Wildflower: The Documentary Movie Review (2020)
An intimate documentary about a teenager navigating life with her developmentally challenged parents, Wildflower is an emotionally honest look at responsibility, identity, and compassion.
I recently watched the movie Wildflower, about a teenager who has recently had an accident, is unconscious in the hospital, and is telling the story of her life with her extended family and parents with intellectual disabilities. The movie lets you know that it is based on a true story, so it was less than a minute after it ended that I happened upon this documentary.
Wildflower: The Documentary is about Sheila and Mike Stahl, two intellectually challenged adults who met, got married, and had their daughter, Christina. The film picks up with Christina in her later high school years, trying to manage her parents, her household, her job, her future, and possibly college.
This is a very candid and observational look into the lives of the Stahl family. Mike was in a motorcycle accident without a helmet in his 20s and suffered a traumatic brain injury. Sheila was born with one side of her brain not working. So when Christina was born, she was very quickly given responsibilities that other children would never have had. For example, Mike taught Christina to drive at 9 years old because he was scared he’d have a medical emergency, and Sheila can’t drive.
Growing up in this family, Christina expresses her fears about her own intellectual abilities. When she was a child, she worried that she would be like her parents, but as she has aged, she is clearly a self-sufficient, intelligent young woman who can rest assured of her intellectual capacity.
There are many unfiltered frustrations expressed by both Sheila’s and Mike’s mothers, as well as by Christina. Sheila is a woman who will call someone over and over, asking the same things dozens of times. Every day. She doesn’t clean up after herself and frequently makes excuses to get to work early just so that she can play the slots. You see the conflict within Christina, who used to feel love for her mother, but is now at the end of her rope, only experiencing her frustrations. I empathize with Christina, whose grandparents expect her to continue caring for her parents after they’re gone. She loves her parents, but it’s a lot.
While the fictional movie has a softer tone, the documentary feels more layered and personal. These are real people with real emotions, and emotions aren’t always neat and tidy. I’m glad that Wildflower: The Documentary lets you in on the real story of the Stahls (which is very close to the narrative in the Wildflower movie), and that they provide an update at the end.
*Note – Sadly, it appears that Sheila passed away in 2025. May her memory be a blessing.
Runtime: 76 minutes
Motion Picture Rating: Not Rated (I would say PG)
Languages Spoken In The Film: English
Should You Watch It? Yes
Did I Cry? Nope
My Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
Available: Free on Tubi or may be available for free on other streaming platforms
