Wildcat – A Heartbreaking Documentary

With global warming and other human activities contributing to the extinction of countless species, conservationism has never been more important. Though for some, there is often more to that story. On paper, the aptly-tiled Wildcat may seem like a conservationist film but in fact, this documentary offers so much more. Delivering a heartbreaking story of course about conservationism, it also touches such themes as mental health as a young man found refuge in taking care of animals in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest, specifically wildcats. The intimate footage assembled here puts viewers right into the rainforest for better or worse, highlighting the beauty and the cruelty of the environment, while pulling them into the relationship between a young British war veteran suffering from depression and PTSD and the wildcats under his care. As much as the film was about saving animals, it also served as a redemption story of sorts and to its benefit, it more than succeeds at both and will surely elicit plenty of emotion in the process. Regardless, the animals are likely to score points too.

As mentioned, Wildcat follows a young man named Harry Turner, a British war veteran suffering from depression and PTSD who found a chance at rehabilitation thanks to an American scientist named Samantha Zwicker and her non-profit animal conservation program running out of a section of the Peruvian Amazon rainforest. Contending with illegal mining and deforestation, Harry, Sam, and other attempted to save and rehabilitate animals in order to later reintroduce them into the wild. As far as Harry was concerned, he found meaning in what he was doing arguably as a way to make up for what he did or didn’t do during the war. Things suddenly changed for him upon meeting an orphaned baby ocelot for whom he primarily took care of. Due to his past, perhaps that relationship held more significance as he found himself personally invested in the wildcat’s progress. That being said, it wasn’t always easy to do so. With Sam to lean on, Harry had a strong support system but that system was not going to last forever and when that system started to crack, the bad thoughts and feelings started to trickle back to the surface.

A PhD student, Sam had a life of her own back in Seattle, using her experience in Peru as part of her program. Coming in and out of the operation, an overwhelming feeling of loneliness set in on top of the pressure he was already putting on himself as Harry missed not only her but also his own family for whom he hadn’t seen in almost 2 years. Acting on those feelings, the frustration and the pain, made for some tense moments for Sam as her own past left her preconditioned to keep helping and not give up on what would be perceived as a lost cause. Therefore, at that point, the only question was whether Harry would live to see the fruits of he and Sam’s labor. Watching him on the edge and Sam trying to hold it all together was truly heartbreaking through the good and bad times as one could connect to with the former’s motivations even though he didn’t always go about them the right way. One can’t help but just want what’s best for him and that he finds his own happy ending as well as Sam despite the fact that she did not nearly get as much attention.

At the end of the day, offering a snapshot of the overarching issue, maybe it doesn’t add all that much to that debate but nevertheless, is still a gripping human story that will strike an emotional chord.

*still courtesy of Amazon Studios*

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.