Head into “The Wilds” on Amazon Prime

Amazon Prime’s new series The Wilds (filmed outside of Auckland at the same time I was there!) premiered last Thursday and, within a week, I have already crushed all 10 episodes. 

The story focuses around eight teenage girls – from “wildly” different backgrounds – who are deserted on a remote island when their plane crashes en-route to a retreat. At least, that’s the initial premise. As the story unfolds, you quickly learn that things are not as they appear, as you uncover more and more about the truth of the situation through each episode.

While the reveals are addictive AF (and why I crushed four episodes in one night), the interpersonal dynamics of the group, and how they rally together to survive, are perhaps the most compelling.  Each girl faces their own set of battles, both within themselves and within the group, that challenges their identities and pushes them to their limits. 

The show also flips back-and-forth in time to tell the backstory of the girls before they arrived on the island, as well as after they are “recovered” and being interrogated by investigators. Each episode focuses on a different character, and serves to inform you of the experiences that have made them who they are, and how they have been perhaps transformed by their time on the island.

Give it a go if you’re a fan of Lost, Survivor, the Canadian YA book “The Hatchet” (just me?) and more!