Above: Cali Scolari in Timothy Hines' comedy movie The Wilde Girls on Prime Video. Courtesy PENDRAGON PICTURES.
In Timothy Hines’ Great Depression wilderness comedy The Wilde Girls, produced by Susan Goforth, Cali Scolari plays Mattie Wilde - a spoiled New York heiress dumped into the Pacific Northwest with a target on her back. The result is chaos with heart: socialite logic colliding with forest reality, as Mattie and her spoiled sister Tinsley try to outlast wolves, hired killers, and their own entitlement until the only “adult in the room," a reclusive mountain man (Teddy Smith) who doesn’t want them there, reluctantly decides to help them not, "accidentally off themselves". (Good luck, everyone.)
Above: (L) Cali Scolari and (R) Lydia Pearl Pentz play the utterly unprepared Wilde sisters, learning the hard way that the forest has no patience for privilege -- especially with Silas Colter (Teddy Smith), the "only adult in the room," as their reluctant guide in Timothy Hines' The Wilde Girls now playing on Prime Video. Photo courtesy PENDRAGON PICTURES.
Cali’s last name rings bells for a reason. Her father, Peter Scolari, helped define a certain era of American comedy breaking out opposite Tom Hanks on Bosom Buddies, landing long-running TV work (Newhart), and later winning an Emmy for his guest performance on HBO's Girls (as Ray's father, Tad Horvath).
Above: Cali Scolari in Timothy Hines' The Wilde Girls now on Prime Video. Photo courtesy PENDRAGON PICTURES.
That legacy matters here not as a shortcut, but as context: The Wilde Girls is a comedy that lives and dies on rhythm, banter, and the ability to make absurdity feel oddly human. That’s exactly where Cali shines.
Critics have repeatedly singled out the sisters dynamic as the engine of the film. IndieWrap praised how the leads snap together comedically, writing: “Cali Scolari plays Mattie in her feature film debut and manages to make a lasting impression. Together, the two are a dynamite, with impeccable comedic timing amidst their shenanigans.” Avi Offer, The NYC Movie Guru said, “The entire ensemble cast, even the supporting cast, is superb and has terrific comedic timing. Cali Scolari and Lydia Pearl Pentz have wonderful chemistry together as Mattie and Tinsley who bicker and banter like Romy and Michelle from Romy & Michele's High School Reunion and Betsy and Arlene from Dick.”
Above: Cali Scolari (L), and Lydia Pearl Pentz (R) in Timothy Hines' The Wilde Girls on Prime Video. PPENDAGON PICTURES.
Teenage Wasteland raved, “I really enjoyed the leads’ dynamic, and both Lydia Pearl Pentz and Cali Scolari are so deeply in character that their absurd exchanges with others and each other just kind of wash over you after a while.”
Above: Cali Scolari, Teddy Smith and Lydia Pearl Pentz star in Timothy Hines' The Wilde Girls now on Prime Video.
And Film Threat underlined that the comedy and plot orbit the sisters' relationship calling out how the film “works because of the relationship and the clever dialogue, sight gags, and silly situations the ladies are in.”
That’s the bullseye: The Wilde Girls doesn’t just toss jokes at the screen it builds a comedic relationship machine where character flaw = punchline fuel until it becomes character growth.
Scolari's work in The Wilde Girls also has a technical steadiness underneath the sparkle she’s trained, and it shows. The Stella Adler Studio of Acting has trained actors for decades (founded in 1949) and emphasizes truthful behavior under imaginary circumstances, the exact foundation that makes heightened comedy land as “real.”
Public bios and announcements around Scolari note her Stella Adler training and her move into feature work with The Wilde Girls.
Set against the Great Depression, The Wilde Girls follows heiresses Mattie and Tinsley as they are cast out into the Pacific Northwest, with danger closing in and “civilization” suddenly very far away. A begrudging alliance with mountain man Silas Colter becomes their only shot at surviving long enough to figure out who they are without money, status, or a safety net.
Above: Cali Scolari as Mattie Wilde in Timothy Hines' The Wilde Girls now streaming on Prime Video.
Cali Scolari doesn't coast on lineage - she delivers. The performance has that rare screwball sweet spot: the audience can laugh at the entitlement while still rooting for the human underneath it. And if the great comic performers are the ones who can hit a punchline and a heartbeat in the same breath, The Wilde Girls makes a strong case that Cali has that gear.
Where to watch: The Wilde Girls is now streaming on Prime Video, Plex and the new no-ads app Relay: Stream Movies and TV (pickrelay) found in your app store, with additional platforms rollouts coming.
Media Contact
Company Name: Pendragon Pictures
Contact Person: Susan Goforth
Email: Send Email
Phone: +1 310-480-0837
City: Los Angeles
State: CA
Country: United States
Website: www.pendragonpictures.com
