THE WONDER 2022
including BIFA wins for music, breakthrough, craft categories, NBR top ten, Girls on Film & ReFrame stamp.
1. Introduction
Sebastián Lelio’s The Wonder is not your typical period drama. On the surface, it tells the story of an English nurse, Lib Wright (Florence Pugh), who travels to a small, trauma-ridden Irish village in 1862 to observe a miraculous phenomenon: an 11-year-old girl, Anna O’Donnell, claims to have survived without food for four months .
But as the film unfolds, it becomes a gripping psychological thriller about faith, grief, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive. In this The Wonder 2022 movie explained article, we will break down the complex plot, analyze the key themes, and dive deep into the film’s enigmatic ending. We will uncover the truth behind Anna’s fast and explain what that final, meta shot really means .
2. Overview
The Wonder is a slow-burn psychological drama set in the Irish Midlands, just years after the Great Famine. The mood is somber, misty, and filled with unspoken dread . The story follows Lib, a Crimean War nurse haunted by her own past, who is hired by a local committee—including a doctor (Toby Jones) and a priest (Ciarán Hinds)—to watch over Anna for two weeks.
She works in shifts with a local nun, Sister Michael. Their job is simple: determine if the girl is a true religious miracle or a fraud. The film is based on the novel by Emma Donoghue (author of Room) and is a fictional exploration of the very real historical phenomenon of “fasting girls” in the Victorian era .
The following sections contain major spoilers for The Wonder (2022). If you haven’t seen the film yet, proceed with caution.
4. Story Explained (Full Breakdown)
Act 1: The Arrival and the Rules
Lib arrives in the village with a mission fueled by scientific rationalism. She is certain the girl is a trickster. The committee shows her the rules: she and Sister Michael will take eight-hour shifts to ensure no one feeds Anna. The girl’s mother, Rosaleen, is devout and cold. The father is silent and distant. Lib’s frustration grows as she finds no evidence of cheating. The girl seems genuinely serene, praying constantly .
Act 2: The Unraveling of Truth
As days pass, Lib’s skepticism meets a wall of collective belief. The townspeople want a miracle. They see Anna as a living saint. Lib grows desperate, even attempting to force-feed Anna with a tube before immediately regretting it. She begins to bond with a local journalist, Will Byrne (Tom Burke), a skeptic who left Ireland after the famine. Lib starts noticing small details: the way Rosaleen kisses Anna on the mouth, cupping her face tightly .
Act 3: The Revelation and The Plan
Lib realizes the horrible truth. The mother has been passing chewed food (“manna from heaven”) into the girl’s mouth during these kisses. When confronted, Anna confesses the deeper reason for her fast. She is not just religious; she is punishing herself. Her older brother, now dead, had sexually abused her. She believes she is sinful and that her fasting will release his soul from purgatory. Lib stops the mother from feeding her, but without the secret food, Anna begins to fade fast. The committee refuses to believe Lib, so she decides to stage a “miracle” of her own to save the child .
5. Key Themes Explained
The Wonder is a rich text layered with meaning. It is less about whether a girl can survive without food and more about the power of narrative .
- The Power of Stories: The film opens with a narrator (Niamh Algar) on a soundstage telling us, “We are nothing without stories.” Every character lives by a story. Anna’s family lives by the story of Catholic redemption. The town lives by the story of a miracle. Lib lives by the story of science and loss. The film suggests that our realities are constructed by the stories we choose to believe .
- Faith vs. Science: This is the most obvious conflict. But the film argues that both are just different types of belief systems. Lib’s science fails to solve the mystery until she stops trying to disprove Anna’s world and instead tries to understand it .
- Intergenerational Trauma: Set just after the Great Famine, the film is soaked in grief. The Irish landscape is barren. The people are haunted. Anna’s trauma is compounded by the collective trauma of a nation that has seen starvation and death .
6. Characters Explained
- Lib Wright (Florence Pugh): She is named “Lib,” short for liberty. She is the agent of freedom for Anna. A woman haunted by the death of her own child, she medicates herself with laudanum. Her journey is about moving from rigid judgment to compassionate action .
- Anna O’Donnell (Kíla Lord Cassidy): She is both victim and vessel. She carries the guilt of abuse and has turned her body into a site of punishment. Her fast is a form of slow suicide driven by trauma .
- Rosaleen O’Donnell (Elaine Cassidy): The mother is a tragic villain. She enables the abuse and the fast, convincing herself she is saving her children’s souls. She represents how dogma can corrupt maternal love .
- Will Byrne (Tom Burke): The journalist who creates narratives for a living. He represents the outside world and provides the emotional anchor for Lib. His toy, the thaumatrope (bird in a cage), becomes the central symbol of the film .
7. Twist Explained
The “miracle” is not a miracle at all. It is a heartbreaking case of abuse and Munchausen syndrome by proxy, mixed with religious fervor. Anna is not surviving on air. She is being fed secretly by her mother. But the real twist is the psychological one: Anna believes she is a sinner. She believes she is doing God’s work. The secret feeding is a dark pact between mother and daughter to maintain the illusion and “save” the dead brother’s soul. The twist is not just “how” she survives, but the horrific “why” .
8. The Wonder Ending Explained
The ending of The Wonder is both emotionally cathartic and narratively complex.
What Exactly Happens
Knowing Anna will die if she stays, Lib enlists Will’s help. As the family attends mass, Lib takes the dying Anna to a holy well. In a moment of pure psychological invention, Lib tells Anna that the girl she was—Anna, the sinner, the one carrying the burden of her brother’s soul—must die. She tells Anna to close her eyes and let that girl go. When Anna re-opens her eyes, Lib greets her as “Nan,” a new person free of sin and guilt. For the first time, Nan accepts food from Lib .
Lib then returns to the house, smashes her laudanum bottle, and sets the room on fire, staging Anna’s death. She tells the committee the girl died in the fire. They, fearing legal liability, let her go. In the final scenes, Lib reunites with Will and “Nan” in Dublin. They board a ship to Australia under the fake name “Cheshire.” We see Nan sitting at a dining table, healthy and eating, finally free .
What the Ending Means
Lib replaces one story with another. She couldn’t save “Anna,” because “Anna” was a prisoner of her family’s narrative. So, she performs an exorcism of identity, killing the old self to allow a new one to live. The ending is a testament to the power of reinvention. It asks: if a bad story can kill you, can a good story save you? .
The Meta Ending Explained
The film does not end with the ship. The camera pulls back to reveal the entire scene is a set in a massive soundstage. We see the lights, the microphones, and the crew. Kitty (Niamh Algar) looks directly into the camera and whispers, “In… out… in… out…” .
This final shot is the key to the entire movie. Director Sebastián Lelio uses this Brechtian device to remind us that we, too, are believing a story. The “in, out” refers to the bird in the cage toy . It asks us: Is the bird in the cage or out? Is Anna in the cage of her trauma, or out? Are we, as an audience, “in” the story (immersed) or “out” (aware we are watching a fiction)? The film argues we have the power to choose our perspective, just as Lib and Anna chose to change their story .
9. Performances
Florence Pugh delivers a masterclass in subtle acting. She conveys Lib’s internal war between rationality and compassion with just her eyes. She is the anchor of the film . Kíla Lord Cassidy, in her breakout role, is astonishing. Playing a character who is both ethereal and deeply traumatized, she holds her own against Pugh in every scene . Tom Burke provides a much-needed warmth and moral clarity as Will, while Elaine Cassidy is chilling as the deluded mother.
10. Direction & Visuals
Sebastián Lelio directs with a painterly eye. Cinematographer Ari Wegner ( The Power of the Dog ) captures the Irish landscape as a character—beautiful, isolating, and cold. The color palette is muted browns and greens, punctuated by the red of Lib’s hair and uniform, symbolizing her foreignness and life force. The use of intimate close-ups creates a claustrophobic tension, mirroring the watchroom where Anna is held .
11. Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Florence Pugh’s career-best performance.
- Haunting atmosphere and beautiful cinematography.
- Intelligent exploration of faith, trauma, and storytelling.
- A truly unique and thought-provoking ending.
Cons:
- The extremely slow pace may frustrate viewers expecting a thriller.
- The meta-framing device, while artistically valid, can feel jarring and takes some viewers out of the story .
12. Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Florence Pugh | Lib Wright |
| Kíla Lord Cassidy | Anna O’Donnell |
| Tom Burke | Will Byrne |
| Niamh Algar | Kitty / The Narrator |
| Elaine Cassidy | Rosaleen O’Donnell |
| Toby Jones | Dr. McBrearty |
| Ciarán Hinds | Father Thaddeus |
13. Crew
| Role | Crew Member |
|---|---|
| Director | Sebastián Lelio |
| Writers | Emma Donoghue, Sebastián Lelio, Alice Birch |
| Novel | Emma Donoghue (The Wonder) |
| Cinematography | Ari Wegner |
| Music | Matthew Herbert |
| Editor | Kristina Hetherington |
14. Who Should Watch?
This film is for viewers who love slow-burn psychological dramas like The Lighthouse or The Others. If you appreciate films that prioritize mood and theme over fast-paced action, and if you are a fan of Florence Pugh’s ability to command the screen, The Wonder is a must-watch. It is also a perfect pick for anyone interested in stories about the clash between science and superstition.
15. Verdict
The Wonder is a quietly devastating film that lingers in your mind long after the credits roll. It is a beautiful, haunting meditation on the lies we live by and the dangerous power of belief. Led by a phenomenal Florence Pugh and a stunning young Kíla Lord Cassidy, it transforms a simple mystery into a profound exploration of human resilience. It is one of the most intelligent and original dramas on Netflix.
16. Reviews & Rankings
- Rotten Tomatoes: 86% (Critics) / 69% (Audience)
- Metacritic: 71 (Generally Favorable)
- Letterboxd: Average 3.6/5
- Common Sense Media: 4/5 (Ages 16+)
17. Where to Watch
You can stream The Wonder (2022) exclusively on Netflix. It is available in all regions where Netflix operates .
🔎 The Wonder · 2022
What is the plot of The Wonder (2022)?
Set in 1860s Ireland, English nurse Lib Wright (Florence Pugh) is summoned to a small village to observe a young girl, Anna O’Donnell, who seemingly survives without food for months. The film explores faith, trauma, and the clash between science and superstition, slowly unveiling the dark secret behind the “miracle.”
Who directed The Wonder, and who is in the cast?
Directed by Sebastián Lelio (A Fantastic Woman, Disobedience). The cast includes Florence Pugh (Lib Wright), Tom Burke (William Byrne), Niamh Algar (Kitty), Ciarán Hinds (Father Thaddeus), and Toby Jones (Dr. McBrearty). Kíla Lord Cassidy plays Anna O’Donnell.
Is The Wonder based on a book?
Yes – it’s an adaptation of the 2016 novel The Wonder by Emma Donoghue, who also wrote Room. Donoghue co-wrote the screenplay alongside director Sebastián Lelio and Alice Birch.
Where was The Wonder filmed?
Principal photography took place in Ireland, primarily in County Wicklow and at Ardmore Studios. The production also scouted locations in the midlands to authentically capture the 19th-century Irish midland landscape.
When was The Wonder released, and on which platform?
The film premiered at the 47th Toronto International Film Festival in September 2022, and was released globally on Netflix on November 16, 2022. It also had a limited theatrical run.
What is the meaning of the opening and closing narration in The Wonder?
The film deliberately opens with a voice-over stating that what you’re about to see is “a story” – a Brechtian reminder that this is a constructed tale. It frames the movie as a fable about storytelling itself, inviting viewers to think about how we create and believe in narratives. The ending echoes this, leaving us with the power of choosing which story to live by.
Is The Wonder a true story?
The film is fictional but inspired by historical “fasting girls” – Victorian-era cases, particularly the well-known story of Sarah Jacob (the “Welsh Fasting Girl”). Author Emma Donoghue researched these real phenomena where young girls supposedly lived without food, often surrounded by religious and communal fervor.
How was Florence Pugh’s performance received?
Critics widely praised Pugh’s performance as intense and deeply committed. Her portrayal of Lib’s trauma (from the Crimean War) and her determination to uncover the truth was called “riveting” and “subtle powerhouse work.” Many reviews highlight her as the anchor of the film. (example review)
What is the runtime of The Wonder?
The runtime is approximately 108 minutes (1 hour and 48 minutes). It’s a measured, atmospheric drama that slowly builds tension.
Does The Wonder have any trigger warnings or notable themes?
Yes – the film deals with religious trauma, child neglect, grief, and self-harm (through fasting). It also depicts the aftermath of war (PTSD). It’s a psychological drama that some viewers may find disturbing. The theme of female agency vs. patriarchal control runs throughout.
