It wouldn’t be entirely accurate to say that the film abandons its setting in the middle of this quest, even if the camerawork doesn’t return to the definitive framing it began with. When Lib confronted a family member about the last thing the girl ate and was told it was “our savior’s meat,” Lib chided her, saying, “It’s a story, and I’m looking for the facts,” before slipping the notebook into the She has been taking notes. “You need your story too,” the woman replied. “You write them in that little notebook. Totally biblical.”
It’s not just the mystery of how Ana survived, it’s the power of storytelling, whether it’s driven by science or spirituality Domination, that’s the real theme of The Wonder. The story told by Anna’s family has its own logic and madness, just like the story told by Anna her herself. Lib has lost a child; reporter Will – whom she initially sees as an adversary but who has since become her closest confidant (and more) – is carrying an unimaginable tragedy that stems from several The famine that swept Ireland years ago and took his parents away. Each of these survivors, that means, also tells their own story to themselves in order to continue.
Lib does eventually come to a conclusion about Anna, but before her understanding becomes a coherent narrative, the film suggests it won’t offer a believable explanation at all. Perhaps the rationalist Lib will be forced to accept the limits of her understanding as an outsider, a skeptic, a nurse instead of a doctor, a woman without children of her own, and a woman among men who stubbornly clings to her own interpretations. The Wonder is a mystery because at its core it is an event that prompts people to untangle tangles, but it lacks the twists and turns that entertain the usual trajectory in that mode. These revelations take place mostly in Lib’s head as Lib gradually pieces together what she’s observed; they’re mostly visible on Pugh’s face as he processes what she’s seeing.
The film does provide an answer in the end, but it also introduces the idea that Lib’s inferences are not entirely based on objective observation. As she grows closer to Ana, she Her mind is both sharp and fuzzy, until her eventual understanding leads her to actions that are both believable and irrational. Apologies for the obscurity of this description (which was necessary to preserve the truly exciting final quarter of the movie): Ultimately, Ana’s redemption is based on a whole new story.
