A One Mann’s Movies review of “The Wonder” (2022).
“The Wonder” is another Netflix production that got a lot of critical acclaim but which barely graced the big screen for more than a week before disappearing onto the streaming service. But I finally managed to catch up with it, and what a treat it is with another outstanding performance by Florence Pugh.
Bob the Movie Man Rating(s):
Plot Summary:
It’s rural Ireland in 1862, ten years after the end of the Irish famine. Lib (Elizabeth) Wright (Florence Pugh) is an English nurse who, together with the nun Sister Michael (Josie Walker), has been paid to ‘watch’ over Anna O’Donnell (Kíla Lord Cassidy). For Anna, it is claimed, is a local miracle who has not eaten for over four months, being sustained by just water and ‘manna from heaven’. Can the sceptical Lib, together with similarly sceptical London journalist Will Byrne (Tom Burke) square the circle and work out what’s actually going on?
Certification:
UK: 15; US: R. (From the BBFC: “Distressing scenes”.)
Talent:
Starring: Florence Pugh, Tom Burke, Niamh Algar, Ruth Bradley, David Wilmot, Toby Jones, Ciarán Hinds, Josie Walker, Kíla Lord Cassidy.
Directed by: Sebastián Lelio.
Written by: Sebastián Lelio & Alice Birch. (Based on the book by Emma Donoghue).
Twitter Handles: #TheWonder.
“The Wonder” Review:
Positives:
- I’m going to start off here with the score by Matthew Herbert which is just extraordinary. ‘Squonky’ and alien, it really adds a huge amount of atmosphere to the movie. I note it has been longlisted for the BAFTAs, and justly so. There’s a particularly insistant little track in the middle of the movie – like a ticking clock followed by a tolling bell – that is hugely effective.
- Then there’s the immaculate Florence Pugh. I genuinely don’t think I’ve seen a performance of hers in a film that I didn’t love. (I really MUST catch up on some of her well-known back catalog, including “Midsommer” and “Fighting With My Family”) Here she hammers home a mesmeric performance as the increasingly concerned and desperate nurse, struggling with her own demons. She also once again proves (after her dining table antics in “Don’t Worry Darling“) that she has the best orgasm face of any actress working in cinema today!
- Let me also give a specific shout-out to young Kíla Lord Cassidy as Anna who, with only a few credits to her name, really holds her acting own in the traumatic and intense scenes with Pugh. Impressive stuff for such a young actress.
- The film also manages to gather together some of my favourite actors in one little movie: Tom Burke (getting a more meaty role here than in the recent “Living“); the ever-excellent Toby Jones; the brilliant Niamh Algar (she of “Censor” fame); Ruth Bradley (getting a rare movie outing) and what Irish film would be complete without a turn from Ciarán Hinds? A teriffic ensemble cast,.
- I loved the story arc of this film. It’s very satisfying indeed. And although Chilean director Sebastián Lelio makes an interesting choice to bookend the film (and interrupt it at one point) with a rather gimmicky fourth-wall breaking turn by Niamh Algar, it actually gave me chills. This was thanks to Ms Algar’s superb blue-eyed stare into camera.
- Just as “Banshees of Insherin” did, the cinematographer (in this case Ari Wegner, she of “The Power of the Dog“) makes the best possible use of the windswept Irish heathlands.
Negatives:
- I ended up rather confused of the relationship between the O’Donell’s and the Ryan’s and who is related to who. For example, who is Kitty (Niamh Algar)? Anna’s sister? We are rather pitched into the family life in the moorland house and, unless I missed it, I didn’t get a clear orientation as to who was who.
Triggers?
Note that there is a sexual abuse theme within the story that might be triggering for some viewers.
Summary Thoughts on “The Wonder”
This was a surprisingly gripping watch. It plays out like a ‘murder’ mystery, and then when the mystery is solved it goes in a different direction entirely that I wasn’t expecting. When matched with some superb performances from the cast, this is another cracking little film. A rather disturbing watch, but very much recommended.
And congrats to #ElementPictures for the #EEBAFTA nominations.
Trailer for “The Wonder”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htybz7XscIY .
