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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Lifestyle
Clarisse Loughrey

The Wonder review: Florence Pugh is at home in this beguiling period drama – with a controversial beginning

Florence Pugh Wonder Anna ODonnell Kíla Lord Cassidy Alice Birch Ciarán Hinds Emma Donoghue Niamh Algar Sebastián Lelio Toby Jones Tom Burke
Aidan Monaghan/Netflix

Dir: Sebastián Lelio. Starring: Florence Pugh, Tom Burke, Kíla Lord Cassidy, Elaine Cassidy, Caolán Byrne, Niamh Algar, Toby Jones, Ciarán Hinds. 15, 108 minutes.

Watching The Wonder on Netflix, you’ll think you’ve clicked on the wrong film. The beguiling period drama starring Florence Pugh opens not in Ireland’s boglands as promised by the trailer, but in the harsh light of a film studio. A disembodied voice (Niamh Algar’s) will reassure you that this is indeed The Wonder. The voice continues: “The people you are about to meet, the characters, believe in their stories with complete devotion. We are nothing without stories. So we invite you to believe in this one.”

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