Wonder (2017)

Based on R.J. Palacio's 2012 novel of the same name, Wonder arrived in cinemas in November 2017 carrying considerable goodwill. The book had spent years on bestseller lists and built a devoted readership, particularly among younger readers and school reading programmes, which made a film adaptation feel both inevitable and slightly precarious. The story follows August "Auggie" Pullman, a ten-year-old boy born with a craniofacial condition, as he leaves home-schooling behind and enters a mainstream elementary school for the first time. It is the kind of premise that wears its heart on its sleeve, and the film was always going to live or die on whether it could earn its emotional moments rather than simply demand them. Produced by Lionsgate, Participant, and Walden Media, the latter of which has form with family-oriented literary adaptations, the film sits squarely in a tradition of school-set coming-of-age dramas aimed at a broad family audience. For context on how a family film can carry genuine weight, my review of The Hunchback of Notre Dame is worth a look, and I have also written about Trolls if you want another family release from around this period.

Behind the camera is Stephen Chbosky, whose career makes him a reasonably logical choice for this kind of material. He is best known for writing and directing The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), his own adaptation of his debut novel, a film that dealt with adolescent outsiderdom and found its audience through quiet emotional honesty rather than spectacle. That background in navigating the interior lives of young people gave some grounds for optimism, and Chbosky co-wrote the screenplay alongside Jack Thorne and Steven Conrad. At 113 minutes, the runtime sits on the longer side for a film aimed partly at children, a choice that would prove divisive. The production design leans into warm, suburban Americana, bright classrooms and family kitchens that signal comfort and safety from the opening frames.

The cast is where much of the pre-release conversation centred. Jacob Tremblay, then still a relatively recent name following his work in Room (2015), takes on the central role of Auggie, performing throughout under substantial prosthetic make-up. It is a physically and emotionally demanding turn for a young actor, and Tremblay had already demonstrated he could carry serious dramatic material well beyond his years. He can also be seen in Luca, which gives a sense of his range across different kinds of family film. Alongside him, Julia Roberts plays Auggie's mother, Isabel, bringing the kind of warm authority she handles comfortably, while Owen Wilson takes the role of the father, Nate. Rounding out the younger cast are Izabela Vidovic as Auggie's older sister Via and Noah Jupe, a young British actor who was beginning to attract attention around this time, as one of Auggie's classmates. The supporting ensemble and the film's multiple-perspective structure, shifting between Auggie and several of the people around him, gave it an ambition that went beyond a straightforward single-protagonist drama. Whether that ambition paid off is, naturally, a matter for the review itself.

Wonder (2017) is a well-meaning, heartfelt adaptation of R.J. Palacio's beloved novel about a young boy with facial differences navigating his first year of mainstream school. The story's core message (about kindness, empathy, and seeing beyond appearances) is undeniably touching, and it's easy to see why it resonates with younger audiences (like my 11 year old Daughter). The film handles its subject with sincerity and avoids overt sentimentality in its best moments, offering genuine warmth and a few quietly powerful scenes. But for adult viewers, especially those familiar with the book, the adaptation feels diluted and overstretched. At nearly two hours, the pacing drags, with subplots that meander and emotional beats that are reiterated rather than deepened. The film's structure (shifting perspectives between Auggie, his sister, and classmates) works better on the page than on screen, where it can feel episodic and emotionally diffuse. And while Julia Roberts brings grace to her role, Owen Wilson's laid-back, slightly detached performance as the father never quite lands; he feels miscast, lacking the grounded gravitas the role demands. Visually, the film is polished but unremarkable, competent, bright, and safe, mirroring its overall approach. It never takes risks, never challenges, and never transcends its "very nice" intentions. It's the cinematic equivalent of a warm hug: comforting, but forgettable. Wonder is fine, harmless, hopeful, and occasionally moving, but it's also overly long, emotionally shallow, and strangely miscast in key roles. It's not bad, but it's not particularly good either. Just… ok. A perfectly serviceable family film that does its job without leaving much of a mark.

I will say that coming away from Wonder, what sticks with me most is not any particular scene but a general sense of a film that kept pulling its punches at the moments it needed to commit. The multiple-perspective structure felt like an opportunity squandered, a genuinely interesting choice that the film never trusted enough to push anywhere uncomfortable. And Owen Wilson remains, for me, the most distracting element, a performer I have a lot of time for in the right role, but here the looseness that makes him so watchable elsewhere just reads as disconnection. My daughter enjoyed it thoroughly, which is not nothing, and I can see exactly why it has found the audience it has. But enjoyable-for-the-kids and actually-good are not always the same thing. Sometimes a warm hug is just a warm hug.

Rating: ★★½  | Year: 2017  | Watched: 2026-05-16

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Trailer

▶ Watch the official trailer for Wonder (2017) on YouTube

Where to watch

Watch in the UK
Stream: Lionsgate+ Amazon Channels
Rent: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi

Watch in the US
Stream: fuboTV · MGM+ Amazon Channel · MGM Plus Roku Premium Channel · YouTube TV
Rent: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US

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Related on Movies With Macca

More with Jacob Tremblay: Luca (2021)
More from the 2010s: Beautiful Boy (2018) · The Witch (2015) · What We Do in the Shadows (2014) · Imperial Dreams (2014)
More family: Alice in Wonderland (1951) · Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (2005) · Anastasia (1997) · Toy Story 4 (2019)
More drama: Viy (1967) · A Better Tomorrow (1986) · Beautiful Boy (2018) · Earth (1930)