Der Wolfsjunge
Contemporary film critics have continued to praise the film. Jonathan Rosenbaum called it one of Truffaut's best films, "albeit one of his darkest and most conservative." Ty Burr said that "Nearly four decades after its release, "The Wild Child" remains startling for its humane clarity, for Nestor Almendros's brilliant black-and-white photography, and for the sense that Truffaut is achieving filmmaking mastery on a very small scale."