Chilean director Sebastián Lelio’s adaptation of Emma Donoghue’s 2016 novel is a completely absorbing descent into the mist – of 1860s Ireland, of mysticism, of religious fervour. Put aside the distracting framing device, two present-tense bookends assumedly meant to underscore our ability to suspend disbelief that end up undercutting this eerie, remarkable period film.
The vibe is off, the mood unsettling, from the moment we meet Florence Pugh’s Lib, an English nurse sent to a remote Irish village to observe (or, as many townspeople hope, to confirm) a reported miracle: 11-year-old Anna (an impressive Kíla Lord Cassidy) who has refused to eat for four months and yet remains curiously healthy. Lelio’s film approaches Anna’s anorexia mirabilis as a slow-burn mystery, as Lib grows fond of the girl and ever more frustrated with the inaction of those around her, people willing to accept sacrifice to preserve their preferred version of the story. It’s a thriller of fact versus faith that doesn’t judge the latter.
