76
Metascore
17 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100The TelegraphRobbie CollinThe TelegraphRobbie CollinThe film comes and goes without commotion, but its magic settles on you as softly and as steadily as dust.
- 90Village VoiceStephanie ZacharekVillage VoiceStephanie ZacharekThe Wonders has an intimate, subtly buzzing power.
- 80CineVueJohn BleasdaleCineVueJohn BleasdaleThe 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.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungThe Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungWise 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.
- 80Time Out LondonDave CalhounTime Out LondonDave CalhounRohrwacher 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.
- 75Slant MagazineElise NakhnikianSlant MagazineElise NakhnikianLike a rural Fellini, Rohrwacher mixes the mundane with the absurd to create a sometimes fabulous tale that always feels palpably real.
- 75The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloThe A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloIf the film fails to deliver wonders, it does offer substantial pleasures.
- 67The PlaylistOliver LytteltonThe PlaylistOliver LytteltonThough 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.
- 60VarietyJay WeissbergVarietyJay WeissbergAn appealing yet oddly insubstantial work, like an early impressionist sketch in need of a little more focus, and perhaps a more suitable frame.
- 60EmpireDavid ParkinsonEmpireDavid ParkinsonSuperb star turn from Maria Alexandra Lungi but this doesn’t grip as it might.