Netflix hidden gem period drama hailed as 'rare film' starring huge A-list actress
The Wonder, which is streaming on Netflix now, saw Florence Pugh take on the lead role of a nurse who is sent to investigate a young girl in a rural Irish village
The 2022 period psychological drama directed by Sebastián Lelio, entitled The Wonder, has captivated audiences and prompted a film critic to hail it as "entirely fresh and equally brilliant".
This intriguing movie is available for viewing on Netflix and takes inspiration from Emma Donoghue's 2016 novel of the same name. Donoghue herself contributed to the film's screenplay in collaboration with both Lelio and Alice Birch.
Set against the backdrop of post-Great Famine Ireland in 1862, The Wonder delves into the enigmatic tale surrounding English nurse Lib Wright, brought to life by Florence Pugh's hauntingly authentic performance, alongside the character Anna O'Donnell ('Nan'), played by newcomer Kíla Lord Cassidy. Wright finds herself dispatched to a devout and insular Irish community to scrutinise a young girl who mysteriously persists in living despite claiming to have fasted for months, sustained only by divine intervention.
While the narrative is fictional, it's rooted in the grim reality of a peculiar wave of cases during the 19th century in famine-ravaged Ireland, involving 'fasting girls' – a term for those who reputedly survived on heavenly nourishment called 'manna', abstaining from food for extensive periods.
Florence Pugh, an Academy Award nominee, heads up the impressive cast of The Wonder which includes the young talent Kíla Lord Cassidy, and features Tom Burke, Elaine Cassidy, Niamh Algar, Brían F. O'Byrne, Dermot Crowley, and David Wilmot, reports Surrey Live.
Filmed across Ireland during August and September 2021, 'The Wonder' initially graced the cinemas in a limited release in November 2022 and was subsequently brought to a wider audience on Netflix in the latter part of that month. The film earned itself a nomination for the Outstanding British Film award at the BAFTA Film Awards in 2023.
In conversation with Screen Daily about her decision to collaborate with Chilean filmmaker Sebastián Lelio for 'The Wonder', Pugh said: "It's been said many times by women who have worked with Sebastian that he has this fantastic ability to tell women's stories. It takes a pretty special person to (a), not be from the country that the film is about, and (b), not have proof of doing an era like this before and tell a very challenging female story."
She further explained her approach to her character Lib, saying: "I wanted to play Lib in a very raw and natural way and he was 100% behind me. Then, of course, you get him on set and you see the crew is in love with him and everybody is so happy to be working on that job. I suppose it all trickles down from the top and he gave such an amazing example of how to lead a film."
The film universally garnered praise from critics, with one writing: "Not every story can or should be a movie, despite Hollywood's insistence otherwise. Some should remain books. Some should remain silent. And some, such as this, provide a fresh reminder of the power of visual storytelling."
One critic described the film as: "Equally haunting, heartbreaking and heartening, it's a narrative about narratives' ability to transform, destroy, resurrect, imprison, and liberate."
Another critic said: "As the picture develops from a spooky Brontë romance into a pointed indictment of society, it takes aim at some familiar targets, but the dramatic impact is powerful."
An additional reviewer added: "A film about the danger of believing without questioning that turns us into full-throated believers in whatever Lelio and Pugh can do."
Praise was heaped on Pugh for her role, with one commendation reading: "It might have all been too weighty and metaphorical were it not for Pugh... She is the whole package. A wonder indeed."
Viewers were equally taken by Pugh's performance; one commented: "It is a well-told story, far from the empty stories that we are always told every day, you can appreciate the layers of the characters and Pugh's great artistic ability to make us experience these types of emotions."
Further acclaim came from an audience member who remarked: "Wonderful, poetic, captivating. A rare movie that makes you think. Excellent acting keeps you in tension throughout the movie, great soundtrack."
While one viewer titled the film "a thrilling exorcism of beliefs", another shared that the film was "initially a bit slow, but ultimately engrossing and rewarding".
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