_Wildlife_ is a methanol fire: it burns slower and you can't see the flames but it does the same sort of damage as a regular blaze.

Because _Wildlife_ burns like a fuse that's building slowly to a soft explosion, all of the elements must be primed to prevent the spark from going out. The actors, the script, the directing must all be optimum to keep the fragile pyre burning. Fortunately, that's the case with _Wildlife_.

Young Ed Oxenbould (who I remember best from Shyamalan's _The Visit_) continues to show promise as an up and coming actor, Jake Gyllenhaal makes all the right choices in keeping his portrayal subtle and strong, and Carey Mulligan turns in what may be her best performance to date.

Paul Dano passes behind the camera for the first time and delivers a film full of subtle poetry that many with far more experience will envy, bringing to life a nicely paced story penned by himself and partner (in every sense of the word) Zoe Kazan.

So why not a perfect 10? The film fills its art-house, family drama niche perfectly, but doesn't try to go beyond that. It's content to be just a small film and not a small film with universal aspirations (like Jim Jarmusch's _Paterson_). There are, as well, some story lines that are threaded then neglected (the friend Ruth, for example) and finally, I felt some of the changes the characters went through were too hurried.

But those are small drops in the ocean of _Wildlife_, and do little to dilute or douse its power.