America is in the depths of the Great Depression. Families drift apart when faraway jobs beckon. In this masterful, atmospheric adventure, a courageous young girl (Meredith Salenger) confronts overwhelming odds when she embarks on a cross-country search for her father. During her extraordinary odyssey, she forms a close bond with two diverse traveling companions: a magnificent, protective wolf, and a hardened drifter (John Cusack). A brilliant, moving tapestry, woven of courage and perseverance.
This movie contains 6 potentially triggering events.
Stray puppy gets left behind when Natty has to escape. Nothing seen technically abandoned, since she leave the pup where her friend can find it, but I still found it pretty sad to see her chain the puppy up and run off. Based on an earlier conversation in the film, it sounds like her friend has helped her out with stray dogs before, so the outcome seems positive.
Off screen, rabbit is killed by the wolf for food. No dying or killing is seen or heard, just the corpse in the wolf’s mouth, followed by the girl attempting to butcher/skin it. Then it is shown cooking over a fire and eaten.
The film largely focuses on the plight of the impoverished during the Great Depression. The main protagonist experiences a wide range of homeless situations: sleeping unsheltered in the wilderness, the kindness of strangers taking her in, as well as a shanty town later in the film.
There is a scene where a fox gets into a hen house and chases hens, followed by the wolf fighting the fox to defend the hens. When the owner comes out, he shoots at both animals. I think there was a yelp to indicate he got the fox, but the editing of the film makes this unclear. No hens are shown dead or dying. The fox is not shown dead or dying either.
Dog & wolf put into fighting ring; handler shown whipping the wolf, while he was attempting to escape after the dog fight is finished.
Chickens get chased by a fox; the fox and the wolf fight. Animals get shot at by people.
A bull gets stolen from a farm.