A New Kind of Wilderness review: Intimate documentary about a family returning to new normal

In A New Kind of Wilderness, which premiered at CPH: DOCX, filmmaker Silje Evensmo Jacobsen follows the quiet Norwegian family of six, where Maria Gros Vatne lives with her husband Nik Payne and four kids. Yet, expect no drastic sensationalism in the way this 83 minute-long documentary, as the vérité sensibilities of A New Kind of Wilderness presents these people just as they are- inhabiting their space without being guided by an outside voice. Yet, the more A New Kind of Wilderness eggs on for the search of an emotional anchor, the more Jacobsen's lens steers clear away from any kind of submission. I longed for that toughness in A New Kind of Wilderness, but perhaps this is a film that refuses that wound to enter into the affectionate portrait of a family at play here.