Synopsis
Gelsomina’s family works according to some special rules. First of all, Gelsomina, at twelve years of age, is head of the family and her three younger sisters must obey her: sleep when she tells them to and work under her watchful eye. But the world, the outside, mustn’t know anything about their rules, and must be kept away from them. They must learn to disguise themselves.
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Cast
- Maria Alexandra LunguGelsomina
- Alba RohrwacherAngelica
- Sam LouwyckWolfgang
- Sabine TimoteoCocò
- Agnese GrazianiMarinella
- Monica BellucciMilly Catena
- André HennickeAdrian
- Luis HuilcaMartin
- Eva Lea Pace MorrowCaterina
- Maris Stella MorrowLuna
Recommendations
- 100
The Telegraph
The film comes and goes without commotion, but its magic settles on you as softly and as steadily as dust. - 90
Village Voice
The Wonders has an intimate, subtly buzzing power. - 80
CineVue
The Wonders is a complex and nuanced illustration of a family trying to live by their own standards - whilst only partly failing. Rohrwacher's vision is tactful and restrained, with so much we don't ever know. The characters' histories are there to be guessed rather than spelled out. - 80
The Hollywood Reporter
Wise beyond its years, like the teenage protag Gelsomina, Le Meraviglie (The Wonders) is a wistful but no-tears swan song recounting the disappearance of traditional rural life-style in Italy. - 80
Time Out London
Rohrwacher draws us into this unusual world with the ease of someone who knows exactly what they’re talking about, neither judging nor celebrating and, at her best, just looking with tenderness and a winning sense of humour. - 75
Slant Magazine
Like a rural Fellini, Rohrwacher mixes the mundane with the absurd to create a sometimes fabulous tale that always feels palpably real. - 75
The A.V. Club
If the film fails to deliver wonders, it does offer substantial pleasures. - 67
The Playlist
Though there's an admirable sense of messiness to the scenes of family life, the screenplay itself is rather neat: one has a fairly solid sense of how things are going to play out from the early stages, and for the most part that's how it goes, ticking off a checklist of rather familiar beats along the way.
