Untamed, Netflix’s latest collaboration with Mark L. Smith of The Revenant acclaim, is anything but what its title suggests. The six-part miniseries lacks the fierce immersion and brilliant camerawork of Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Oscar-winning film and is a far cry from Peter Berg’s viciously entertaining American Primeval, which Smith penned earlier this year.
There are elements of Untamed that feel reminiscent of True Detective’s best seasons, but not nearly enough vision or excitement to scratch the surface of HBO’s elite crime series. Eric Bana, who plays the self-destructive National Parks Service agent Kyle Turner, offers what feels like his best emulation of Pedro Pascal’s Joel Miller in The Last of Us, but isn’t given much to work with outside his written caricature.
Untamed does surprisingly offer some of the soapy melodrama seen throughout Yellowstone, although the cast and performances of the latter show are far more convincing than the former. Untamed’s characters never really achieve strong chemistry throughout, even between series leads Bana and Lily Santiago, who plays former Los Angeles cop Naya Vazquez. The acting in Untamed is frankly way below the standard grade, from the bottom to the top.
Untamed Is Ironically Bland, Predictable & Uninspired In Most Areas
Untamed Doesn’t Maintain An Intriguing Tone, Plot, Or Identity
Untamed’s premise is intriguing enough to warrant a first-episode watch. A teenage girl mysteriously falls off the edge of El Capitan and opens up a police investigation that could connect to other dark secrets in Yosemite National Park. It’s after the first episode that everything really starts to feel plain and undercooked. Even some of the technical aspects, such as cinematography, blocking, and direction, can create as mundane a viewing experience as watching a PC screensaver.
Slow-burning TV shows aren’t for everyone, but what they must maintain is tension, which Untamed struggles to hold onto. The dialogue has a few shining moments, and there are a handful of twists along the way that hook us well enough to carry on its lazily beaten path, but these winding trails ultimately lead to narrative dead ends. There’s just nothing extraordinary about this show, and certainly nothing that people haven’t seen before.
Untamed severely lacks a pulse to the point where it becomes a burden to keep checking for one.
Untamed severely lacks a pulse to the point where it becomes a burden to keep checking for one. Characters hardly translate into being anything more than their plot-driven motivations, severely lacking a human element that makes it hard to genuinely connect or care. Between the obvious bad guys, overhanded sympathy plays, and AI-generated wildlife (one early scene included a deer that looked straight out of a video game), Untamed is mostly devoid of expertise and execution.
Untamed Might Have Been Much More Effective As A Movie
It Really Stretches Its Thin Plot Over The Course Of 6 Dull Episodes
What Untamed is missing more than anything else is a definitive and stylized identity. Had this script been in the hands of one director with a singular vision, Untamed would likely have been more gripping and effective. This is not to excuse some of the flaws of the story itself, which is prone to wander quite aimlessly when it’s not spewing on-the-nose exposition based on evidence too easily found or conveniently surfaced.
Untamed’s lack of identity makes it feel like there’s nothing concrete to hold onto or come back for. Its setting, like its runtime, may have been too expansive for its own good.
Untamed would also have been sharper with fewer supporting characters, some of whom have very minor roles that only exist to add one note of plot progression, whether they turn out to be relevant or not. Untamed is as widespread as its expansive Yosemite setting, when it could really have benefited from more containment and a stronger sense of homeostasis.
By comparison, a series like Ransom Canyon, which Netflix recently renewed for a second season, established a strong sense of community and tone off the bat, whereas Untamed largely features an assortment of rogue agents all stretched out in a sprawl. Untamed’s lack of identity makes it feel like there’s nothing concrete to hold onto or come back for. Its setting, like its runtime, may have been too expansive for its own good.
Related
Ransom Canyon Review: I Think Netflix Has Officially Found Its Own Well-Crafted & Addictive Version Of Yellowstone
Ransom Canyon, led by a lovable cast with surefire chemistry, finds ways to surprise you, make you laugh, and break your heart with Southern charm.
A stronger version of Untamed would have better utilized the nature of its Yosemite setting (literally) and personified the inherent dangers of the wilderness, like American Primeval and The Revenant did so successfully. As it stands, the Netflix series is tonally ineffective, visually uncompelling, and narratively drags viewers to the middle of nowhere.
Unfortunately, Untamed falls short compared to Smith’s more entertaining projects and proves the quality of his stories may be dependent on a director with vision.
Untamed
4/10
- Release Date
-
July 17, 2025
- Network
-
Netflix
- Untamed’s first episode is intriguing before it all goes downhill
- Untamed is tonally ineffective, visually uncompelling, and narratively drags
- The plot is too spread out with no strong sense of identity
- The slow burn pace is mundane and unrewarding
- The acting is not strong and the characters are not investable
