Ian Thomas Malone ianthomasmalone.com Jun 15, 2026

The third act has a lot to say about the power of love to cut through life’s endless noise, a fitting dynamic for a film that’s mostly parlor tricks from a man capable of better.

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Eddie Harrison film-authority.com Mar 16, 2026 5/5

Hailed as self-indulgence at the time, Wild at heart is actually pin-sharp, on-message and an exciting, threatening trip to the wild heart of an American nightmare...

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Steve Murray Atlanta Journal-Constitution Sep 23, 2025

Wild, yes. But not much heart.

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Noah Berlatsky Everything is Horrible (Substack) Jan 23, 2025

Unless your heart is a big old lump of rock, you’ve got to swoon at least a little when Sailor serenades Lula with “Love Me Tender” at the close.

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Joe Lipsett Anatomy of a Scream Podcast Network Apr 4, 2024 3.5/5

Something of an desert noir/soap opera fever dream with completely over the top performances (MVP Diane Ladd). Cage and Dern are both incredibly hot, even if the film itself feels slightly disjointed and never truly comes together cohesively.

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Terry Francis Southern Voice (Atlanta) May 9, 2023 2/4

Wild at Heart's materials are so thin that the Lynchisms appear to be the film's principal reason for being. As the film runs on, the flaws accrue.

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Rene Jordan El Nuevo Herald (Miami) Dec 6, 2022

A film that seems like a grand practical joke. [Full review in Spanish]

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Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review Apr 22, 2022 3.5/4

Accepting Wild at Heart as a flame-fueled story in a Lynchian technique helps to not only concur with the film's harshest critics, but also celebrate the very qualities they condemn.

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Chase Burns The Stranger (Seattle, WA) Jan 20, 2022

I have a hard time focusing during Lynch's films, but so many of Wild at Heart's extreme scenes stick with me.

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Matt Brunson Film Frenzy Jun 7, 2021 2.5/4

I enjoyed it more back in 1990, though I'd be hard-pressed to recall exactly why -- viewing it now, it's only a marginally satisfying experience, with some potent set-pieces diluted by an almost juvenile predilection on Lynch's part.

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Nicholas Bell IONCINEMA.com Nov 4, 2020 4/5

There is no denying the fun to be had with Wild at Heart. Its irresistibly charismatic leads draw you into Lynch's anything goes, 50s-inflected nightmare with an ease and insanity that's unlike anything put to film before or after.

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Yasser Medina Cinefilia Oct 8, 2020 7/10

I don't think at all that 'Wild Heart' is one of the great works of David Lynch, but I must say it is a wildly entertaining road movie about love, passion and freedom. [Full review in Spanish]

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Mike Massie Gone With The Twins Sep 25, 2020 7/10

Most of the time it's unquestionably disturbing, but every so often a hint of deeper meaning pokes through the strangeness.

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Leigh Paatsch Herald Sun (Australia) Apr 22, 2020 3/5

A non-stop fun-fest that doesn't have tried to be groovy, but goes to great pains to make sure things stay that way.

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Jonathan Rosenbaum Sight & Sound Jan 11, 2020

Perhaps the major problem is that despite Cage and Dern's best efforts, Lynch is ultimately interested only in iconography, not characters at all.

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Hilary Mantel The Spectator Apr 11, 2019

The scattergun nastiness is, after a while, profoundly unaffecting.

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Sean Mulvihill FanboyNation.com Oct 29, 2018 5/5

Lynch brings forth a world where evil and weirdness coexist, the two being these obstacles that arise in the way of a romance unlike any other.

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Scott Tobias The Dissolve Apr 27, 2015 4/5

There's a spontaneous, anything-can-happen feeling to it that's the primary appeal of any road movie.

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Christopher Runyon Movie Mezzanine Feb 21, 2014 B+

A perverse, violent, nutso depiction of romance that even Bonnie and Clyde would shrug off as too hardcore for them.

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Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Feb 10, 2013 B

Should be perceived as a wicked comedy.

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