Lib Wright (Florence Pugh) is an English nurse called to Ireland during a time of famine to observe a young girl, Anna O’Donnell (Kíla Lord Cassidy), after she stopped eating on her eleventh birthday some four months prior.  Seen by some as a miracle, others as a scientific oddity, as well as a fair number of more general skeptics, when the girl’s health begins to deteriorate over the two-week observation, it becomes a question of safety on how long to allow Anna to refuse food or risk her death when the family believes that allowing her food will be an affront to God’s plan. 

Sebastián Lelio brings The Wonder to Netflix from a script co-written with Alice Birch based on Emma Donoghue’s novel.  The 118-minute drama is bleak and muddy as it seeks to explore the power we give to stories and if that belief in a story is enough to make it true, but across its run time, especially so in the first hour, the narrative seems to chase its tail while slowly setting the stage for the final arc.  Its merit lies in the nuanced performances of the slightly too-large cast as the actors convince the audience to stay attentive through their dedication to their roles; a testament to their own belief as performers in the power of this story. 

The central relationship of the film is found in Lib and Anna, a woman of science and a child of God, that slowly begin to see each other eye to eye over the course of the two-week observation. Lib and Anna spend many tentative scenes together and it is hard to tell what the film is getting at or where the story is headed as both characters have their guards up and are not looking to reveal too much to one another. Lib examinations of the girl do not go into much detail and Anna is content to sit and speak only when spoken to, answering as efficiently as possible. When Lib makes the decision to remove any physical contact Anna may have with her family, the tides begin to change between the two women as Anna slowly needs to rely more and more on Lib as her health deteriorates. 

At its core, The Wonder is about the mystery of Anna, and while it has moments of interest there is not enough to carry the length of the film, especially in this first half. Its mystery is forged not through complexity but through concealment and audiences either need to buy in completely to this idea from the start or find themselves without much to grasp onto until late in the third act. This concept of does belief make something a fact is a huge part of the film’s thesis, so it is hard to fault its purposeful structure but to ask audiences to believe in something and have them follow Lib who is there to disprove makes for a tonally awkward endeavor. This disconnect could have been lessened if the film allowed Sr. Michael (Josie Walker), a nun who worked alternating shifts with Lib, more screentime to help give us reasons why we should believe that this girl truly is living off mana from heaven, but instead, the script seems like it is provoking the audience to believe against all the evidence which they will be shown that this is an elaborate ruse. 

It is in the final forty minutes that the film really begins to pick up its pace and its goals come into sight as it allows Lib more to do as she peels back the layers of deceit from the various people involved with Anna, and likewise, Anna is given more to do than just be confined to a bed. As the film slowly moves more and more outside of the homestead and Lib realizes that to understand the mystery at play here, she must herself begin to believe – or put on the appearance of belief – in Anna’s miracle, things finally begin to make sense. Unfortunately, it is not enough to make up for the glacial and meandering first hour, but as Lib begins her end-game maneuvers The Wonder finally begins to deliver on more than just atmosphere. 

It is an unconventional, but still on-brand, role for Pugh who often finds herself playing women who have to reassess their entire worldview, typically, though, towards darker means. This lite brew of a descent into madness role initially offers her very little but does begin to grow. Lib’s revelations, like the revelations of the plot, arrive at their interest through consistent concealment as Lelio and Birch are in no rush to reveal any clues about the story. Audiences quickly understand that Lib is a grieving woman who lost a very young child as evidenced in her nightly ritual of gulping a spoonful of tonic, pricking her finger with a needle, and falling asleep holding the booties of her deceased child and wallowing in those painful memories, but her grief does not seem to influence her behavior in the daytime. There is only a passing reference to her history in conversations with Anna, a girl who herself lost her brother, and it feels like a missed opportunity to begin drawing out those connections between the two women in how they are handling their grief. It is unsurprising that Lib turns to medicine and Anna to faith, but it would have been nice to see the film plumb the depths of these two characters and bring them closer that way.   

The Wonder does take a darker turn in a later revelation that Anna’s brother had raped her repeatedly and that Anna has deduced that this extended fasting will appease God who she believes killed her brother as punishment for the abuse. She believes that her sacrifice on earth can be used as penance to raise her brother’s soul from hell so that they might have eternity together in heaven. It is a pretty gross way to circle back to the power of stories, and moreover the power of belief in stories, but that same belief in a story is what does, in fact, save Anna at the end. Having proven the hoax, Lib is resolved to remove Anna from this family that would sooner see her wither and die as a part of God’s divine plan and utilizes her own grief as the tool of the girl’s salvation allowing Anna to be “reborn” not just to a time before the abuse, but as Lib’s own daughter. In this way, The Wonder does tie the narrative up nicely and provides a satisfying finale, but the film still feels hollow, a little half-formed, given just how sparse the actual narrative is. 

The Wonder is a straightforward, period drama, the likes of which seldom get greenlit in today’s landscape. Steeped so full in atmosphere and setting, the story lends itself better to the page where the interiority of the characters can be explored much better than on the screen, but it is not totally without merit. Ari Wegner’s camera does not allow Anna or Lib anywhere to hide as their pasts and their grief bubble to the surface, and while the performances are understated, both Pugh and Cassidy have moments of brilliance throughout. Evocatively scored by Kristina Hetherington, the tones and melodies add a haunting element to the foggy landscapes and dank abodes with near-empty tables. There is a poignancy in the artistry of the film which studies a fractured society drawn together by a potential miracle in the making and the desire for something – anything – that gives some sense of hope in a hopeless situation; something that inspires wonder.