The Wonder 

Directed by Sebastián Lelio

Staring Florence Pugh, Kíla Lord Cassidy, and Niamh Algar

In theaters Nov. 2, 2022

Currently streaming on Netflix

The Wonder is grim, stark, and depressing (GSD, as my old friend KD used to say). But it is also a very satisfying period film that is, despite a touch of retrospective moralizing, moving and compelling.

The Plot 

In 1862, an English nurse ((Florence Pugh) travels to the Irish Midlands to observe 11-year-old Anna O’Donnell (Kíla Lord Cassidy), a peasant girl who claims not to have eaten a bite for the past four months.

What I Liked …

The opening and closing gimmick: The Wonder opens and closes in a modern warehouse of film sets. A voice-over by Niamh Algar informs us that what we’re about to see is a story about the stories that people use to shape their world. This is a bit too “on the nose,” as they say. But it worked for me.

The music: Composed by Matthew Herbert, the score is unlike anything I’ve heard before. Like the above, it was gimmicky. But, again, it worked for me.

The acting: Especially Florence Pugh as the English nurse and Kíla Lord Cassidy as the fasting child. But really, everyone was very good.

The set design: Lush, eerie, dark, and moody – a principal character in itself.

Interesting 

The story was inspired by the so-called “fasting girls” of the Victorian era who fascinated the public with what was described as “a miraculously inspired loss of appetite.”

Critical Reception 

* “The blessing of The Wonder is how it acknowledges the things we most want to believe and still proposes, in the end, that human acts and faith in others can be the most miraculous things of all.” (Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic)

* “[A] perverse, provocative story about women, their appetites, and a world that barbarically tries to control them both.” (Manohla Dargis, New York Times)

* “Some [movies], such as this, provide a fresh reminder of the power of visual storytelling.” (John Anderson, Wall Street Journal)

You can watch the trailer here.