Wild Rose is a 2018 British musical drama film directed by Tom Harper and starring Jessie Buckley, Julie Walters, Sophie Okonedo, Jamie Sives, Craig Parkinson, James Harkness, Janey Godley, Daisy Littlefield, Ryan Kerr, Adam Mitchell, and Nicole Kerr. The screenplay was written by Nicole Taylor.

Wild Rose
Theatrical release poster
Directed byTom Harper
Written byNicole Taylor
Produced byFaye Ward
Starring
CinematographyGeorge Steel
Edited byMark Eckersley
Music byJack Arnold
Production
companies
Distributed byEntertainment One
Release dates
  • 8 September 2018 (2018-09-08) (TIFF)
  • 12 April 2019 (2019-04-12) (United Kingdom)
Running time
101 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Box office$7.1 million[1][2]

The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on 8 September 2018 and was released on 12 April 2019, by Entertainment One in the United Kingdom.

The film received positive reviews, with Buckley earning a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance. A stage musical based on the film, is expected to receive its world premiere in 2025.[3]

Plot

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Rose-Lynn Harlan, aspiring country singer and single mother of two from Glasgow, is released after a year in prison for attempted drug smuggling after throwing a package of heroin over the wall into HM Prison Cornton Vale despite claiming that she did not know what was in the package. She has lost her longstanding job in the house band at Glasgow's Grand Ole Opry, as the manager won't employ a convicted criminal. Rose-Lynn's mother, Marion, who has been caring for Rose-Lynn's young children, encourages her to give up her music dream to focus on a steady job and taking care of her children.

Rose-Lynn takes a cleaning job at Susannah's large house. Susannah's children overhear Rose-Lynn singing while she is cleaning and tell their mother. Rose-Lynn asks Susannah for money to travel to Nashville to try to make it as a musician, but she declines. Instead, she contacts BBC Radio presenter, Bob Harris, sending him a recording of Rose-Lynn singing; he offers to meet with her if she comes to London. Rose-Lynn appears before a judge to ask him to lift her probationary 7pm to 7am curfew so she can travel, and he agrees. She travels by train to London, and sits in on a live performance by the visiting Ashley McBryde. Harris encourages her to keep performing and figure out what she has to say so she can start writing her own songs.

Susannah offers Rose-Lynn a performing gig at her upcoming house party, where she intends to ask her guests to contribute to Rose-Lynn's Nashville fund in lieu of gifts. Rose-Lynn asks Marion to watch the children in the week leading up to the party so she can rehearse, but Marion declines to cancel her holiday plans, so she is forced to shuttle her children around to various friends, who agree to watch them. The day before the performance, Susannah's husband gets Rose-Lynn alone and tells her he knows about her criminal conviction and she is to stop working for them after her performance.

Rose-Lynn's son breaks his arm while briefly left unattended at home, and the doctors at the hospital say they cannot put a cast on until after Rose-Lynn's planned performance. Marion arrives to help and Rose-Lynn begs her to stay and watch her son so she can get to the party; Marion agrees but criticises her strongly for neglecting her family. Rose-Lynn rushes to the performance but, once on stage, breaks down immediately. She confesses to Susannah her guilt for her criminal behaviour and not being there for her children, and her belief that her conviction and having children at a young age are permanent barriers to her musical dream, then leaves.

Rose-Lynn gets a job as a waitress and dedicates herself to her children. Some time later, Marion, seeing that Rose-Lynn has accepted her responsibilities, presents her with a large sum of money she has saved, enough to travel to Nashville. Rose-Lynn tries to reject it, but Marion expresses her regret about failing to accomplish her goals due to having children. Rose-Lynn travels to Nashville and finds how difficult it is to find gigs and get noticed. She sneaks on stage at the Ryman Auditorium during a backstage tour and sings an impromptu song to the empty building. A security guard approaches her afterward, offering to introduce her to a record producer, but Rose-Lynn decides to return to Glasgow, having realised that her future lies in her home town.

One year later, Rose-Lynn performs an original song at Celtic Connections titled “Glasgow (No Place Like Home)”, receiving raucous applause. Bob Harris, Susannah and her children are in the audience.

Cast

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The film also features cameo appearances from Kacey Musgraves, Ashley McBryde and Bob Harris.[4]

Release

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(L-R) Nicole Taylor, Tom Harper, and Jessie Buckley discuss the film in 2018

The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on 8 September 2018.[5] Shortly after, NEON acquired distribution rights to the film.[6] It screened at the BFI London Film Festival on 15 October 2018[7] and at South by Southwest in March 2019.[8] It was released in the United Kingdom on 12 April 2019, by Entertainment One and in the United States on 21 June 2019 by NEON.[9][10]

Soundtrack

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Reception

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Wild Rose received positive reviews from film critics. It has a 92% approval from 194 critic reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, with an average of 7.8/10. The site's consensus reads: "There's no shortage of star-is-born stories, but Wild Rose proves they can still be thoroughly entertaining -- and marks its own transcendent moment for lead Jessie Buckley."[11] Metacritic reports a score of 80/100, based on 32 critics, indicating "Generally favorable reviews".[12]

Accolades

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Year Award Category Nominated work Result
2020 British Academy Film Awards[13] Best Actress in a Leading Role Jessie Buckley Nominated
Critics' Choice Awards[14][15] Best Original Song "Glasgow (No Place Like Home)" Won[a]
British Academy Scotland Awards[16] Best Feature Film Wild Rose Won
Best Actress - Film Jessie Buckley Won
British Independent Film Awards[17] Best British Independent Film Wild Rose Nominated
Best Actress Jessie Buckley Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Julie Walters Nominated
Best Music Jack Arnold Won
Best Screenplay Nicole Taylor Nominated
Best Debut Screenwriter Nominated
Best Casting Kahleen Crawford Nominated
Best Costume Design Anna Robbins Nominated
Best Make Up & Hair Design Jody Williams Nominated
Best Sound Lee Walpole, Colin Nicolson & Stuart Hilliker Nominated
National Board of Review[18] Top Ten Independent Films Wild Rose Won
Gold Derby Awards Best Original Song "Glasgow (No Place Like Home)" Nominated
Hollywood Critics Association[19] Won
Breakthrough Performance - Actress Jessie Buckley Won
London Film Critics Circle Awards[20] British/Irish Film of the Year Wild Rose Nominated
British/Irish Actress of the Year Jessie Buckley Nominated
Breakthrough British/Irish Filmmaker of the Year Nicole Taylor Nominated
Houston Film Critics Society Awards[21] Best Original Song "Glasgow (No Place Like Home)" Won

Notes

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References

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  1. ^ "Wild Rose". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  2. ^ "Wild Rose". The Numbers. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  3. ^ "The Scottish Bafta-winning film set for showcase Edinburgh theatre run". scotsman.com. The Scotsman. 29 May 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  4. ^ Hallam, Neil (25 February 2019). "Wild Rose Film Review - February 2019". Six Shooter Country. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  5. ^ "Wild Rose". Toronto International Film Festival. Archived from the original on 30 October 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  6. ^ Lang, Brent (9 September 2018). "Toronto: Neon Nabs 'Wild Rose'". Variety. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  7. ^ "Wild Rose". BFI Film Festival. Archived from the original on 30 October 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  8. ^ Kilday, Gregg (16 January 2019). "SXSW: Olivia Wilde, Seth Rogen, Charlize Theron and Matthew McConaughey to Premiere New Work". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  9. ^ Billington, Alex (23 January 2019). "UK Trailer for Country Singer Film 'Wild Rose' Starring Jessie Buckley". First Showing. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  10. ^ Saathoff, Evan (1 April 2019). "The WILD ROSE Trailer Wants To Pull Your Heartstrings". birthmoviesdeath.com. Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  11. ^ "Wild Rose". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  12. ^ "Wild Rose Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  13. ^ "The full list of nominations for the Baftas 2020". The Guardian. 7 January 2020.
  14. ^ "Critics' Choice Awards: 'The Irishman' Leads With 14 Nominations |". The Hollywood Reporter. 8 December 2019.
  15. ^ "'Rocketman,' 'Joker,' 'Wild Rose' Take Home Top Music Prizes at 2020 Critics' Choice Awards". Billboard. 12 January 2020.
  16. ^ Ritman, Alex (3 November 2019). "'Wild Rose' Triumphs at BAFTA Scotland Awards". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  17. ^ "Winners & Nominations · BIFA". British Independent Film Awards. 21 October 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  18. ^ "2019 Award Winners". National Board of Review. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  19. ^ "Full Winners List from the 2020 Hollywood Critics Association Awards". Hollywood Critics Association. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  20. ^ Parfitt, Orlando (17 December 2019). "'The Souvenir' leads nominees for 2020 London Critics' Circle Film Awards". Screen Daily. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  21. ^ "The Houston Film Critics Society Award Winners for 2019". Houston Film Critics Society. 3 January 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
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