Kiernan Shipka plays Bea in Wildflower, a young girl who tries to balance study, work and family by taking care of her neurodivergent parents.
After playing a witch ne Chilling Adventures of Sabrina on Netflix, Kiernan Shipka she tries her hand at a new role in which she plays the daughter of two neurodivergent parents. She’s titled Wildflower the new moving film arriving in some cinemas in the States and then distributed shortly after in streaming. The narrative alternates between past and present with the direction of Matt Smukler. The screenplay is by Jana Savage and the cast also includes other stars of the big and small screen such as Alexandra Daddario.
Wildflower, the love of family beats any obstacle
In Wildflower Kiernan Shipka plays Bea, daughter of two neurodivergent parents who tries to take better care of her family, but also of herself. So she alternates study and work while she tries to figure out what to do with her life and what she wants from the future. Her dilemma is in fact figuring out how to reconcile everything, grow up and face adult life without necessarily having to turn her parents’ lives upside down. A difficult and painful decision that involves sacrifices, but which ones? In the first trailer spread by Moment PicturesWildflower narrates in a dramedy tone the life of a young woman who would do anything for her family, even giving up on her dreams.
Yet the desire for independence is strong, even more so when she meets and attends a peer who asks her what she thinks of college. She bea would like to date him, but she can’t leave her parents alone. Yet, just by facing her deepest fears, she Bea will learn to take care of herself. And only in this way will she discover that her parents aren’t as helpless as she thought. The cast of wildflower is rich. In addition to Kiernan Shipka we find Charlie Plummer, Alexandra Daddario, Kannon Omachi, Brad Garrett, Reid Scott, Erika Alexander, Jean Smart And Jackie Weaver. The drama premiered at Toronto International Film Festival in 2022 and was received positively by critics, but will not arrive in US theaters until mid-March. In Italy it has not yet established a debut date, not even in streaming. The plot is inspired by one true story, that of Matt Smukler (director). Specifically, he drew inspiration from the story of his niece and parents. To the microphones of Colliderstold how it came about the idea:
In the beginning I made a small short film for my niece, so it’s based on a true story and was inspired by the real situation my niece is living. My sister-in-law was born with a mental disability and so the short was meant to help my niece get into college, which she did. Then we realized that this family has so much joy and happiness and hope and I wanted to make it into a story, so I used that as a jumping off point.