Aurora Soffritti 5C LL
“We are nothing without stories, so we invite you to believe in this one”. This quote is included in the prologue of ‘The wonder’ taking place in an unexpected scenario that will make you think for a moment that you have started the wrong movie. But after the first scene, you will immediately understand the frame.
The movie, recently released on Netflix, is adapted from a novel by Emma Donoghue and the filmmaker Sebastian Lelio. He managed to recreate on screen the scary and creepy atmosphere of the story even if murders and violence are not involved. This captivating psychological thriller is about the dangers of religious fervor, and it creates a delicate balance between realism and melodrama. The story develops in the Irish countryside, dominated by natural light and by the never-ending untamable wind that contributes to the sense of discomfort through the whole movie.
The actress Florence Pugh plays the role of a nurse named Lib who is called to investigate a “miracle” that takes place in the bucolic Ireland of the Victorian Age (the story is set in 1862). This miracle is an 11 years old girl named Anna who hasn’t eaten for four months yet remains inexplicably healthy. Her parents receive a continuous stream of visitors that, like pilgrims, come to their cottage and are allowed to speak with the “pious” child. Lib is asked by a local committee to observe her and to give accurate reports on her activities in order to explain something so miraculous. The nurse is torn between faith and science: at the beginning she thinks that it’s all superstition but the more she interacts with Anna’s family the more she realizes that things are way more complicated than they seem…
The movie refers to the Victorian Era “fasting girls” who allegedly found ways to survive without food for long periods, inspired by a religious aim. Even if this specific story is invented, it will make you probably wonder about how many cases like Anna could have existed in the Catholic Ireland of that time, also devastated by a terrible famine. The end of the movie is totally unexpected, and the spectators are again transported to the first scenario, the one of the prologue. This shift makes the whole story look just like a parenthesis, a tale, or a weird dream.