Where the Wild Things Are

"There's one in all of us."

2009 1h 41m EN

👍

6.5

SOLID

🍅

73%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

6.7

IMDB

★6.5TMDB · 2,079🍅73%Rotten Tomatoes●71Metacritic★6.7IMDB · 111,109

AdventureDramaFamilyFantasy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Max imagines running away from his mom and sailing to a far-off land where large talking beasts—Ira, Carol, Douglas, the Bull, Judith and Alexander—crown him as their king, play rumpus, build forts and discover secret hideaways.

“There's one in all of us.”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

fuboTVSubscription

Paramount Plus PremiumSubscription

Paramount Plus EssentialSubscription

Paramount+ Amazon ChannelSubscription

Paramount+ Roku Premium ChannelSubscription

Amazon VideoRent

Apple TV StoreRent

Google Play MoviesRent

YouTubeRent

Fandango At HomeRent

Spectrum On DemandRent

Amazon VideoBuy

Apple TV StoreBuy

Google Play MoviesBuy

YouTubeBuy

Fandango At HomeBuy

Cast

Max Records
Max
Catherine Keener
Mom
James Gandolfini
Carol (voice)
Lauren Ambrose
KW (voice)
Catherine O'Hara
Judith (voice)
Forest Whitaker
Ira (voice)
Chris Cooper
Douglas (voice)
Paul Dano
Alexander (voice)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Spike Jonze
Writers: Spike Jonze, Dave Eggers
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America, Germany

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

$100M budget — tentpole studio territory.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 17 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United States of America, Germany.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Spike Jonze, shot by Lance Acord. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Carter Burwell. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor James Haygood shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Max Records and Catherine Keener and James Gandolfini carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "There's one in all of us.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Spike Jonze directs. Lance Acord behind the camera. Carter Burwell scores. James Haygood cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America, Germany. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1$100M budget — tentpole studio territory.
2Released 17 years ago.
3International production across 2 countries: United States of America, Germany.
4Directed by Spike Jonze, shot by Lance Acord. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Carter Burwell. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor James Haygood shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Max Records and Catherine Keener and James Gandolfini carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "There's one in all of us.".
9IMDB entry: tt0386117 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Lance Acord
Original score: Carter Burwell
Editing: James Haygood
Production design: K.K. Barrett
Costume design: Casey Storm
Makeup / hair: Adam Johansen
VFX supervisor: Ben Gibbs
Sound: Juan Peralta
Stunt coordinator: Darrin Prescott
Runtime: 101 min · 1h 41m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $100,000,000
Box office: $100,140,916
Return: 100% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
Rotten Tomatoes: 73% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 71/100
IMDB rating: 6.7/10 · 111,109 votes
MPAA: PG

Awards

7 wins & 54 nominations total

National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Spike Jonze

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Vinicius Monteiro2026-05-23
★ 7/10
Do you remember what it was like to be nine years old? Not the sanitized, colorful version animated movies usually sell us, but the raw, confusing, and often lonely reality of childhood? If you're hitting play on Where the Wild Things Are expecting a lighthearted Toy Story-style adventure to distract the kids on a Sunday afternoon, stop right there. What we have here isn't just a distraction; it's a mirror. Over 90 minutes, we're faced with a film that dares to treat a child not as a naive little being, but as a complex creature. It's a divisive movie: to some, it's a misunderstood masterpiece; to others, a test of patience. It's almost miraculous what Jonze and Dave Eggers managed to pull off with a book of only 350 words. They didn't just respect Sendak's work; they crafted a new story that deserves to be remembered for generations. Skipping the obvious plot summaries, I'd actually compare this movie to The Graduate, but for kids. That might sound like a stretch, but both deal with protagonists caught on the border between two worlds, facing the realities of growing up and running away to safe havens of immaturity. Max, much like Benjamin Braddock, has to accept that you can't spend your life running away-a wake-up call that comes through his interactions with everyone around him. The way Max is portrayed left me intrigued and, at times, a bit confused. He's shown as such a wild and troubled kid that my first instinct was to armchair-diagnose him with some serious disorder, maybe autism, even though the movie seems to just treat him as a troubled kid from a broken home. The biggest issue for me was the lack of a clear external goal. The storyline basically boils down to Max trying not to get eaten and coming up with pointless projects, like building a giant spherical fort. This lack of direction made the story feel episodic and dragged out. I have to be honest: there were several moments where I was just bored. If there's one thing you can't argue with, though, it's the production quality. Max Records' acting is impressive; he totally sold me on his role as a defiant, complex kid. Visually, Where the Wild Things Are is a triumph of texture. Jonze went with a hybrid approach: actors inside giant suits created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop, with digitally animated faces. The result is that the monsters have real weight, take up space, and physically interact with Max. You can practically feel the dirt, the matted fur, and the sunlight hitting the dust. The cinematography creates an almost documentary-like intimacy that saves the movie when the script runs out of steam. Where the Wild Things Are is a movie of contrasts. It's visually stunning and emotionally resonant, capable of waking up dormant childhood memories, but it's also narratively slow and sometimes exhausting. It's the kind of film I respect more than I love. Spike Jonze's courage in not handing out easy answers is commendable, but it takes a toll on the pacing. I definitely recommend watching it to draw your own conclusions, but go in prepared: you might find yourself crying over Max's loneliness one minute, and fighting off sleep as they build yet another fort the next. Either way, it's an experience that won't leave you indifferent.

Production companies