The Wonder Review - Sebastián Lelio Dazzles With A Thought-Provoking Debate of Science vs. Faith

When it was announced that Florence Pugh would be starring in a Sebastián Lelio film - I was automatically sold. Disobedience and Gloria Bell are two great films where love is explored in a genuine way that not many directors can. There’s a tenderness to the romance that’s rare. So, add Florence Pugh to the mix, whom I loved in her previous films Fighting With My Family and Midsommar (and is the only reason I watched Black Widow), and you’ve got the makings of an Oscar contender. Well, it should’ve.

The biggest red flag I have with The Wonder is that Lelio is asking a ton of the audience. Initially, the ask is small - let this narrator tell you a story about the film you are about to watch. In her own words, “We are nothing without stores. And so we invite you to believe in this one.”

It seems simple enough. However, this initial ask balloons over the 103-minute runtime to include many subplots that don’t add to the story as well as an overly complicated central narrative mystery to figure out, scenes that are so dimly lit it’s nigh impossible to see what’s happening and to be patient with the slow pacing with the story.

For those unfamiliar, The Wonder is a film based on the novel by Emma Donoughe, who also wrote the book Room, from which the 2016 film got its story. Like the novel version of The Wonder, the film is based in the Irish Midlands and features an English nurse, Elizabeth “Lib” Wright, who is summoned to a local Irish village to watch over a girl the locals claim has not eaten in four months.

However, there are a bit of changes from the book. Instead of being set in 1859, like in the book, the film is set in 1862. Another difference is that there are much more religious and political overtones. Beyond that, I’ll have to rely on those who’ve read the novel to point out the changes to me in the comments of this review.

As for the direction of the film, your enjoyment may vary. For fans of Sebastian Lelio’s other work, the best I can describe the feeling of his direction of The Wonder is to compare it to his 2017 film, Disobedience. You’ll find similarities in how he talks about religion as a debate the viewer should constantly be having in the back of their mind and how that relates to the relationships we have seen onscreen. The onus is on the audience to decide what to make of it, rather than Lelio simply telling you what to think.

One area where Lelio’s attempts at a debate seem to be bogged down by the extra weight of its superfluous subplots. I won’t spoil what they are, but none relate to the primary discussions of science vs. faith, penance, or righting a wrong in any way, shape, or fashion.

Florence Pugh plays Nurse Elizabeth “Lib” Wright, David Wilmot plays publican Seán Ryan, Josie Walker plays Sister Micheal, Ciarán Hinds plays Father Thaddeus, Toby Jones plays Doctor McBreaty, Brian F. O’Bryne plays landowner John Flynn, Dermot Crowley plays Baronet Sir Ottway, Tom Burke plays Will Byrne, Kíla Lord Cassidy plays Anna O’Donnell, Niamh Algar plays Kitty a helper at the O’Donnell house, and Elaine Cassidy plays Rosaleen O’Donnell.

Of this eclectic group of performers, my favorites were Pugh, Jones, Algar, and Lord Cassidy. Burke almost made the list, but he doesn’t get enough screen time to make an impact. Pugh is the audience surrogate, so when we’re angry, so is she. Pugh’s character also gets the most development. As for her performance, I particularly enjoy that Pugh plays her as a kind of pouty teenager who is above the menial tasks she’s being asked to perform while also giving the backstory of her character a tenderness that easily could’ve been overplayed.

Jones is quite the opposite. Everything he does here is overstated. For example, at one point, he ponders whether Anna could turn sunlight into energy. You know, like plants do. As ridiculous as that sounds from a performance standpoint, I never got the sense that Jones was trying to be anything more than faithful to the character. From time to time, his character is essentially there to breathe some comedy into an otherwise dour story, and the joke works every time.

Algar, who longtime readers should know by now from my review of 2021’s Censor, that I’m going to watch anything she’s in. There’s one particular moment she gets about halfway through (trust me, you’ll know when it happens) that is delightfully creepy and understated at the same time. Her character, Kitty, isn’t in the film much, but I wanted to mention just how much I enjoyed Algar’s performance.

The last of my highlights is Lord Cassidy, who I just found out is the daughter of Elaine Cassidy (who plays her onscreen mother, Rosaleen) in her second credited movie role. She deserves special mention for her ability to be approachable and frightening simultaneously. In a way, you never know if she will say something thought-provoking like “sorrow is God’s spade” or something ominous like the flames of purgatory being temporary, but the fire of Hell is eternal. For only her second film role, Lord Cassidy impresses with how much generosity she gives to Pugh to have that back and forth between the two characters, and I can’t wait to see what she does next.

Speaking of space, let’s talk audio nerd stuff for a bit. Both the score and audio mix are ambient - only splashing in flair like woodwinds, chanting, and stereo panning across the Dolby Digital channels at points where it feels relevant to the story Lelio is trying to tell. My only wish here is that composer Matthew Herbert and the team at Aquarium Studios went further with the mix to create a Dolby Atmos mix or some other spatial audio format instead of using stereo panning to simulate object-oriented sound. It’s not like Netflix Originals don’t already have Dolby Atmos on them. Dolby has a whole page dedicated to Netflix movies & TV available in Dolby Atmos, so it’s not impossible to do. However, given Atmos requires a subscription to Netflix’s 4K that costs $20/month as of publishing time, Netflix may be holding Atmos mixes back, so every Netflix subscriber gets the same audio mix.

More on the technical side of The Wonder, let’s talk about Ari Wegner’s cinematographic style in the film. Major props to Wegner for shooting on celluloid even though it will likely be streamed on a phone in sub-HD quality, shooting many scenes with a medium and wide lens, and for choosing to light the film with only what would be naturally available in 1862. This choice makes many scenes challenging to see on many screens. For example, I viewed the movie on my MacBook Pro with the brightness turned up and HDR on, and I had to squint to see scenes that were lit by candlelight at night.

On a similar subject, I greatly appreciated the devotion of production designer Grant Montgomery and costume designer Odile Dicks-Mireaux to give the sets and costumes a realistic look to them that felt like being transported to 1860s Ireland, even though I’m sure most of the filming took place in a soundstage somewhere. But, again, it goes a long way to pull the audience into the world of the film, and it works seamlessly.

If you’re into a slow-moving narrative that asks you to engage with the world and the stories being told within, The Wonder will prove to be a rewarding experience for you. However, if you are unwilling to make that investment in its story and still want to check out a Florence Pugh film with religious overtones, might I suggest Midsommar? Of course, you’ll still have to invest quite a bit in the world, but not as much as Lelio asks.

Or, if you want a story about the intricacies of religious devotion in Ireland, check out Sebastian Lelio’s previous film, Disobedience. Finally, if you want to experience one of the author’s other stories, I’d highly recommend Room, which stars Jacob Tremblay and Brie Larson.

As for me, I thoroughly enjoyed the level of investment he required here. I know many won’t be fond of the big ask, but I love any movie that involves a level of commitment from its audience and follows through with it as much as possible. That said, there are some low points for me that bog down an otherwise great story about those who possess the will to do what’s right in a world full of wrongs and those who don’t.

★★★★

The Wonder is now available to stream with a Netflix subscription.

Until next time!

Thanks to Thomas Stoneham-Judge from Movies For Reel, Shane Conto, Joseph Davis, David Walters, Ambula Bula, Matthew Simpson, Thom Blackburn, and Beatrice AKA Shakesqueer, for supporting Austin B Media on Patreon!