In 2018, she starred in Paul Dano's directorial debut film "Wildlife" with Jake Gyllenhaal. The film was written by Dano and Zoe Kazan, and is an adaptation of Richard Ford’s novel of the same name. The film debuted at the 71st Cannes Film Festival and received rave reviews from critics. The film has earned a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes with the consensus reading, "Wildlife's portrait of a family in crisis is beautifully composed by director Paul Dano – and brought brilliantly to life by a career-best performance from Carey Mulligan." For her performance, Mulligan received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Actress.