| Director | Spike Jonze |
|---|---|
| Genre | adventure film, children's film, drama film, fantasy film, film based on literature |
| Runtime | 101 min |
| Country | United States |
| Budget | $100 million |
| Box office | $100.1 million |
Max is an emotional eight-year-old boy with an active imagination and divorced parents. After his older sister Claire refuses to intervene when her friends crush Max's snow fort with him inside during a snowball fight, Max furiously trashes her bedroom and destroys a frame that he made for her. Later, his mother Connie invites her boyfriend Adrian to dinner. Furious that she is not spending time with him, Max puts on a wolf costume and lashes out by biting her shoulder, before running away from home. At the edge of a river, Max finds a small boat that he boards.
Eventually, Max reaches an island inhabited by seven large monsters called Wild Things: Carol, Ira, Judith, Alexander, Douglas, KW, and the Bull. Carol is destroying the huts due to KW's departure, and Max attempts to join in, only to find himself facing the suspicious anger of the Wild Things. When they attempt to eat him, Max convinces them that he is a king with magical powers capable of bringing harmony to the group. Impressed, the Wild Things crown him as their new king, and after KW returns, Max declares a "wild rumpus" in which he and the Wild Things wreak havoc in the forest, before going to sleep in a pile.
The next day, Carol takes Max on a tour of the island and shows him a model that he built depicting what he wishes the island looked like. Inspired by this, Max orders the construction of an enormous fort. When KW brings her two owl friends Bob and Terry to the fort, a disagreement ensues as Carol believes that they are outsiders. To release their frustrations, Max divides the Wild Things into two teams for a dirt-clod fight. However, Alexander is accidentally injured during the game, and Carol scolds KW for jokingly stepping on his head, causing her to leave again.
Max finds Alexander alone in the fort, whereupon he reveals that although he knows that Max is not a powerful king, he warns him to keep it a secret from Carol. However, at night, Douglas reveals the truth when Carol has a meltdown over the state of the fort and Max's defeat to fulfill his duties as a king. Angered, Carol tears Douglas's arm off and chases Max into the forest, but KW saves him. After Carol leaves, KW explains to Max how difficult their lives are, with Carol's temper exacerbating them. Max realizes what his mother is going through and decides to leave the island.
Max returns to the destroyed remains of Carol's model island and makes a token of affection for him. He then apologizes to Carol and tells him of his intent of going home, but Carol responds with sadness. The other Wild Things escort Max to his boat. Upon finding Max's token, Carol arrives just in time to see Max sailing away and howls, and Max howls in return, along with the other Wild Things. Upon returning home, Max reconciles with his mother, who gives him dinner.