The Wild Boy of Waubamik

Description

Film critic, writer, and broadcaster Thom Ernst chronicles his life growing up with an abusive father in rural Ontario.

The residents of Waubamik know about the Wild Boy, a somewhat feral child, standing near-naked in a rusty playground of weeds and discarded metal, clutching a headless doll. They know the boy has been plucked from poverty and resettled into a middle-class family. But they don’t know that something worse awaits him there.

This is a story of a system that failed, a community that looked the other way, and a family that kept silent. It is also a document of the popular culture of the 1960s, a powerful set of myths that kept a boy comforted. But ultimately, The Wild Boy of Waubamik is a story of triumph, the story of the abusive childhood of a man who grew up to become a film critic and broadcaster. It reminds us that life, even at its darkest, can surprise us with moments of joy, hope, and dreams.