X
- 2022
- R
- Netflix
- 1 h 48 m
- 2022
- R
- Netflix
- 1 h 48 m
Summary The Irish Midlands, 1862 - a young girl stops eating but remains miraculously alive and well. English nurse Lib Wright (Florence Pugh) is brought to a tiny village to observe eleven-year old Anna O'Donnell. Tourists and pilgrims mass to witness the girl who is said to have survived without food for months. Is the village harbouring a sai...
Directed By: Sebastián Lelio
Written By: Emma Donoghue, Alice Birch, Sebastián Lelio
- 2022
- R
- Netflix
- 1 h 48 m
- 2022
- R
- Netflix
- 1 h 48 m
The Wonder
71
6.7
Where to Watch
Summary The Irish Midlands, 1862 - a young girl stops eating but remains miraculously alive and well. English nurse Lib Wright (Florence Pugh) is brought to a tiny village to observe eleven-year old Anna O'Donnell. Tourists and pilgrims mass to witness the girl who is said to have survived without food for months. Is the village harbouring a sai...
Directed By: Sebastián Lelio
Written By: Emma Donoghue, Alice Birch, Sebastián Lelio
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 37 Critic Reviews
71
84% Positive
31 Reviews
31 Reviews
16% Mixed
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 37 Critic Reviews
71
84% Positive
31 Reviews
31 Reviews
16% Mixed
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
The performers—not just the miraculous Ms. Pugh but Ms. Cassidy; her mother, Elaine Cassidy (who plays Anna’s mother); and Tom Burke, as the journalist-love interest Will Byrne—give memorably complex portrayals in a tale where elements theological, maternal, political and pictorial are transformed alchemically into narrative gold.
Few will remain unmoved by this intriguingly adventurous and thought-provoking drama.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 50 User Ratings
6.7
66% Positive
33 Ratings
33 Ratings
28% Mixed
14 Ratings
14 Ratings
6% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 50 User Ratings
6.7
66% Positive
33 Ratings
33 Ratings
28% Mixed
14 Ratings
14 Ratings
6% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
The well-known duel between science and superstition is resolved correctly, avoiding any detail that seems malicious or stereotyped, which is appreciated, especially for the period atmosphere, and the performances.
Report
The Wonder coheres as a powerful study of the way in which people are cloistered by their own stories.
It’s true that Lib smashing against the brick wall of blind faith is an essential part of the story, but at some point, The Wonder crosses a line between eerie ambiguity and aimless floundering.
The Wonder undeniably resonates in these confounding times concerning belief, fact and manipulation.
Even without the inclusion of Pugh’s character’s prejudiced thoughts, the film oozes a tangible distaste for the very people whose “story” we are following. These small-town Irish folk are depicted as barbaric yokels, prone to inbreeding, dim-witted fanaticism and senseless cruelty. As a whole, The Wonder conjures the abject horror of watching a rodent devour its newborn litter.
An evenhanded but ultimately preposterous adaptation of Emma Donoghue’s novel, co-written by the author herself (with an assist from Alice Birch).
Though atmospheric to a fault, writer-director Sebastián Lelio’s meditation on reason vs. spirituality/mysticism struggles to effectively capture the innate essence of this age-old debate, frequently leaving viewers “wondering” where this story is headed. Set in 1862 Ireland, the film follows the experience of an English nurse (Florence Pugh) assigned to observe a spiritually oriented 11-year-old “miracle child” (Kíla Lord Cassidy) to determine how she has been able to survive in seemingly good health for months without eating, a claim that has made her the object of considerable public curiosity and scrutiny. The investigation subsequently raises numerous theoretical, philosophical and religious questions (many of which aren’t satisfactorily answered) while simultaneously revealing much about the past of both nurse and patient and documenting the inquisitiveness of the outside world as seen through the lens of a determined journalist (Tom Burke). However, the narrative underlying this ambitious undertaking doesn’t come across as being completely convincing; it often feels thin and underdeveloped, with an uneasy sense of its own inherent viability. That becomes especially apparent in several strange, out-of-place filmed segments and voiceover narrations in which the audience is being urged into believing in the merits of this story to the same degree as the performers who have signed on to appear in the movie (talk about a hard sell). Given the strength of Pugh’s fine performance and the picture’s excellent production values, it’s disappointing that the filmmaker seems so obviously unsure about what he has come up with in this picture, and, in light of Lelio’s track record with fine works like “A Fantastic Woman” (2017) and “Disobedience” (2017), I can’t help but “wonder” what drew the director to this somewhat flimsy material in the first place. Indeed, considering my interest in the subject matter, I probably cut this one more slack than I realistically should have, and my overall rating could be seen as generous. Here’s hoping better projects are in the works moving forward.
Report
Pretty well structured and managed throughout, Pugh was great as always. I do have to say whatever 4th wall stuff they were doing went completely over my head.
Report
Production Company
Element Pictures,
Element,
Fís Éireann / Screen Ireland,
House Productions,
LSG Productions
Release Date Nov 2, 2022
Duration 1 h 48 m
Rating R
Awards
British Independent Film Awards
• 1 Win & 12 Nominations
London Critics Circle Film Awards
• 1 Win & 6 Nominations
Irish Film and Television Awards
• 6 Nominations
