Released in 2022 on Netflix, The Wonder is a movie directed by Sebastián Lelio and starring Florence Pugh. Set in 1862 in Northern Ireland, a decade after the Great Famine, the story follows Pugh, who plays Lib Wright, a nurse who travels to a small town to observe a young girl who supposedly hasn’t eaten anything in months. The girl in question is Anna O’Donnell, played by Kíla Lord Cassidy. We also meet her parents Rosaleen and Malachy O’Donnell and sister Kitty O’Donnell. Alongside a nun, Lib is tasked with watching over Anna to make sure she truly isn’t eating so that the town can confirm whether a miracle is taking place.
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During her time in the town, Lib comes across Will Byrne, a skeptical reporter, and the two enter into something between a friendship and a relationship. As time goes on, Lib and Will become increasingly attached to and concerned for Anna, who becomes frail and weak from lack of sustenance. There is conflict throughout between science and religion. Speaking to Deadline, Lelio says these themes of “faith versus science or nationalism versus magical thinking” are “very 2022,” which grounds this historical narrative in the present. For a period drama, The Wonder has a surprising framing device that leaves many viewers wondering what it all means.
What Happens at the End of The Wonder?
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By the end of The Wonder, Anna has become so malnourished that it’s clear she will soon die. Her teeth are falling out, she’s vomiting bile, and she can hardly stay awake. Lib has tried several times to make Anna’s parents and the men who organized for Lib to watch over Anna see sense, but no one will allow her to eat, nor will she consent to it herself. Anna’s parents believe too strongly in the power of her prayers being magnified by her fasting, and the men in charge of the watch wish for Anna to be a local miracle. While discussing with Anna that she won’t survive much longer, Lib suggests the idea that when “Anna” dies, she can then live on as “Nan” instead, who would be able to eat, which Anna agrees with.
So, because Lib has become so attached to Anna while nursing her, she decides to take matters into her own hands and hatches a plan with Will to take her away to England. Lib carries Anna out of the house and tells her that she can let “Anna” die now, and she opens her eyes after a moment, reborn as “Nan.” After giving Anna a tiny portion of food, Lib goes back into the house and sets it on fire, but gets caught up in the flames herself, only just making it out with severe burns. When we next see Lib, we don’t know what happened to Anna, who appeared moments away from death. Lib then travels to Dublin, where she is reunited with Will and Anna, and they all set off for England.
What is the Main Point of The Wonder?
The strangest part of The Wonder is its opening and closing shots. To begin with, we see a shot of a modern soundstage, and in a voiceover, Anna’s sister Kitty says, “This is the beginning. The beginning of a film called The Wonder. The people you’re about to meet, the characters, believe in their stories with complete devotion. We are nothing without stories. And so we invite you to believe in this one.” At the end of the movie, the camera pans out from a shot of Lib, Anna, and Will eating together to the soundstage where it’s being filmed. There, Kitty looks into the camera and repeatedly says “In. Out,” which is something that is said during the movie.
Although off-putting to some viewers, this framing device makes the central tenet of the movie explicitly clear. There is a constant division between Lib and almost everyone in the town where Anna lives because she is a nurse who prioritizes science over faith. She is repeatedly told she doesn’t understand them or their way of life when she asks Anna’s family and the supervising townsmen to help Anna eat again. There is emphasis placed on the stories everyone tells themselves and each other in order to make sense of their lives. Lelio tells Screen Daily, “It’s sort of a playful beginning, but it’s also an invitation to the viewer to be awake and alert and aware.” The framing device is simply another way to make the point of the movie even clearer as it’s so jarring it forces audiences to pay close attention to what is being said in those moments.
