"The Wonder" - Netflix Film Review
The beginning of The Wonder is jarring. An unnamed narrator (Niamh Algar) tells the audience that the year is 1862 and a young nurse (Florence Pugh) is traveling from England to Ireland. This dialogue and the images the audience is seeing are incongruous. Instead of a scenic view of a boat at sea, it’s the interior of a modern film studio with a set of a ship’s interior. It’s quite a way to start a period piece, almost antithetical to everything the audience has come to expect about this genre of film. We expect to be immersed in a bygone world, but instead, we’re shown scaffolding and set pieces and invited by the narrator to let ourselves experience the story that is about to unfold.
The nurse and a nun (Josie Walker) have been called to Ireland to see a young girl named Anna (Kíla Lord Cassidy). She hasn’t eaten anything since her eleventh birthday, which was four months ago. The nurse and the nun have been asked to observe Anna for two weeks. They will each take separate twelve-hour shifts and, at the end of the fourteen days, submit their findings to the family. As with all psychological dramas, things aren’t exactly what they seem when it comes to Anna.
Cr. Aidan Monaghan/Netflix © 2022
While a lot can (and will) be said about the film’s structure and plot, it would be impossible not to mention Pugh’s talents once again. This year alone, she almost single-handedly kept Don’t Worry Darling afloat, a feat that cannot be overlooked. The Wonder allows her to distribute the weight a little with a more capable cast, but the film is clearly still wholly in the hands of Pugh. Her presence is always calculated in a way that makes it clear she’s good at this artform. Watching Pugh act is like watching an athlete at the top of their game. Her movements are effortless, controlled in a way that lets the audience know she’s always in command of the scene, even when her character is not.
As the mystery of the girl who will not eat continues, it’s hard not to think back to the film’s opening scene in the stark, modern studio. While cinematographer Ari Wegner’s ability to capture the stunning landscapes of the Irish seaside is a feat on its own, the audience is subconsciously waiting to return to that studio. Joe Wright’s Anna Karenina took over an entire theatre for the set. Action takes place backstage, on stage, in the rafters, nowhere is off limits. It’s a stunning means of adapting a space reserved for storytelling for a different medium. It seems like The Wonder wants to follow along a similar path, but couldn’t figure out how to make that work outside of the opening scene (save for the ending).
Cr. Aidan Monaghan/Netflix © 2022
As our narrator reminds us throughout, The Wonder is about the capacity of storytelling. How we rely on it and how it is fundamental to the human condition. The film is also about the stories we tell ourselves to justify our actions, and how religious fervor skews our understanding of right and wrong. For Anna, the religion she is taught and surrounded by is more than just moral teachings, it’s life and death. At the crux is the concept of love. Is love the action we take or the prayers we give? It’s a debate that existed long before this film and will exist long after, with both sides refusing to give an inch in their beliefs.
The Wonder is a bleak tale of an unexpected connection between two people well acquainted with hardship. Pugh’s performance, as always, elevates this to something beyond a religious period piece mystery about life itself. What is the meaning of this life and who knows best? Is it science or religion that has our best interests at heart? How can we believe something so wholeheartedly, while also making up excuses to maintain the illusion we cling to to survive? The Wonder tries its best to answer these all-consuming, unknowable questions.
Follow me on BlueSky, Instagram, Letterboxd, & YouTube. Check out Movies with My Dad, a new podcast recorded on the car ride home from the movies.