It feels quite natural to see her traipsing over the fields of 19th century Ireland inThe Wonder,the hem of her sky-blue skirt getting gradually more soiled. Surely,it’s only a matter of time before she teams up with Jane Campion,who more or less invented this sort of thing inThe Piano.
Here,the director is Sebastian Lelio (Disobedience),adapting a2016 novel by Emma Donoghue. Pugh plays Lib,an intrepid English nurse summoned to the Irish Midlands to tend to a young peasant girl named Anna,played with impressive control by 13-year-old newcomer Kila Lord Cassidy.
For months,Anna has refused to eat,yet she still has colour in her cheeks,claiming to subsist on “manna from heaven”. Many in this very Catholic community are convinced they’re in the presence of a miracle;a local doctor (Toby Jones) has theories about magnetism. But can Lib,keeping watch day and night,uncover the truth?
It’s an intriguing premise,though suspense fades once it becomes clear the mystery won’t be solved until the climax. Meanwhile,Lib has a certain amount of detective work to occupy her,along with an opium habit and a love interest played by Tom Burke fromThe Souvenir,who has the kind of fleshy,mildly dejected face that looks natural framed by mutton chops.
Basically,the film is a waiting game,with Lelio,a sophisticated technician,using every available trick to keep us engaged. A framing device “breaks the fourth wall” in the manner ofThe French Lieutenant’s Woman,though only half-heartedly. More effective are the discordant horns and banshee wails of Matthew Herbert’s score,which recalls some modernist orchestral pieces Martin Scorsese sampled inShutter Island,with perhaps a dash of Enya.