Rose (2018) Directed by Tom Harper. Written by Nicole Taylor. Starring Jessie Buckley, Julie Walters, Sophie Okonedo. Wild Rose screened at the 2019 San Francisco International Film Festival.
8 out of 10 stars
