Frightfest 2024: ‘Bookworm’ Review
Stars: Elijah Wood, Nell Fisher, Michael Smiley, Morgana O’Reilly | Written by Toby Harvard | Directed by Ant Timpson
Director Ant Timpson reunites with Come to Daddy screenwriter Toby Harvard, star Elijah Wood and co-star Michael Smiley for the utterly charming wilderness adventure comedy, Bookworm, set in New Zealand. Technically it’s also a creature feature, though don’t expect too much in the way of scares in that department.
Nell Fisher (who’s set to be a much bigger name, as she’s about to co-star in Stranger Things) plays precocious 11-year-old Mildred, who has spent most of her childhood devouring books and has a prodigious vocabulary to show for it. When her single mother (Morgana O’Reilly) ends up in a coma due to a toaster-based incident, Mildred is suddenly saddled with her deadbeat dad, Strawn Wise (Wood), a failed American magician (he prefers “illusionist”), who she’s never met before.
Spying her chance, Mildred persuades her eager-to-please dad to accompany her on a camping trip into the New Zealand wilderness, where she hopes to collect a $50,000 reward by capturing photographic evidence of the legendary Canterbury Panther, a big cat that is supposedly stalking the region. However, the pair’s father-daughter bonding is soon challenged by a number of obstacles, not least an encounter with a couple of fellow hikers in matching jumpers (Michael Smiley and Vanessa Stacey).
Fisher proves a star in the making as Mildred, delivering a delightful performance that’s filled with complexity, by turns sarcastic, prickly, fiercely intelligent, sensitive and full of life. She also has dynamite comic delivery skills (if Stranger Things don’t cast her in a similar role, they are missing a trick) and creates touching chemistry with Wood.
For his part, Wood is wonderful as Strawn, who’s both a bit of a loser and out of his depth, but trying hard to make amends for being an absent father. He may be pathetic, but there’s a sweetness to his character that’s hard to resist, and Wood plays it to perfection. There’s also strong support from Smiley and Stacey, though this is Fisher and Wood’s film, through and through, to the point where it’s almost a two-hander.
The script is beautifully written, filled with great one-liners and laugh-out-loud moments, but also nailing a degree of emotional complexity in the central relationship. In addition, Harvard clearly has a love of children’s adventure movies and the film captures that atmosphere nicely, particularly when the Canterbury Panther shows up.
On top of that, Bookworm looks stunning throughout, courtesy of cinematographer Daniel Katz, who makes full use of the expansive New Zealand landscapes, and conjures up some gorgeous lighting to boot. And yes, the fact that this film features Elijah Wood’s return to said landscapes after the Lord of the Rings trilogy is unlikely to be lost on its core audience, adding a little extra frisson of joy.
In short, Bookworm is a lovely little wilderness adventure movie that is well worth seeking out, delivering laughter, adventure and touching emotion in equal measure. It also confirms Timpson as a directorial talent to watch and marks what is sure to be a sterling jumping-off point for Nell Fisher’s future career.
**** 4/5
Bookworm screened as part of this year’s Frightfest London.
