Wonder (2017)

 

Wonder doesn’t really break a lot of new ground in its depiction of how the world responds to people who are different, but it’s an uplifting, melodramatic film. In this case, a 10-year-old with a facial deformity (the supremely talented Jacob Trembley) enters the fifth grade for his first experience with public schooling after years of being homeschooled by his mother (played by the ever-luminous Julia Roberts). In case you’ve forgotten what middle school was like, the film reminds you quickly and repeatedly. A lot of the other kids suck when it comes to their treatment of anyone who doesn’t fit within their parameters of what’s “normal,” and some of the parents are terrible human beings because they always support bad behavior in their own children, especially when the kids have been bullying someone. The stereotypes do pile up after a while: the kindly principal (Mandy Patinkin) who understands what Trembley’s Auggie is going through, the rich kid who’s jealous that someone else is getting attention, even the supportive father (Owen Wilson) who always seems to do or say just the right thing. One way that Wonder does break up the traditional narrative is when it allows us to see several events from different perspectives. Auggie’s, of course, is the most dominant viewpoint, but we also get to know how his sister Via (Izabela Vidovic) feels as well as Auggie’s best friend Jack Will and Via’s best friend Miranda. These shifting angles allow us to understand how we don’t always know what’s going on inside someone else’s head. For example, we learn where the sister’s jealousy over all the attention her brother gets comes from and why her friend Miranda stopped hanging out with her after her summer at camp. The lessons revealed by Wonder may be rather stereotypical but are important nonetheless—particularly the idea that sometimes we need to redeem ourselves from our own bad behavior.

Oscar Nomination: Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling