--- title: "Into the Wild: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/into-the-wild/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/into-the-wild" critics_score: 71 critics_reviews: 6 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Into the Wild (2007): what the critics said Critics' score 71 from 6 reviews: 4 positive, 1 mixed, 1 negative. Most critics respond warmly to Sean Penn’s account of Christopher McCandless’s journey, with praise clustering around the landscape photography and performances. Emile Hirsch is widely credited with making McCandless’s idealism compelling, while the supporting cast gives weight to the people he encounters. The wilderness sequences convey the attraction of his wandering even for reviewers who question his choices. Several reviews also find warmth and emotional force in the film’s attention to human connections. The main divide concerns how closely Penn shares his protagonist’s view of himself. The AV Club finds that the loose style respects McCandless’s contradictions, while Slant Magazine argues that romanticisation takes the place of analysis. Reservations also gather around the length, forced narrative structure and passages of overworked philosophising. The spread is wide: admirers find an affecting journey, while detractors struggle with a film they consider too indulgent towards its central character. ## The AV Club — Scott Tobias Rating A-. 20 September 2007. Penn honors McCandless’s slippery nature and captures the bittersweet quality of the story intuitively, even as he is clearly awed by the grand adventure. The loose style suits a life lived on the fly, with vividly sketched supporting characters. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/into-the-wild-1798203053) ## Radio Times — Jamie Russell Rating 4/5. The film movingly explores the American wilderness through McCandless's Thoreau-inspired quest, with magnificent cinematography and a strong lead performance that balances idealism and selfishness. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-eo08jm/into-the-wild/) ## Time Out — Dave Calhoun Rating 3/5. 12 November 2007. Penn is overly sympathetic and uncritical toward McCandless, limiting viewer judgment of the character, but the photography, pacing, and supporting performances are handled deftly. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/into-the-wild) ## Empire — Dan Jolin 28 October 2007. Penn delivers his most ambitious film yet, a beautiful and thought-provoking road movie that profoundly affects viewers with its depiction of McCandless's odyssey. The critic singles out the strong performances, especially Hirsch's, and the emphasis on nature photography and human connections. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/wild-2-review/) ## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan 21 September 2007. Penn’s warmest and most celebratory film is a completely congratulatory portrait that mythologizes McCandless as an avatar of advanced consciousness. It succeeds due to Hirsch’s appealing openness and life force, along with striking photography and strong music. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-sep-21-et-wild21-story.html) ## Screen Daily 4 September 2007. Festival review. Penn delivers an exhilarating if unwieldy road movie that hymns nature, humanity and freedom while establishing him as a filmmaker of vision, buoyed by strong performances and visuals. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/into-the-wild/4034298.article) ## Sight and Sound — Tim Robey 1 December 2007. Penn's adaptation of the true story effectively channels McCandless's wanderlust and the film's epic scope through strong landscape photography and Hirsch's performance, though some narrative structuring feels forced. [Read the review](http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/review/4100) ## Slant Magazine — Nick Schager 7 September 2007. Romanticization takes precedence over analysis in this exasperating adaptation that buys into McCandless’s self-mythologizing without sufficient complication. The wilderness sequences convey wanderlust effectively, but mannered affectations become a burdensome drag. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/into-the-wild/) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw 9 November 2007. Sean Penn achieves new maturity and depth as director in this affecting true story of Christopher McCandless, though some touches of machismo feel misjudged. The film offers a richly rendered account of landscape and mood with strong performances, especially from Emile Hirsch and Hal Holbrook. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/nov/09/seanpenn.drama) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Sura Wood 30 August 2007. Festival review. The critic describes the film as extravagantly ambitious but unfocused, with flights of brilliance, self-indulgence, and thrilling nature cinematography. It is hampered by a reliance on pretentious ruminations and lacks sufficient perspective on the protagonist. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/wild-2-158864/) ## The New York Times — A.O. Scott 21 September 2007. Penn’s adaptation is tragic in structure but expansive and giddy in spirit, communicating delight in open spaces and the glory of the landscape. It portrays McCandless as both troubled boy and spiritual pilgrim, alive to the mysteries of experience. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/21/movies/21wild.html) ## The Times — Cosmo Landesman 11 November 2007. Into the Wild is a terrific film, poetic and passionate, that hits emotional chords and reminds viewers of the dreams of youth, though it is far too long. Emile Hirsch carries the film with a proficient performance as the idealistic McCandless. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/north-america-travel/us-travel/california/into-the-wild-the-sunday-times-review-pnxrjjccc5s) ## Variety 1 September 2007. Festival review. Penn delivers a compelling, ambitious work that will satisfy most admirers of the book. Its style and substance feel organically linked with more room for humor and warmth, influenced by Malick but satisfying in its poetic flights. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2007/film/reviews/into-the-wild-4-1200556779/) ## /Film — Peter Sciretta Rating 8/10. 11 September 2007. Festival review. The critic finds the film surprisingly enjoyable and one of the best of 2007 so far, praising its moments, characters, self-revelation, and breathtaking cinematography while noting some pretentious elements and length. [Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/497076/tiff-movie-review-into-the-wild/) ## Eye for Film — Amber Wilkinson Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 9 November 2007. Penn’s film is an immense labour of love that explores the relationship between man and nature with huge scope, praised for its impressive landscape cinematography and strong supporting performances; the central character feels under-fleshed and the runtime overly long. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/into-the-wild-film-review-by-amber-wilkinson) ## Paste — Amanda Petrusich Fi1m's normalised score 35/100 (inferred from the text). 2 November 2007. The film adaptation struggles because the central character is unsympathetic and self-righteous, making it difficult to engage with his journey or motivations. Penn's script feels overly didactic with heavy voiceover use, offering little beyond a cautionary note about wilderness survival. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/sean-penn/into-the-wild) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/into-the-wild.md