‘The Wonder’ Telluride Review: Florence Pugh In Sebastian Lelio’s Gothic Netflix Drama
deadline.comThe Wonder is Gothic without the architecture. Set in rural central Ireland in the wake of the Great Famine of the mid-1800s, director Sebastian Lelio’s adaptation of Emma Donoghue’s 2016 novel methodically moves the chess pieces around in telling the tale of an 11-year-old girl who has locals mystified as to what God is intending by letting her survive for four months without eating.
Atmospheric and intriguing up to a point, it nonetheless feels like much ado about a mildly curious situation that’s been milked for rather more than it’s worth.
Lending the material an added dimension at the outset, Leilo (Gloria, the Oscar-winning A Fantastic Woman) opens the proceedings on a soundstage from which he shortly moves into the set itself.
English nurse Lib (Florence Pugh) has been engaged to come to the Midlands to see what she can make of peasant girl Anna (Kila Lord Cassidy).A young widow, Lib seems sensible and capable from the get-go and shifts are organized to observe the pale but nonetheless alert eating hold-out.
Read more on deadline.com
