Every week there are large numbers of indie and specialty releases vying for attention. It’s impossible to do them all, so when the option of reviewing Nowhere Special was placed in front of me I resisted at first after discovering it actually premiered at the 2020 Venice Film Festival. That’s right, four years ago. I had to wonder what could possibly be good about a film delayed for that long in terms of getting a U.S. release date? Finally caving in to the persistent requests by the distributor and its passionate PR team, I decided to check it out.
What I discovered was not that this was some sort of troubled film, not even close. Instead I found a spare but moving drama, powered by a remarkable lead performance, that is all about life and death and all things in between. At its heart it is also an...
What I discovered was not that this was some sort of troubled film, not even close. Instead I found a spare but moving drama, powered by a remarkable lead performance, that is all about life and death and all things in between. At its heart it is also an...
- 4/26/2024
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
There’s not a lot of time left, but the adoption agency working with John (James Norton) is doing their best to maintain his belief that they will find the right place for his four-year-old son Michael (Daniel Lamont). Why is it so important? Because John isn’t simply leaving the boy behind. He’s dying of a terminal disease. And with Michael’s mother already having left him at six months old, the last thing John wants is to leave him alone. This is therefore as much a gift for the child as it is for the father. To give Michael a home means giving him the chance at a life John never had himself as well as a necessary peace of mind for him to eventually let go.
Writer-director Uberto Pasolini crafted Nowhere Special after hearing the true-life story of a man in John’s circumstances. It’s...
Writer-director Uberto Pasolini crafted Nowhere Special after hearing the true-life story of a man in John’s circumstances. It’s...
- 4/25/2024
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
Dir: Sebastián Lelio. Starring: Florence Pugh, Tom Burke, Kíla Lord Cassidy, Elaine Cassidy, Caolán Byrne, Niamh Algar, Toby Jones, Ciarán Hinds. 15, 108 minutes.
Watching The Wonder on Netflix, you’ll think you’ve clicked on the wrong film. The beguiling period drama starring Florence Pugh opens not in Ireland’s boglands as promised by the trailer, but in the harsh light of a film studio. A disembodied voice (Niamh Algar’s) will reassure you that this is indeed The Wonder. The voice continues: “The people you are about to meet, the characters, believe in their stories with complete devotion. We are nothing without stories. So we invite you to believe in this one.”
It’s an odd, and already critically divisive, beginning. The film sees director Sebastián Lelio and screenwriter Alice Birch (known for her work on Succession and Normal People) take on Emma Donoghue’s 2016 novel of the same name.
Watching The Wonder on Netflix, you’ll think you’ve clicked on the wrong film. The beguiling period drama starring Florence Pugh opens not in Ireland’s boglands as promised by the trailer, but in the harsh light of a film studio. A disembodied voice (Niamh Algar’s) will reassure you that this is indeed The Wonder. The voice continues: “The people you are about to meet, the characters, believe in their stories with complete devotion. We are nothing without stories. So we invite you to believe in this one.”
It’s an odd, and already critically divisive, beginning. The film sees director Sebastián Lelio and screenwriter Alice Birch (known for her work on Succession and Normal People) take on Emma Donoghue’s 2016 novel of the same name.
- 11/17/2022
- by Clarisse Loughrey
- The Independent - Film
The Wonder is a movie directed by Sebastián Lelio starring Florence Pugh and Tom Burke.
An intriguing story, with complex characterizations, in this well developed screenplay. Add to that the good performances and the atmospherics of a good scenography, and you have one of the month’s best movies.
Premise The Wonder (2022)
It is 1862, after the Great Famine, Lib Wright, a nurse, leaves England for Ireland to observe what some see as a medical anomaly and others a miracle, namely, that a girl, Anna, has survived without food for months. In a remote cottage, Lib must watch over the girl in shifts, alternating with a nun, appeasing the town inhabitants who are skeptical of science. Tourists flock to see 11-year-old Anna O’Donnell, and a journalist has come to cover the sensation as two strangers transform each other’s lives in a story of love pitted against evil.
Movie Review
From...
An intriguing story, with complex characterizations, in this well developed screenplay. Add to that the good performances and the atmospherics of a good scenography, and you have one of the month’s best movies.
Premise The Wonder (2022)
It is 1862, after the Great Famine, Lib Wright, a nurse, leaves England for Ireland to observe what some see as a medical anomaly and others a miracle, namely, that a girl, Anna, has survived without food for months. In a remote cottage, Lib must watch over the girl in shifts, alternating with a nun, appeasing the town inhabitants who are skeptical of science. Tourists flock to see 11-year-old Anna O’Donnell, and a journalist has come to cover the sensation as two strangers transform each other’s lives in a story of love pitted against evil.
Movie Review
From...
- 11/16/2022
- by Veronica Loop
- Martin Cid Magazine - Movies
Stars: Sarah Bolger, Edward Hogg, Andrew Simpson, Jane Brennan, Caolan Byrne, Packy Lee, Rudy Doherty, Macie McCauley, Susan Ateh | Written by Ronan Blaney | Directed by Abner Pastoll
A Good Woman Is Hard to Find is a Northern Irish film about a young Mum who has been recently widowed, and with a willingness to go to any lengths in idea to protect her kids, seeks the reasons behind the murder of her late husband. Written by Ronan Blaney (Love Bite) and directed by Abner Pastoll (Road Games), it’s a crime thriller with a fantastic lead performance from Sarah Bolger (The Moth Diaries).
Bolger, is Sarah, a down-on-her-luck mother who is desperate to find out the information about the death of her husband, while struggling to make ends meet and support her kids, and she’s bloody great. She brings a real emotional depth to the character, seeming emotionally exhausted, frustrated and depressed,...
A Good Woman Is Hard to Find is a Northern Irish film about a young Mum who has been recently widowed, and with a willingness to go to any lengths in idea to protect her kids, seeks the reasons behind the murder of her late husband. Written by Ronan Blaney (Love Bite) and directed by Abner Pastoll (Road Games), it’s a crime thriller with a fantastic lead performance from Sarah Bolger (The Moth Diaries).
Bolger, is Sarah, a down-on-her-luck mother who is desperate to find out the information about the death of her husband, while struggling to make ends meet and support her kids, and she’s bloody great. She brings a real emotional depth to the character, seeming emotionally exhausted, frustrated and depressed,...
- 8/27/2019
- by Chris Cummings
- Nerdly
"They're my children. I'm their mother. And I love them." Signature Entertainment has debuted an official UK trailer for the indie crime thriller A Good Woman Is Hard to Find, the latest from filmmaker Abner Pastoll. This first premiered at Fantasia this summer, and is premiering in the UK at FrightFest this month before opening in cinemas this fall. Sarah Bolger stars in this film as a recently widowed young mother who will go to any lengths to protect her children as she seeks the truth behind her husband's murder. Also starring Edward Hogg, Andrew Simpson, Jane Brennan, Caolan Byrne, Packy Lee, Rudy Doherty, Macie McCauley, and Susan Ateh. Described as a "dynamic killer thriller with its finger firmly on the pulses of stark social commentary and shattering suspense," Pastoll has made a "dazzling, dark and daring journey through Northern Ireland’s criminal ...
- 8/20/2019
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
A UK trailer has debuted for Abner Pastoll's A Good Woman Is Hard to Find ahead of its closing night bow at FrightFest Film Festival on August 26. The new Ireland-set thriller sees Sarah Bolger playing a recently widowed young mother who will go to any lengths to protect her children as she seeks the truth behind her husband's murder. It was written by Ronan Blaney and co-produced by Frakas (Raw). Following its FrightFest screening, Signature Entertainment will release A Good Woman Is Hard to Find in UK cinemas and on Digital HD October 25, 2019. Besides Bolger, the film also stars Edward Hogg (Taboo), Andrew Simpson (Road Games), Jane Brennan (Brooklyn), Packy Lee (Peaky Blinders), Caolan Byrne (The Foreigner), and Josh Bolt (Nowhere Boy). The film...
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- 8/19/2019
- Screen Anarchy
Abner Pastoll's follow-up to Road Games sees Sarah Bolger as a recently widowed young mother who will go to any lengths to protect her children as she seeks the truth behind her husband's murder. The thriller was written by Ronan Blaney and co-produced by Frakas (Raw).
A Good Woman is Hard to Find will see a UK release by Signature Entertainment in cinemas and on Digital HD October 25, 2019.
The film also stars Edward Hogg (“Taboo”), Andrew Simpson (Road Games), Jane Brennan(“Brooklyn”), Packy Lee (“Peaky Blinders”), Caolan Byrne (“The...
A Good Woman is Hard to Find will see a UK release by Signature Entertainment in cinemas and on Digital HD October 25, 2019.
The film also stars Edward Hogg (“Taboo”), Andrew Simpson (Road Games), Jane Brennan(“Brooklyn”), Packy Lee (“Peaky Blinders”), Caolan Byrne (“The...
- 8/19/2019
- QuietEarth.us
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