A group of teens must survive after a crash leaves them stranded. There's just one twist to this thrilling drama - these girls did not end up on this island by accident.
The Wilds is marketed as a young-adult series, but it's gripping, intelligent stuff that will hold the attention of older adults much more tightly than most adult dramas do. The subject matter skews very "adult" too.
The show can sometimes feel like a teen problem of the week after-school special. But the actors are uniformly excellent, and the writers do a good job of keeping characters sympathetic even when they make transparently terrible choices.
Raise your glass to toast "The Wilds" for being a rare thing indeed on the TV landscape: a genre show about a diverse group of teenage girls that is relatable, relevant, and important.
Like slumber parties, The Wilds bounces around from silly to interesting and back. It's helped by some very good performances, particularly that of Sarah Pidgeon.
Showrunner Sarah Streicher (Netflix's Daredevil) does a terrific job in the opening episode of setting the scene, while simultaneously undercutting audience expectations.
While there are certainly some fantastic moments and good performances, Season 1 is bogged down by awful writing and a failure to explore themes in any more than a cursory way.
Suspend your disbelief and allow the character development to consume you - The Wilds is an addictive teenage thriller that will leave audiences provoked.
There's something incredibly (and increasingly in each episode) watchable about this twisting, silly show that anchors its B-movie charms in truthful, heartfelt characters and performances.
