Seeking out the
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The Wonder
Directed by
Sebastián Lelio
Produced by Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Tessa Ross, and Juliette Howell
Screenplay by Emma Donoghue, Alice Birch, and Sebastián Lelio Based on the novel by Emma Donoghue
Produced by Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Tessa Ross, and Juliette Howell
Screenplay by Emma Donoghue, Alice Birch, and Sebastián Lelio Based on the novel by Emma Donoghue
With:
Florence Pugh, Niamh Algar, Kíla Lord Cassidy, Ciarán Hinds, Tom Burke, Toby Jones, Elaine Cassidy, Brían F. O'Byrne, David Wilmot, Dermot Crowley, and Josie Walker
Cinematography:
Ari Wegner
Editing: Kristina Hetherington
Music: Matthew Herbert
Editing: Kristina Hetherington
Music: Matthew Herbert
Runtime:
108 min
Release Date: 16 November 2022
Aspect Ratio: 2.39 : 1
Color: Color
Release Date: 16 November 2022
Aspect Ratio: 2.39 : 1
Color: Color
Florence Pugh gives yet another captivating performance as Lib Wright, an English nurse summoned to The Irish Midlands where she is tasked with observing a young girl. Eleven-year-old Anna O'Donnell (Kíla Lord Cassidy) claims she has not eaten for months and thus become a local celebrity and religious icon. The sceptical Lib must determine if Anna is a saint or a charlatan. Sebastián Lelio (Gloria, A Fantastic Woman, Disobedience) and his co-screenwriters make a few unnecessarily heavyhanded choices—that framing device!—but, for the most part, they let the themes and scenes of Emma Donoghue's acclaimed novel speak for themselves.
The 2016 bestseller, inspired by the 19th-century phenomenon of "fasting girls," is already more charged with contemporary relevance than it was just six years ago. The issues of legalities surrounding women’s bodily autonomy, the tension between religious faith and scientific inquiry, and the images of old white men dismissing demonstrative facts that get in the way of the beliefs and traditions they cling to, require the subtle touch to which Lelio is known. At the same time, the stark picture also necessitates a vigorous turn from Pugh and the supporting cast to prevent it from coming off as too cold, stoic, or cerebral. On the whole, the film effectively downplays its melodramatic elements to focus on the character's repressed emotions and truths.
The 2016 bestseller, inspired by the 19th-century phenomenon of "fasting girls," is already more charged with contemporary relevance than it was just six years ago. The issues of legalities surrounding women’s bodily autonomy, the tension between religious faith and scientific inquiry, and the images of old white men dismissing demonstrative facts that get in the way of the beliefs and traditions they cling to, require the subtle touch to which Lelio is known. At the same time, the stark picture also necessitates a vigorous turn from Pugh and the supporting cast to prevent it from coming off as too cold, stoic, or cerebral. On the whole, the film effectively downplays its melodramatic elements to focus on the character's repressed emotions and truths.