Spiritual Elasticity vs. Religious Fanaticism in THE WONDER | SEBASTIÁN LELIO | TIFF 2022

Based on the novel by Emma Donoghue and directed by Sebastián Lelio, The Wonder stars Florence Pugh as a nurse in 19th-century Ireland hired to investigate the case of a child who has not eaten for four months. Chilean director Sebastián Lelio has made a significant contribution to cinema through his stories of female characters — the sort of women who rarely find their lives reflected on screen — notably Gloria, Gloria Bell, Disobedience, and the Oscar-winning A Fantastic Woman. His latest work, The Wonder, introduces us to yet another formidable woman and frames the film by asking the viewer to consider the power of stories — those that society pushes upon us and those that we create about ourselves. Lib Wright (Florence Pugh), a veteran of Florence Nightingale’s Crimean campaign, arrives in the Irish Midlands hired for an unusual task: to observe an 11-year-old girl named Anna O’Donnell (Kíla Lord Cassidy), who has reportedly not eaten a morsel for four months. As religious tourist