As "The Wonder" (2022 release from Ireland; 109 min) opens, we are introduced to. Lib Wright, an English nurse who is sent to a remote part of Ireland to observe an 11 yo girl whose family claims has not eaten in 4 months. Or has she? Lib is to watch the girl in 8 hour shifts, along with a local nun... At this point we are 10 min into the movie.

Couple of comments: this is the latest from acclaimed Chilean director Sebastian Lelio ("Gloria", "A Fantastic Woman"). Here he brings to the big screen the novel of the same name by Emma Donoghue. I have not read that novel and hence cannot comment how closely (or not) the movie sticks to the original book. The movie is deliberately paced slowly, reflecting the times of Ireland in the 1860s. Initially it is difficult to understand what exactly is going on (how can the girl sruvive for months without eating?), but then as the movie plays out, we finally see the bigger picture: a morality play on religion with different perspectives from the girl's parents, the doctor, the parish priest, and of course the nurse. Florence Pugh delivers yet another commanding performance as the English nurese (on the heels of her captivating lead in "Don't Worry Darling" a few months ago). The movie features an outstanding score by British composer Matthew Herbert. The photography, shot on location in Ireland, is equally top notch. Bottom line: this movie grabbed my attention from start to finish, and is one of those that seemingly comes out of nowhere in the best possible way.

"The Wonder" had a very brief and limited US theatrical run in early November, and started streaming on Netflix just last night. It is currently rated 86% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and for good reason. I couldn't wait to see this. If you are in the mood for a psychological drama/morality play set in the 1860s in rural Ireland, featuring an outstanding lead performance by Florence Pugh, I'd readily suggest you check it out, and draw your own conclusion.

Wow, people really can make themselves believe anything, can't they?

Florence Pugh gives a characteristically prickly performance as an English nurse who's sent to a small Irish village to observe the phenomena of a girl who has survived for four months without food and report her findings back to the town council. The girl's family and many townsfolk believe it's divine intervention. Others, Pugh's character among them, are skeptical and think they're being hosed. It's a classic confrontation between science and faith, and the movie asks whether it's possible for both to exist at the same time.

I really dug this movie's tone and mood. It plays almost like a horror film at times, and when the secret behind the girl's condition emerges, it certainly is horrible enough.

Grade: A-

Firstly, the opening title credits were bold (not the font) but as soon as you hit play you will know what I mean... and I really liked the idea too...!

This, as you may have heard, is a slow-burn, but also a very interesting piece. It's great to see new and inventive stories and plot points. You never really quite know what to think or where it will end up, and that was the best part of the writing, directing and editing... Nurse Wright arrives in small town Ireland hired to 'watch' an 11 year old girl for medical reasons... Together with a nun, they take 8 hour shifts, but as it is the year 1860, science and religious beliefs are quite seperate, but also closely linked.

The acting and slow development of the story keep you engaged and your brain ticking over the possible act III outcomes and payoffs... If you enjoy the period piece, drama, thriller type event then go into this one not knowing too much, if that's possible.

Could end up on the best of the year lists for some I think... Especially on the originality scale.

A very interesting watch, for the patient viewer or for any fan of periode pieces, drama, or psychological themed movies. The movie is not fastpaced, but it suits its topic: the wasting away of a child supposed to be able to survive off of God's sustenance only (read: without actually eating food). A miracle indeed, or is there more to it?

The movie is incredibly well scripted and fleshed out. The way the topics are developed throughout the movie are very engaging and original. This is a special movie in the sense that it brings up topics other movies have done before, but never in this novel-like way. Even the unlikely or hard to believe elements aren't that much of a nuissance because it makes for a good story. It is slow, which is one of the reasons I would consider it more arthouse instead of a movie for larger audiences. The slow pace emphasizes how agonizing and painful some of the themes and events are.

The only thing that rubbed me the wrong way is there are a few short parts where the fourth wall is broken. In my opinion, it did not have a clear function and only reduced my ability to really immerse myself. Especially since it is a movie about 19th century Ireland, I would have preferred everything stuck to that. I don't mind fourth wall breaks in general, but here, it just kept me questioning for the first hour what it's purpose was. All of this is set during a period of time in Ireland when the Great famine was a problem. There was no need for a narrator. It was not a comedy. It did not add to the understanding of the plot. Even after finishing the film, I don't understand nor agree with the odd choice.

Other than that, the acting is very good, especially by the main character (Florence Pugh plays the nurse who's supposed to keep watch of the fasting girl). Some characters seem a bit instrumental, e.g. The parents of the fasting girl, though their motives are eluded at, hardly say anything throughout it all. The scenery and camerawork is very much like most aspects of the movie: professionally well done, a pleasure to watch and fitting to the plot.

In short, it has a couple of downsides, but it is very much worth the watch and I imagine the right viewer will be very impressed by "The Wonder".

Religion versus science, superstitiousness versus good sense, this brilliantly photographed and atmospheric movie opens a field even into our own times: rational thinking versus conspiracy nonsense, intelligent sensitivity versus ignorant hypocrisy, truth versus lies. Which of these values is going to conquer?

The plot develops intentionally slow, due to rural 19th century irish country-side, and it asks for some patience to dive into the psychological subtle-ness of the screenplay. Your patience will be rewarded by great camera-work, unconventional soundtrack, and last but not least by Florence Pugh in another convincing and strong performance.

I wouldn't have needed the breaking of the fourth wall in the beginning and the end, but that's just a matter of personal taste.

Strongly recommended for an adult open-minded viewer.

It's a well-rehearsed truism to say that the act of observing a thing changes the object of the object being observed. That's just one of the weighty questions at the heart of this meditative historical drama, one that's also concerned with the interaction of science and faith, free will, when or if to stage an intervention with people bent on self-destructive paths, and the sometimes overwhelming power of guilt - both false guilt and that which has more reason.

To call it patient - despite its under 2-hour running time - is an understatement, but it's never dull thanks in large part to the haunting score and soundscape, and Florence Pugh's truly remarkable central performance (she seems to be packing a few of those into her still young career). A strange and potentially alienating device opens the film, drawing attention to its artificiality, but in doing so it highlights that question of observation changing the observed and encouraging us to do what we're told the characters are doing - believing their own stories as we experience them.

There's a thesis to be written here on the film's theological allusions, one I won't attempt to start here. But it has caused me to reflect on my own experience of over twenty years as an ordained Anglican (i.e. Episcopal) priest. I've seen many people do a wide variety of things in that time, things done in the name of their faith, for reasons of guilt or redemption, that are destructive to themselves or those around them. I've even, sadly, met and listened to people who have been forced to experience precisely the horrific thing, the hidden secret of the past on which the plot turns. If it seems too awful to be true, I can assure you it isn't - for all this film's deliberate artifice, it's a deeply truthful one.

Dealing with almost as many fundamental questions as you might care to bring to it, this is a weighty, serious, but still moving film that's carried by Pugh's brilliance and the production's patient tone. You will likely think on it for days.

Florence Pugh is English nurse "Mrs. Wright" who travels to Ireland to nurse a young girl who hasn't eaten in quite a while. Well at least that is what she thinks. Upon arrival, she discovers from the board that she and a nun (Josie Walker) are not to nurse at all, but to sit and watch what happens to this young girl "Anna" (Kíla Lord Cassidy). Is this all a fraud or is it divine intervention that is enabling this young woman to survive un-nourished but for the odd sip of water. Enter Tom Burke's rather sceptical journalist "Will", a local who moved to London but who still has more than his fair share of demons. Soon he and the nurse begin to bond, despite their initial difference of opinions about the whole thing and she knuckles down to discover just what is going on. Pugh is really effective here, delivering a characterisation that is considered and sympathetic but by no means gullible. The story is a slow burn, and to be honest I found the conclusion a little implausible and unsatisfactory but she and the young Cassidy carry this really well. The dialogue is sparing with some beautiful scenery that helps well to depict an Ireland still in the grip of anti-English sentiment and religious superstitions.

A committed, immersive performance by young newcomer Kíla Lord Cassidy spearheads this period mystery set in rural Ireland in the 19th century, where an 11-year-old girl in a highly religious family has been fasting for four months - seemingly without any physical repercussions. Florence Pugh is the young nurse sent to observe the girl - and solve the puzzle for us, of course. Although Pugh's performance comes off as anachronistic at times and the film drags in an uneventful middle section which seems to have little other purpose than to fill out the running time, the mystery itself is clever and incorporates enough historical, religious and sociocultural aspects to make this weighty and effective. And whenever you start doubting the story's potential for veracity, Cassidy's authentic performance sucks you back into this bygone world of repressed guilt, shame and emotions.

In a hurry? Scroll down for my compact review.

Adapted from a book by Emma Donoghue, who also wrote 'Room'. I mention this because that book/film also involved a 'captive' child in a tightly constrained environment (controlled by a certain tyrannical presence). In the case of 'Room' the book was far better than the movie, I haven't read 'The Wonder', but my girlfriend has, and in her opinion the book is again better.

That doesn't surprise me, with a book, the reader spends much of the time building a sense of the environment and characters, but all this is conveyed instantly in film format. In this case, that leaves nearly two hours to fill with 'plot' and attempting to portray the inner life of those on screen. It's not that the moviemakers fail in this regard, in fact, the opposite, it's more that the result is drip-fed (pun intended) and, for the most part, pretty depressing to watch.

The cinematography, acting, sound, and set locations are all top-notch, but, unless you're fully prepared for a drawn out grim-fest, it's questionable whether or not there's enough going on here to hold the viewers interest until the end. I must say I'm torn on this one.

Lib Wright (played by Florence Pugh) is a nurse returning from the Crimea War. She has lost a child and a husband, so her relentless expression of misery and frustration is understandable. Lib is employed by the local all-male parish committee to observe the supposedly spiritual phenomena of a local child, Anna, who has allegedly survived four months without food. On first inspection, Anna appears to be perfectly healthy, but things soon deteriorate.

By day, Lib is portrayed as forcibly rational and sceptical and intent on uncovering a ruse, yet each night she engages in superstitious behaviour and dowses her emotional pain in narcotics.

Lib is clearly as traumatised and confused as the child. There are themes of abandonment, desperation, devastating family failure and...yes, patriarchal oppression (although I would argue the worst perpetrator here is not a male).

Quick side note: Donoghue once won the Stonewall Book Award for literature. Yes, that Stonewall. She is clearly a talented writer.... of a certain political persuasion.

Whilst some have seen this movie as profoundly anti-religious, I believe it is much more nuanced than that. Irrational, dogmatic and tyrannical beliefs can equally prosper outside of organised religion (communism, for example). By the 1860s, many Christians would be questioning the more superstitious aspects of the faith. In the movie, the committee is not all agreed on what is occurring and any attempts to rationalise the spiritual cannot be judged in the light of contemporary scientific understanding.

On a connected note, the movie is bookended by scenes panning across a contemporary film-set. I have my own thoughts on the connotations of this but will leave it to you to make of this what you will. However, there are some slight historical anachronisms present in Lib's behaviour. For example, when the child's family mention a sibling having 'passed over', it is obvious what is meant, yet Lib doesn't comprehend what would have been common parlance to virtually anyone in Victorian times (or even today, for that matter).

A difficult one to score. The movie is well crafted, the set-locations and consistent choice of tone palette are evocative. The ethereal blend of foreboding strings and futuristic/retro synth tones add to the unease and strange sense of time distillation. All the actors involved do their best to convey the relevant moods, the change in Pugh's face being particularly poignant during one later section. All this signifies a well-made movie with a distinct intent and a powerful presence. I just found it hard to enjoy, difficult to recommend.

If you find the theme appealing, add another 3 or 4 points to my score.

Compact review

Tone: Dreary. Dark. Relentless. Splashes of light and colour. Hopeful?

Visuals: Evocative tone palette. Minimal. Confined. Good use of lighting.

Script: Some pacing problems. Repetitive. Strange anachronisms. Very slow-burn.

Acting: Very good. Great cast.

Wokeometer: Medium to High. There is clearly a message here.

Overall: I enjoyed the historical setting but found the pacing slow. Very much a mood piece - you will need to be prepared for a long haul.

Worrying sign for this movie that it opens up on an actual movie set, in a "behind the scenes" kind of way, followed by a narrator blandly informing us that This is a movie and these are characters and they have stories to tell and such. Like, yes, I am aware of the concept of storytelling and of cinema.

Was this bit of fourth wall breaking meant for anything? Is there some manner of metanarrative unfolding in the film that borders on science fiction or some other manner of impressionistic/surreal storytelling?

Incredibly minor and pointless spoiler alert: No. It's just there for some reason. It's also at the end where we pan off to see modern day caterers on set and the actor/narrator staring at us and repeating some insignificant line that was spoken earlier in the film but which had little to no importance then, and even less importance by the end.

This completely meaningless and distracting bit of framing device feels like a bad sign that this film takes itself way too seriously and considers itself to be more profound than it actually is.

The story being told is rather neat, one where you don't know when it starts whether this will end up in tragedy, religious revelation, or science fiction. As it unfolds (not as slowly as some of the other reviews suggest), and it becomes clear what is happening, it remains an entertaining story with a genuinely compelling atmosphere heavily accentuated by the eerie, non-traditional soundtrack.

It was a good enough movie, but the pointless framing device at the beginning and end just screams pretension and gives off an extremely undeserved vibe of self importance.

... leaves you wondering what made (makes) people tick, with their dogma and faith, often skewed and misplaced, the pain and the hurt it inflicts. But we're all empty pages at birth, we're all pressed, pressured, forced and coerced, along different channels, washed with different flannel, it's a kind of familial curse.

A reflective piece of filmmaking, your own interpretations uniquely your own, depending very much on the environment you were brought up in and how much you've been able to reconcile that with what you've learnt since. Florence Pugh is magnificent as ever, although I'm not sure the opening and end scenes did anything other than confirm the contrivance, and detracted from the presentation as a whole.

Anyhow, like all good film making, it's the layers under the bog, laid down over many years that count, and the ones that really get you thinking.

I won't repeat the main points made by most reviewers here - exceptional acting, unpredictable plot, remarkable music/soundscape (a bit John Cage-like) reflecting the plot tension and clash of viewpoints.

I just wanted to give a big shout out to the breathtaking photography and lighting. Most of the indoor scenes were shot with soft warm light coming from below or to the side, grazing the faces of the actors perfectly. With the framing, lighting, and soft earth tones, you could stop this film almost anywhere and be looking at a Dutch master painting. I hope the cinematographer gets the kudos they deserve.

Interesting and captivating Mystery Drama with strong visuals, an intersting storytelling and very good performances.

I really liked the intimate look at the situation, really nicely directed by Sebastian Lelio. He uses warm colors for a very cold atmosphere which was an intersting creative decision that wonderfully paid off.

Florence Pugh once again turns into a good and and controlled performance. She really can do every genere believably.

The girl Kila Lord Cassidy was also good in her difficult role. Ciaran Hinds and Toby Jones delivered great support, although quite wasted compared to their acting strentgts.

Great landscape, fantastic cinematography and an uncomfortable score make this a really good take on the question of faith, morality and trust.

I liked it. The beginnign and ending was a bit werid but intersting if you put it into perspective.

A quiet, wonderful film that sucks you in. Great script based on Emma Donaghue's work.

The viewer gets involved in what's transpiring on screen. He/she waits for the ending with great anticipation not knowing exactly how it will unfold which makes this an engaging psychological thriller as well. It's directed excellently by Sebastian Lelio.

The story takes place about a decade after the Great Famine in Ireland where its population was decimated. This context informs the story and it gives the film its milieu: a people emerging from untold suffering. And it explains the religious fervor of the survivors.

One can understand the motivation of the O'Donnell family for their actions. All the actors brilliantly give flesh to the urgency of their situation. In particular, Florence Pugh gives a tour de force performance. Such a nuanced performance. If you admired her in "Don't Worry Darling," she's far better here. And Kila Lord Cassidy is unequivocally talented for such a young girl. Perhaps, the fact that the actor who plays Rosaleen is her mother in real life inspired her to turn in a riveting performance as Ann.

One draws many lessons here. Can faith misguide a person in an extreme way?

"The Wonder" is a surprisingly effective film, in the fact that it successfully conveys the message it's attempting to deliver in a completely unexpected (borderline jarring) & yet admirably inventive manner (that somehow works brilliantly, despite the initial shock), reaffirming how stories provide life with meaning & our belief in them - even when doing so feels as though it should betray our own sense of logic - can ultimately help humanity save itself during the darkest of moments. Not only that but it ingeniously shows how that tradition (of spinning tales in to narratives) has survived through the progression of many eras, & in doing so, helps us make sense of our existence, gifting each moment we experience with purpose.

The Wonder (2022) follows an English nurse who is sent to the Irish Midlands in order to observe a young girl that hasn't eaten for months yet still remains alive and well. I was really expecting a lot more from this film. It isn't bad, but it lacks interesting plot points and tension. The actors all do fine but they aren't given enough to work with.

Visually, the film is decent and sets the mood well. The camerawork and cinematography are interesting and unique, with some brilliant mood lighting. Also, the setting gives the film a very isolated and atmospheric tone, and the scenery is very pleasing to the eye.

The best part of this film is definitely the score. The music used is immediately eerie and unnerving, and really adds to the experience of watching the film. The sound design and sound mixing are both pretty decent, but nothing too unique or notable.

The characters are ok but they feel very surface level, and none of them are written with much emotion. The dialogue is lacking too and doesn't feel gripping. Florence Pugh does a good job but I expect a bit more from her, and Kíla Lord Cassidy is good as Anna however I feel she isn't really given time to shine.

This movie is definitely a slow-burn, but I feel it doesn't build up the tension enough to pull it off. There isn't enough driving force and it just feels lifeless at times, and the plot is too weak and ends up dragging a lot. I wish the film had more going on to really hook me, but unfortunately this wasn't the case.

Florence Pugh stars as an English nurse who travels to Ireland in 1860 to watch over an eleven-year-old girl who has not eaten in the four months since her First Holy Communion. She has been hired to either prove or disprove the possibility of a miracle in the Irish village.

Kila Lord Cassidy is the young girl and she more than holds her own while on screen with Ms. Pugh. Most of the film is almost a two person play with a pair of magnificent performances.

The entire cast is superb but the two main players are so good that I was riveted by the unpredictable story.

As a life long but often doubting Catholic, I highly recommend this great movie.

It's 1862. English nurse Lib Wright (Florence Pugh) is traveling to a small Irish town. She is one of three nurses hired to watch over Anna O'Donnell in eight-hour shifts for two weeks. Supposedly, Anna has not eaten for four months. The nurses are not there to force her to eat or even convince her to eat. They are there to simply watch and make sure that she is not sneaking in food.

This is Florence Pugh in her costumed goodness. She excels in this genre. The story itself is pretty compelling although it needs a dose of mystery. The audience is never allowed to have a sense of wonder. It starts right from the opening where the movie suggests the fictionalization of people's story telling. It sets up the movie to doubt Anna's saintly premise. For that reason, I would cut out the opening. The movie needs some doubt injected into Lib's reasoned modernity. Sometimes, filmmakers try to be original. The opening is trying to say something about the stories we tell. It's more compelling to not do it in that way.

Sebastian Lelio's "The Wonder" is a thought provoking film that focuses on the idea and effect of religion and belief.

I personally thought it was pretty good. It does well at building suspense but I personally found the ending very underwhelming, and it did drag a bit in the middle.

The highlight of the film was probably Kíla Lord Cassidy's performance as Anna. She did so well at portraying a troubled child blinded by faith.

I did want to mention that this film could be potentially triggering to people with eating disorders or issues surrounding eating or fasting. Due to having issues in the past with eating, i did find it a bit triggering in some scenes.

7/10.