An eleven-year-old Irish girl is said to have gone without food for months and yet remained alive. English nurse Lib Wright is brought in to look at her and see what could be wrong with her, but soon realizes that there might be more going on than meets the eye. Is the village hiding the next saint or something more sinister?
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Drama
Original Language:English (United Kingdom)
Director: Sebastián Lelio
Producer: Tessa Ross, Juliette Howell, Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe
Writer: Alice Birch, Sebastián Lelio
Runtime: 1h 48m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital
The Wonder Movie Trailer
From two people thrown together well after their best-before date, an unlikely friendship evolves based on the strengths of their personalities and perceived similarities. They both needed help from someone to drag them out from under the wreckage to which they had been subjected by life. That’s what they found in each other and neither of them would go back to the way things were before.
Canadian-Irish novelist Emma Donoghue’s adaptation of her 2010 novel Room was a hit in 2016, earning Brie Larson the Best Actress Oscar. Now, The Wonder, based on one of Donoghue’s novels, will be getting the spotlight. The movie follows nurse Elizabeth Wright (played by Florence Pugh) as she travels to rugged rural Ireland in the 19th Century. There, she is tasked with observing an 11-year old girl who claims not to have eaten in four months. She must take turns with a nun to make observations and feedback to a committee.
The film is largely eerie, matching the rather foreboding subject matter of fasting girls in the Victorian era. It’s directed by Sebastián Lelio, having won an Oscar for his earlier film A Fantastic Woman. The movie is tense and haunting with a gothic sensibility, making it a perfect match for its spooky landscape. Religion vs. science is another central theme of the film, at a time when religion still dominated Ireland’s culture.
With the Irish landscape capturing both a beautiful but almost haunting quality, Kíla Lord Cassidy’s Anna O’Donnell is equally as stunning to watch. Ari Wegner, whose work on The Power of the Dog was such a standout film, crafts one of his best looking films out this year. The score by Matthew Herbert has an almost ethereal quality to it making it perfect for moments where Mrs Wright takes notice of something eerie in nature and becomes more aware of her own emotions.
As we’ve come to expect from Pugh, this film is very good. Pugh captures the required stoicism and sense of sadness underneath the surface with a determination that she’s doing what she feels is right. The supporting cast isn’t short of talent either with Tom Burke, Niamh Algar, Dermot Crowley, and Toby Jones all giving fine performances in largely small parts. Members of the supporting cast other than Wright and Trelfa are more prominently portrayed by Burke as Bill Byrne, an investigative journalist who’s interested in hearing their story. His character has great chemistry with Wright which helps his stock when it comes to arthouse films lately.
The Wonder is slow and may not be for everyone. But it cleverly keeps you in suspense, so you don’t know what’s going to happen, until the conclusion. The film also has an intriguing atmosphere that helps build a moody world with frightening qualities – much like the people’s community in Ireland.
The Wonder is a beautiful followup to Sebastián Lelio’s Oscar-winning Call Me by Your Name, cementing him as a director with undeniable range. Florence Pugh commands the screen at every turn with a more reserved performance than those of late. It’s refreshing to see her continue to mix blockbusters with films of this nature — always delivering high quality in both media. The exquisite production design and cinematography make The Wonder a haunting, but enthralling journey that does not disappoint.