Wildflower Is Not Your Typical Coming-Of-Age Story

Wildflower isn’t your typical coming-of-age story.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina star Kiernan Shipka plays Bea Johnson, a girl who has grown up in a non-traditional household due to both of her parents being intellectually disabled. Based on a true story and a documentary of the same name, we see Bea navigate life from birth to graduation, becoming extremely self-sufficient while living through the most formative years of her life.

Wildflower moves away from your traditional coming-of-age story that relies heavily on friendship and relationships and, instead, hones in on the complexities of family and the relationship between a child and their parent. While we still see the exploration of first love, young friendships, partying, and leaving home for the first time, it’s all through the lens of family dynamics. The bulk of the movie tells the story of Bea in her senior year of high school as she balances school, taking care of her parents, and working part-time. We see extremely vulnerable moments between them, especially as she struggles with her decision to go to college due to her not wanting to leave her parents.

In an attempt to cover all of classic coming-of-age elements, the scenes jump around very quickly. We see Bea as a baby and then immediately as a 10-year-old. After a car accident, she’s sent to live with her aunt and uncle and then suddenly is back living with her parents with no explanation. Because of that, some of the scenes felt jumpy and out of place and there are times characters are introduced only to be seen in a scene or two and become irrelevant.

All in all, Kiernan Shipka delivers a real and raw performance that is full of emotion as she depicts this real-life story. Wildflower will make you question what makes a good parent and recognize that a non-traditional family isn’t a bad thing.

Wildflower is streaming on Hulu.