Movie - "The Wonder" (2022)

 

Just watched this movie yesterday. A bit slow, but overall a good watch, with plenty of food for thought.

Here is the plot: 

Set in The Irish Midlands in 1862, the story follows a young girl, Anna O'Donnell, played by Kila Cassidy, who stops eating but remains miraculously alive and well. English nurse Lib Wright (played by Florence Pugh) is brought to a tiny village to observe eleven-year old Anna O'Donnell. Tourists and pilgrims mass to witness the girl who is said to have survived without food for months. 

Related fact: The movie is based on a novel of the same name written by Emma Donoghue.

Here are some of my observations, what I liked and didn't like about it, my two cents: 

• The movie is beautifully shot, showcasing the bleak but vast landscape of the Irish Midlands. 
• The background music was a bit too creepy and intruding, should have been avoided at all
• The tension between Religion and Science, or more accurately, Blind Faith and Science, is depicted engagingly. There is a reference to the prevailing theories of that time, including "magnetism" and "vital force."
• The movie did a nice job investigating the subject and the topic without moralizing or depicting faith or science in a particularly bad light. 
• The role of different women in supporting or acting against other women is one of the subtle themes of this movie
• The pace of the movie seemed glacial, with a lot of dead space. I had to fight my sleep watching some segments.
• The movie is set around the great famine in Ireland (1845-1852). According to the information provided in the movie in the beginning, the Irish blamed the English for this catastrophe. This information is important, because Lib is a nurse and she is English, and therefore, her testimony is seen with a lot of suspicion. 

On the whole, this was a good watch. Do give it a watch, and do let me know your thoughts.