Wild (2014)

Reese Witherspoon carries an oversized pack and a heap of self-destruction up the Pacific Crest Trail in Jean-Marc Vallée's version of Cheryl Strayed's memoir. A thousand miles alone become a way of facing grief and a troubled past, with Laura Dern's ailing mother arriving in flashbacks that hit harder the farther Cheryl walks. This is the one for anyone who has wondered whether they could start a long trail with no experience at all, and it does not pretend the first days are anything but painful. Some critics found it too neat; Witherspoon's committed performance is what makes the inward journey land.