Parents' Guide to Wildfire: The Legend of the Cherokee Ghost Horse

Surprise, surprise: The end result of using a decades-old folk song as the basis for a contemporary family film is a movie that's gentle but decidedly creaky. Instead of a spirited adventure about a wild stallion, Wildfire: The Legend of the Cherokee Ghost Horse is more like an aging mare that's been put out to pasture. Even what the movie gets right—representing Native Americans in the modern world—still feels off. The story presents as being about a White girl who moves in with her White paternal grandmother in a small Oklahoma town that's the home base of the Cherokee Nation, where she observes and learns elements of their culture. But it's quite clear that Sam's mother is Native American (she's played by Cara Jade Myers, a member of the Wichita and Kiowa tribes)—so why is Sam so unfamiliar with that part of her heritage? That said, the movie does treat the Cherokee Nation people, customs, and way of life with respect.

Murphey (who plays a pastor) has shared that he wrote the song the movie was inspired by based on Indigenous folklore about a wild ghost horse—and, through the myth, the horse has become a symbol of transcending earthly hardship. That's a big concept for kids, but in the film it translates to something far simpler: equine therapy. Spending time with horses has been proven to help humans process emotions and improve their mental health, and that's evident throughout the movie. Wildfire definitely has elements that kids are known to spark to, including music and watching a fellow kid establish a friendship with a wild animal. But, ultimately, viewers will mostly watch the late Anne Heche, who (in her final film) co-stars as a local horse trainer, ride a horse around a ring, which doesn't have the same magic. And the music doesn't come into play until the halfway mark, with Shepherd (a winner on The Voice) singing briefly. Sweet and well-intentioned? Yes. Good? Nope.