Female Film Critics 24/375
The Wonder dramatizes a story set in an isolated community in famine-ravaged 1862 Ireland. British nurse Lib Wright arrives to investigate reports that eleven-year-old Anna has survived four months without eating. Pitting rationalism against unquestioned religious belief, the film illuminates the contrarian, resolute position of a patriarchal panel wielding power versus Wright’s unwavering, methodical analysis.
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Based on the novel by Emma Donoghue — and supposedly inspired by a true story — Sebastián Lelio’s moody, atmospheric The Wonder features a powerful lead performance by Florence Pugh. She stars as Lib Wright, an English nurse brought to the remote Irish countryside in the early 1860s to help determine the truth behind a girl’s claim that manna from heaven — not food — is what has kept her alive for several months.
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Loren King Emma Donoghue’s best known novel “Room” centered on a mother-child bond against a perilous world. Donoghue’s “The Wonder,” set in the 19th century, is also rich with themes of maternal connections and the resiliency of children despite the misguided intentions and outright treacheries of adults.
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The first half of the movie is a slow-burn, but the plot catches fire in the second act when science is pitted against religious beliefs in a contest of grieving mothers. Pugh gives a sober, determined performance as a young widow whose loss of a child in infancy causes her to self-medicate with opium as she tries to save another from self-sacrifice.
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Over Labor Day weekend, the 49th Telluride Film Festival presented thought-provoking films to its full complement of attendees, a nice rebound from the all-mask 2021 event. As always, no one could come close to seeing all the enticing films on offer, so tough choices and constant second guessing rules. This year women directed and dominated exceptionally strong selections that tell stories of quite different time periods and subjects. Intelligently and insightfully observing internal and external struggles, revealing the specificity of contemporary and historical pressures (so remarkably relevant today), the fest’s films reached out and inspired as they informed. We are, indeed, a global community.
Read moreMany of the films in the recently concluded 52nd New York Film Festival will fill theaters, fuel discussions, and collect awards for months to come. Topping the list is Citizenfour, a late edition to the tightly edited festival’s main slate of 31 features. Other films of particular interest include Birdman, Inherent Vice, and The Wonder.
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