The Wild Adventure of the Wilde Sisters

Bruce Von Stiers

I just finished watching a film that I consider to pretty much be the best comedy that I've seen in the last year. Having reviewed several comedies during that time, I can say this one rises to the top of my list.

The title of the film is The Wilde Girls. It is a period piece, taking place in 1932. The film is about two young women, Tinsley Wilde and Mattie Wilde, who are sisters. Well, half-sisters as Tinsley rather haughtily mentions to someone. There seems to be more than a bit of rivalry between the two sisters.

Tinsley and Mattie are the daughters of Cornelius Wilde. The Wilde family is very wealthy and considered American Royalty. But that was before the stock market crash of 1929. It seems that Cornelius had lost most of his fortune in the crash. Not being able to shoulder the shame, he took his own life.

This sets up things for the rest of the film. The two girls, Tinsley and Mattie, are basically orphans now. Their mother had disappeared years ago, and their only other relatives are two aunts, Beatrice and Florence.

As New York society has shunned the two young women, Beatrice is sending them to a family home in the Pacific Northwest. But all is not what it seems.

Tinsley is the typical spoiled socialite who has been pampered all of her life. She treats pretty much everyone with disdain, as they are far beneath her social statis. Mattie is a bit more grounded. Tinsley is somewhat flighty while Mattie is more than a bit studious.

Right away the women endure mishaps. They must ride in a dinghy to their location and one of Tinsley's steamer trunks falls into the water. Much to the delight of a shark that's swimming near them. But the two sisters' real trouble starts after they disembark on the beach near the house they're supposed to stay at.

No one meets them at the beach, a wolf stalks and then chases them, they end up in a tree and finally, their remaining luggage gets washed out to sea.

They finally got the ride they were supposed to have in a car with a guy named Button. But he's not what he seems and this whole trip just might to be something other than either Tinsley or Mattie had imagined.

Moving on, the sisters steal a gun, roll a car on top of a guy, kill a bear and blow up a truck. The truck belongs to Silas Colter, who reluctantly takes the girls in.

There are a lot of bits and pieces to this film. There is Button, who may or may not have been hired to kill the sisters. There is Silas, who is an outdoorsman, but also a bit of a mystery. There is a police detective in Port Townsend, Hogart, who listens to the sister's story but finds it a bit too fanciful. Or maybe the two of them are psychopathic killers. Then there is Aunt Beatrice. Is she really scheming to take all family's remaining wealth and possibly have the sisters killed? All of these bits and pieces are wrapped in humorous moments and sometimes in physical comedy.

Lydia Pearl Pentz was Tinsley Wilde. She co-starred in the horror film Ever After, guest starred on the second season opener for Matlock and starred in The Professor I'm Dating.

Cali Scolari played Mattie Wilde. She has starred in several short films, including Mirror Image and Lovesick.

Teddy Smith played Silas Colter. Previously, he starred in the sci-fi adventure Chrome.

Susan Goforth played Beatrice Wilde. She is the co-founder of Pendragon Pictures, which produced this film. Tomorrow's Today and 10 Days In A Madhouse are two of the films she's appeared in. Heidi Kravitz played the other aunt, Florence Wilde. She appeared in 10 Days In a Madhouse.

Matt Silver played Button. He starred in the horror mystery Blood Lust and was a producer for Miranda's Victim.

Jeremy Moller played the police detective, Hogart. He co-starred in a film I reviewed a while back, Off The Line.

Besides Button, there were two other hired killers running around, Helena and Larry Hammer. Lydia Scheuermann played Helena. This film is her first IMDB listing. Roman Dubrovkiy played Larry. He starred in the horror short film, The Color Thief.

Chelsea Janzen played Louise Wilde, the mother of Mattie and Tinsley. She co-starred in the short drama, Mythos, and the limited series Awkward Moments With Jesus.

W. Bernard Bauman was C.C. Cantilever, the family's attorney who is working with the aunts. Bogdan Yakubets and Andy Hundis also had small roles in the film.

The film's producers were Susan Goforth, Matt Silver and Andy Hundis. Jenni Manus was an Associate Producer as well as the props master for the film.

The film was written, directed and edited by Timothy Hines. He directed Tomorrow's Today, 10 Days In A Madhouse and Bug Wars. Hines is also the other co-founder of Pendragon Pictures. The assistant Directors were Mathew Bay and Alan Wilder.

There were several songs in the film. They were From Shore to Shore, May The Road Rise Up, Hard Times Come Again No More, When We Were Little Girls, Nobody Knows You, Do Not Stand By My Grave and Once And Forever Again, all performed by Goldilocks and the Honey Bears. The song Keep On The Sunny Side was performed by Andy Hundis.

Aside from the comedy, the scenery in the film was magnificent. The filming was done entirely on location in Washington State and the Pacific Northwest. Having traveled the Washington coast and hiked Mount Ranier, I've seen how beautiful it is there. The film captured the essence of Washington and the Pacific Northwest very well.

As I mentioned at the start, I feel that The Wilde Girls is one of the best comedies I have seen recently. Not only there scheming, greedy relatives, there are angry bears, lipstick eating racoons, rabid wolves and overly shot small game animals.

But The Wilde Girls is also a tale of growth and understanding. Tinsley and Mattie might have started out the film not really liking each other, then having an unbreakable bond by it's end.

As of this writing, The Wilde Girls is available to watch for free on the Plex streaming service. It will be available on February 13th on Amazon Prime, Fandango, Apple TV, Roku and Tubi.

You can learn more about the film, and view its official trailer at https://pendragonpictures.com/the-wilde-girls

The film also has a Facebook page you can check out https://www.facebook.com/TheWildeGirls

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© 2026 Bruce E Von Stiers