The Wonder

1859, Young British widow Lib (Florence Pugh) travels unaccompanied to a small village in the Irish Midlands. The war-hardened nurse and pupil of Über-Sister Florence Nightingale have been invited to monitor girl Anna (Kíla Lord Cassidy), who claims not to have eaten since her 11th birthday – over four months ago. In the arch-Catholic community, still struggling with the collective trauma of the Great Famine (1845-1849), they are certain that the child is a medical miracle. Every effort is made to prove that Ireland is home to a new saint.

Lib, whose only job is observation and reporting, has to fight all her instincts not to treat little Anna – a very open-hearted and intelligent child – as a patient against the wishes of her parents and the village. The more time she spends with Anna and her family, the more skeptical she becomes about Anna’s refusal to eat. Because although the potatoes can be harvested again in Ireland, something seems to be fishy here.

With The Wonder, Oscar winner Sebastián Lelio ( Una Mujer Fantástica ) delivers an atmospheric drama in an oppressively intimate style. In the captivating story with many twists, Florence Pugh shines above all in a role in which she is allowed to show herself strong and vulnerable at the same time.

• The Wonder