'Wonder' is easily the feel-good film of the year

Lately, feel-good dramas and romantic comedies offer a lukewarm storyline that never reach the emotional crescendo they promise in their trailers. In fact, these films have tended to be extended versions of their trailers. Julia Roberts- and Owen Wilson-starrer Wonder offers nothing more than its trailer in terms of the plot. There’s no real suspense and you know how it’s all going to end. And yet, the writing is so neat and the acting so accomplished that the film feels like a piping hot cup of cocoa on a wintry night.

Wonder is the story of August “Auggie” Pullman, a young boy born with Treacher Collins syndrome, a rare disorder that leaves him with a disabling facial deformity. After surviving 27 surgeries and being home-schooled by his mother (essayed poignantly by Roberts), the film begins with Auggie’s entry into a mainstream middle school, with caricature-like classmates — boys and girls who have typically pre-teen problems and biases. His face is always the topic of conversation and the first scenes at the school have been shot with a nuanced eye. Some well-intentioned students look at Auggie but pointedly avoid looking at his face and avert their gaze, only for their eyes to dart back to Auggie.

While the crowd gapes and parts dramatically and palpably when Auggie walks into the school’s corridors, other forms of discrimination are more subtle. Via (Olivia, played by the charming Izabela Vidovic), the neglected older sister of a brother who takes up all their parents’ time and attention, is as much a victim of Auggie’s condition as he is at school. When she finally breaks down and tells Auggie that not everything is about him, the tantrummy little boy sits up in attention. Though he agrees with her, he tells her that school is difficult for everyone, but especially if one is different. The script allows the talented Jacob Trembley, who plays Auggie, to come into his own, switching between raw pain and an unusual maturity with ease.

Auggie and Via’s friends are also pitch-perfect. Characters like Via’s best friend Miranda and Auggie’s classmate Jack Will capture the price that children have to pay for their parents’ choices. Where there are the Pullmans, who despite their shortcomings raise their children with sensitivity, there are also Julian’s parents, who are downright obnoxious. Through the various broken relationships, tears and screaming, Wonder makes a strong statement about parenting, too.

And yet, the most striking aspect is the underlying commentary on the perils of bullying in school. Sitcoms and TV series in the US have dealt with teenage issues such as bullying and assault head on, right from Glee to the more controversial 13 Reasons Why. Wonder brings the issue of bullying out of its teenage confines and into the less-explored space of middle school, where personalities actually begin to take shape. A hostile school environment is something that needs serious consideration in India, too, but Bollywood has only just begun to take note of the issues children face.

The strength of the film lies in its script. Though the plot is based on an eponymous novel by R J Palacio, Stephen Chbosky’s nuanced direction and screenplay gives it the right shape for the screen adaptation.

Wonder is, ultimately, a film about hope, about never losing one’s sense of the ineffable. Auggie’s strength of will and character is testament to what Wordsworth famously wrote: “The child is father of the man.” But the film is also about knowing when to chuck naiveté and push back, because children can be perhaps more cruel than adults. I, for one, can’t wait for Wonder to be available on one of the streaming services, because it’s the kind of film you want to curl up inside a blanket to watch, with a steaming cup of hot chocolate for company.