Wendy (2020)

"All kids grow up, but some, the wild ones, escape."

Wendy is gloriously chaotic. Writer/director Zeitlin applies his handheld constant movement (as in his breakthrough Beasts of the Southern Wild) and a narrative that jumps from moment to moment to infuse his film with lived in feeling of childhood emotions, experiencing the world in a more childlike way, a manner that has less control and understanding of convention. The film therefore feels strongly random while managing to tell a cohesive narrative. In this the film finds a true place of honesty.

Wendy is the story we are more familiar with as Peter Pan. But it is different. It is told in the present day and told from Wendy's point of view. Wendy and her brothers escape their lives, not because Peter comes to the room, but because they see their chance and run for it. And where they end up, and island where they are kept from aging, they are given a choice, and it is that choice we are all faced with as we age.

As with all adaptations of Peter Pan, Wendy is the story, at it's heart, of a young woman coming of age. Most versions, including the famous Disney version, are about Wendy's becoming ready to set aside her girlhood and move into being a woman. Wendy is no different. In Zeitlin's beautiful, fantastic film Wendy is given the chance to live without responsibility forever. Peter is here, and as always, he is a force of temptation, one that Wendy must overcome to move on with her life. I actually didn't find Wendy to be as much of a diversion from it's source material as many have described it. It sticks to the idea of the struggle with letting go and growing up.

The film gets fairly muddled in the middle but it remains a beautiful, reckless thing that is rather mesmerizing. Zeitlin clearly lays out the bittersweet and melancholy spirit of coming into your own and films it all with his signature chaotic style. I think we often forget what Peter Pan is about and Wendy is a good reminder.

Wendy
Starring: Devin France, Yashua Mack
Director: Behn Zeitlin
Writers: Eliza Zeitlin, Behn Zeitlin