By Daniel Paiz
Cypher Flicks Review-A-Rama: Wildwood Whalefall, Kara Clayface is a new idea of reviewing several films at once in a digestible manner. For starters, Wildwood, Whalefall, Klara and the Sun, and Clayface are all books of some sort (Clayface borders between comic book and graphic novel, depending on what you read). All of these movies debuted around the same time in mid-October as well. Whalefall is the only outlier in not having a companion work of sorts that’s animated. All four films also utilize death and grief as a vehicle for storytelling.
Commence Review-A-Rama
Wildwood
A girl loses her brother while out exploring Portland, and a grieving queen, prudent owl, and a group of bandits all step in to find said brother. There’s a lot more to it than that, but to give specifics beyond won’t give this film its rightful due. Wildwood is likely a film of the year candidate.
The bigger ideas tackled in this stop-animation feature are heavy.
Mismanaging one’s grief can lead to further destruction, and that pain is front and center. Prue (sister of lost brother, voiced by Peyton Elizabeth Lee) processes her pain, grief, and guilt as it comes, and it helps to guide her decision making. The rejection of accepting her son being dead leads Alexandra (A “queen” seeking redemption, voiced by Carey Mulligan) to rejecting what is, instead operating as expecting what “should” be. Iphigenia (Head elder voiced by Tantoo Cardinal), The General (second in command of the Avian Principality, voiced by Angela Bassett), and crown prince of the Avian Principality Owl Rex (voiced by Richard E. Grant) all operate within how things are, instead of the other option.
Communication, community, trust and more all guide those opposed to the queen. There’s also a bigger lesson here, as each person determines their reality. Allow vengeance and pain to dictate the path, it will be littered with it. Resilience via obtaining new info and being willing to shift one’s ideas works for Prue.
There’s a lot of heart in this film, the love and concern the family has for each other is wonderful. The parents did mess up in not telling the kids of their magical origins, even if it was done for their safety. Prue also reconnects with her sense of magic, belief, and openness.
This is a stop-animation film, meaning the characters had to be moved ever so slightly for each scene. They were handcrafted, and the film took 16 years to make. The effort and attention to detail for the characters and the beautiful settings will have viewers remembering this story for years to come.
Whalefall
A father (Mitt Gardiner, played by Josh Brolin) and son (Jay Gardiner, played by Austin Abrams) are not on great terms, but when dad passes away, son returns home to be swallowed by a whale in this nautical horror story. Not only does the son have to try and survive the whale’s digestive system, but also there’s a squid also in the stomach. Add in an oxygen tank running out of air, and the odds are stacked against him.
It’s part horror film/creature feature, and part trauma film about how different two people can be. Those differences make it hard to connect with family as time goes on. When someone feels misunderstood and such differences create space and division, it increases the uncertainty.
Pair that together with a cancer diagnosis for Mitt and it’s a lot to handle. This film gives the needed reminder that there’s more in common with family than there is different. The dad knew he wasn’t going to connect with his son, that he wasn’t going to raise him as other sons are raised; despite his best efforts he would mess the kid up somehow. The rigorous upbringing Jay goes through ends up being vital. This movie brings up an important question. Will you let fear consume you and defeat you, or are you going to tackle what scares you and cripples you to get through it?
Klara and the Sun
Klara (Jenna Ortega) and her fellow artificial friends are hoping to be selected by a human to be taken home. In the great metropolis they are located, there are updated B3 units across the street that make it hard for Klara and her fellow B1 units. The street cleaning and farming giant units that cloud the sun make Klara feel as if they are evil. This companion robot believes the sun to be a god or higher being of sorts that listens to its affirmations and wishes.
This Kazuo Ishiguro adaptation has lots to ponder while also twisting and turning through the emotions of life and death.
Accepting that loss and death are a part of life is how one manages to not drown in that sorrow. It is interesting to also see that love shines brightly. Josie (Mia Tharia), Klara’s human companion, reveals that connection does not have to only be familial. Her budding bond with Klara and her longstanding connection with next door neighbor Rick (Aran Murphy) reminds us the community we build is what keeps us going.
When a true connection is there, it transcends nature and shines bright like the sun. This is a must-see film and needed for the times we all are facing right now. Companion robots are not that far behind when people are confiding and trusting AI-chatbots that do not have their best interests in their programming.
Clayface
Matt Hegan (aka Clayface, played by Tom Rhys Harries) is a successful actor from a poor part of Gotham called the Narrows. He’s getting big roles, being nominated for them, and enjoying his stardom. One night, despite his buddy’s warning, he connects and sleeps with a mob boss’s girlfriend. They slice up his face, and his life fundamentally changes.
If only that were the worst part.
This is a true body horror film, where Clayface’s deformities are painful. The emotional betrayal of his acting connections and best friend also fuel his revenge. If only Matt remembered what he did to get there, he might not have spiraled like he did as the story rolls onward. Dr. Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Ackie) offers Matt a chance to start over with the nanotech she is working on and experimenting with. Had Matt not mistaken aid and concern as primarily romantic feelings, there could have been a true redemption arc of sorts.
Clayface could’ve been at least an anti-hero. It’s possible he still can be, but it feels like he goes the villain route with each new murder. Clayface is a risky character to make a live action film about, but it was executed quite well.
Concluding Review-A-Rama
All four of these movies touch on grief and how one responds to their current situation. When one panics (Whalefall) or doesn’t reflect on previous actions taken (Wildwood, Clayface), it leads to a harder situation to arise from. If someone instead approaches a situation with their best intentions (Klara, Wildwood) it helps to focus one’s perspective and next steps. 2026 has been a year of tough times, unexpected events, and a necessity to be resilient.
Each of these films has a lesson about choices made out of grief and out of compassion; be careful in which direction you select.
