Sebastian Lelio’s 2022 historical thriller stars Florence Pugh as an English nurse in 1862 Ireland investigating a mysterious ‘fasting girl’ in this critically acclaimed film

Florence Pugh in Netflix drama The Wonder (Image: undefined)

Sebastian Lelio’s 2022 historical thriller The Wonder has been praised as “entirely fresh and equally brilliant” by critics.

Streaming on Netflix, The Wonder draws inspiration from Emma Donoghue’s 2016 novel of the same name, with Donoghue joining Lelio and Alice Birch in adapting the screenplay.

Set in post-famine Ireland during 1862, The Wonder follows the story of English nurse Lib Wright, hauntingly portrayed by Florence Pugh, and a young girl named Anna O’Donnell (Nan), masterfully played by Kila Lord Cassidy.

Lib travels to a deeply religious rural village charged with monitoring a mysterious ‘fasting girl’, who remarkably insists she survives without nourishment through divine means.

While based on a fictional work, the film’s storyline reflects genuine historical events. Throughout Ireland’s Great Famine, there was a disturbing increase in instances of ‘fasting girls’.
Florence Pugh in Netflix drama The Wonder (Image: undefined)

These young women claimed the capacity to survive on celestial ‘manna’ and maintained they could last months without sustenance.

Headlined by Academy Award-nominated Florence Pugh, The Wonder boasts an impressive ensemble including rising star Kila Lord Cassidy, Tom Burke, Elaine Cassidy, Niamh Algar, Brian F. O’Byrne, Dermot Crowley, and David Wilmot.

Shot across Ireland in the late summer of 2021, ‘The Wonder’ graced selected cinemas for a limited run in November 2022 before reaching a wider audience on Netflix.

The film garnered recognition at the 2023 BAFTA Film Awards, receiving an Outstanding British Film nomination.

Speaking to Screen Daily about her decision to collaborate with Chilean director Sebastian Lelio on ‘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.”

Florence Pugh promotes The Wonder (Image: Getty Images for Netflix)

She went on to explain on her creative decision, adding: “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 was met with widespread critical acclaim, with one reviewer noting: “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.”

Another critic praised the film as: “Equally haunting, heartbreaking and heartening, it’s a narrative about narratives’ ability to transform, destroy, resurrect, imprison, and liberate.”

One critic appreciated the film’s evolution: “As the picture develops from a spooky Bronte romance into a pointed indictment of society, it takes aim at some familiar targets, but the dramatic impact is powerful.”

Meanwhile, another enthusiastic reviewer remarked: “A film about the danger of believing without questioning that turns us into full-throated believers in whatever Lelio and Pugh can do.”

Pugh’s performance didn’t fail to impress, with a critic noting the effect: “It might have all been too weighty and metaphorical were it not for Pugh… She is the whole package. A wonder indeed.”

Audiences shared this view, with one stating: “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.”

A glowing audience review said: “Wonderful, poetic, captivating. A rare movie that makes you think. Excellent acting keeps you in tension throughout the movie, great soundtrack.”

While one viewer described it “a thrilling exorcism of beliefs”, another disclosed that they found it “initially a bit slow, but ultimately engrossing and rewarding”.