Deep in the Norwegian countryside, away from the noise and distraction of city living, photographer Maria Payne had established an idyllic existence with her husband Nik and their four children.
Calling a small farmstead home, they spent their days immersed in nature’s rhythms, growing their own food, educating the kids, and cherishing their independence. However, Maria’s sudden death from cancer would upend this tranquil way of life and send the family down a new, uncertain path.
A New Kind of Wilderness follows Nik and the children in the aftermath of this tragedy as they reckon with their loss and strive to piece together a future without Maria.
Directed by Silje Evensmo Jacobsen, the film presents an intimate look at their journey through verité-style observation, allowing their quiet strength and vulnerability to shine through. After premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, it offers a heartfelt tribute to one family’s resilience in the face of immense sorrow.
While the Payne’s off-grid lifestyle may seem quite removed from most viewers’ realities, their emotional experience resonates universally. With sensitivity and grace, Jacobsen’s documentary explores how tragedy forces change yet also reveals life’s ongoing cycles of renewal. More than dramatized stories of struggle or triumph, it conveys the messy, gradual process of healing that most deeply resonates.
Living Off the Land
Tucked away in the scenic Norwegian countryside, Maria and Nik Payne sought a quieter life for themselves and their growing family. Both harboring a love of nature and a drive for adventure, they purchased a small farmstead where they aimed to live sustainably off the surrounding land.
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There, separated from neighbors by fields of grass and forests thick with pine, the couple built a homestead reliant only on their own resources and labor. Nik tended crops and livestock as Maria documented their journey through photographs. With the children chattering in both Norwegian and English, an air of harmony filled each day spent immersed in chores, gardening, and learning from the ebb and flow of the natural world.
Come evenings, the family’s isolated farm awoke with a warm glow as Maria poured over her blog, sharing their lifestyle with online readers. Through her images emerged snapshots of the kids snuggling lambs, helping in the greenhouse, or romping carefree through the surrounding foliage. A self-sufficient existence among such beauty seemed idyllic.
As the seasons turned, more little ones joined the brood. With Ronja, Freja, Falk, and Ulv growing from babies into inquisitive youngsters, Maria ensured lessons and play fit within the cycle of farm tasks. Laughter and curiosity filled the household, underscored by the loyalty and independence nurtured from living so remote. Though isolated from city amenities, the love between parents and children blossomed strongly from their bond with nature.
For a time, life flowed simply yet richly within the Payne family roots. Through Maria’s lens, their sustainable Scandinavian homestead appeared a welcoming refuge where the rewards of self-reliance outweighed any hardships. Little could foresee how soon darkness would fracture this bucolic paradise.
A Bruising Blow
No one could have predicted how suddenly life would change for the Payne family. It began as any other day on their peaceful homestead, nestled deep in the Norwegian countryside. But dark clouds were looming on the horizon, unseen by the children playing or Nik maintaining chores.
Maria’s ongoing battle with cancer had now reached its bitter end. Her passing dealt an immense blow, leaving the family in shock and sorrow. As Nik grappled with the loneliness of widowhood, he faced an arduous road ahead as sole caregiver to four young lives.
Money also grew tight. Maria’s photography had provided the income to sustain their self-sufficient lifestyle off the land. With her light dimmed, maintaining that island of tranquility grew far more tenuous. Nik struggled with weighty choices as reality set in.
Meanwhile, Ronja suffered private turmoil. Still grieving the loss of her mother, the teenager felt adrift, living apart from her siblings in the forest home. She preferred reconnecting with her father instead, leaving Nik to parent the grieving triplets alone.
Each family member mourned Maria’s memory in their own way. Yet not a day passed that her absence wasn’t keenly felt by all. A family once unified in a dream of nature-bound freedom now faced life’s harshest injustice—and the lonely uphill path of coping with irreplaceable loss. As the home videos faded to black, a new chapter of life without their shining light had only just begun.
Stepping Into A New World
With Maria’s passing, the foundations of life abruptly shifted for the Payne clan. Nik soon realized keeping their farm isolated from society was no longer sustainable as a single father. Though understandably nervous, the family recognized a change was necessary.
Packing their possessions into the old truck, they made the journey from the pastoral fields into a nearby town. There they settled what little they had into a modest home, in many ways foreign from their forest refuge.
Nik took on work at the local lumberyard to financially provide, no longer able to both parent and work the land alone. Though earning money brought stability, it meant extra pressure and less time with his children.
School attendance was also mandated, stirring unease in the kids accustomed to roaming free. While some adjusted, headstrong Ronja found it hardest to accept her new circumstances. Living apart from her siblings deepened the teen’s sorrow.
Quiet Freja felt torn between embracing this new world or clinging to memories of life with Maria. Flitting between states of open rebellion and subdued reflection, she struggled most to find footing.
Though challenges arose constantly, bonds of family proved resilient. In time, connections formed in their community as withdrawals from modern comforts lessened. While an open wound remained, joining the rhythms of neighbors brought gradual peace.
Their story shows how even radical changes can be weathered through resilience and compassion. Facing life’s curveballs together, the Payne clan demonstrated life’s ability to find light even in darkness.
Capturing Raw Emotion
Director Silje Evensmo Jacobsen took a contemplative approach in crafting this film. Utilizing a vérité documentary style, she simply observed the Payne family without interference, letting their story shine through naturalistic moments.
Jacobsen had established trust with the family from years documenting their off-grid lifestyle and relationship with Maria. This intimacy granted insight beyond a detached production. It allowed her to incorporate Maria’s own bittersweet home videos into the present fabric of her family’s lives.
Jacobsen also benefited from Maria’s thorough photographic journaling of their time in nature. These bittersweet archival clips echoed the life the family once shared. Painstaking attention brought these private records to sensitive new light as the film progressed.
By eschewing directorial guidance or invasive interviews, Jacobsen highlighted the unvarnished emotional truths of grieving. Space was given for sorrow, confusion, and fleeting joy to emerge without filters. Viewers bear witness to stark candor that may have otherwise remained private.
This relaxed style grants audiences an experience akin to peering through a window, not as detached observers but compassionate confidantes. Though delicate topics were broached, a distanced or exploitative tone was never taken.
Through subtle, fly-on-the-wall filmmaking, Jacobsen achieved a work impacting precisely for its refusal to sensationalize grief—a respectful tribute to one family’s resilience.
Life’s Fragile Threads
Woven throughout A New Kind of Wilderness are profound reminders of life’s fragility and our resilience within change. Chiefly, it confronts loss and what this means for those left to continue without a cherished person.
Maria’s sudden absence renders even trivial choices laden with new significance for the Payne clan. From adapting to city life to negotiating school versus homeschooling, each decision carries the weight of preserving connection to her memory or severing those final fragile threads.
Grief too wears many faces, as the film gently proves. Maria’s death plunges each family member into private seas of sorrow, dealt with through varied coping. Some withdraw while others seek comfort in loved ones, yet all understand the impossibility of replacing what’s been torn from their lives.
Most poignant is observing nature’s way of healing parallel to this family’s journey. Where grief formerly seemed an endless chasm, in time wounds gradually knit through enduring bonds of affection. Life moves on, and so too can the grieving heart find sunlight once more.
In sidestepping exploitation of private anguish, A New Kind of Wilderness achieves resonance. Its modest tone invites reflection on transitions faced not just by the Paynes but people everywhere weathering life’s blows. Most powerfully, it affirms how even in darkness, renewal will come—for hearts, families, and the natural world alike.
A Glimpse Into the Human Heart
In its gentle, unassuming way, A New Kind of Wilderness offers viewers a glimpse into lives coping with unimaginable sadness. Director Jacobsen guides us to observe, not exploit, one family’s resilience as they learn to live without their guiding light.
Rejecting sensationalism, the film taps into universal emotions through verité scenes of grief, adaptation, and resilience. Themes like loss, familial bonds, and life’s cycles emerge organically from days spent accompanying the Paynes on their journey.
While focusing on intimate struggles rather than dramatic beats, Jacobsen’s documentary ultimately triumphs. It affirms humanity’s ability to find purpose even in darkness, as nature does through each season. In the Paynes, we see everyday strength and kindness that touches the soul.
Premiering Jacobsen’s work at Sundance was a testament to her ability to impact audiences through sensitive, truthful storytelling alone. In A New Kind of Wilderness, a family’s private sorrow becomes every person’s reflective experience of life’s fragility and renewal. Its gentle spirit leaves lasting impressions.
The Review
A New Kind Of Wilderness
A New Kind of Wilderness offers a poignant glimpse at real people coping with immense loss through compassion and perseverance. Director Jacobsen crafts an affecting portrait of grief's complex journey through intimacy over dramatization. While delicate topics are broached, the film's overarching warmth and respectful perspective resonate deeply.
PROS
- Intimate, authentic portrayal of a family coping with immense grief
- Avoids sensationalism, dramatization, or exploitation for a more respectful approach
- Universal themes of loss, resilience, and healing expressed through personal story
- Captures complex, varied emotions through minimalistic filmmaking style
CONS
- Very small narrative scope and lack of major conflicts
- Does not delve into motivations or address difficult questions
- Could leave some viewers wanting more substantive drama or answers
