Helen Mirren, Gillian Anderson in ‘Wonder’ sequel

some of the most striking moments white birdAdapted by Marc Forster from the graphic novel of the same name by RJ Palacio, the story takes place in the flashback period of the 1940s. These are the memories of an elderly grandmother trying to teach her grandchildren the ways of kindness. They’re also stories of survival, and Foster and director of photography Matthias Koenigsweiser shoot them in a way that avoids sentimentality.

Among them, behind Helmer from Germany and Switzerland monster ball, Breaking the Quantum of Solace recent a man named otto The pursuit of specificity and clear honesty frees parts of this young adult film from narrative contrivance. Unfortunately, too much of the rest of Mark Bombeck’s script leans into saccharine manipulation.

white bird Can serve as both a prequel and a sequel Want to knowanother of Palacio’s big-screen adaptations. The story tells the story of Auggie Pullman, a 10-year-old boy with Treacher Collins Syndrome who is tormented by children at school, including wealthy Julian (Bligh) S. Gesa). A few years later, Julian, slightly older but still played by Gheisar, begins his first day at his new school. For Julian, it’s a chance to reinvent himself and escape his unsavory past, and he decides the best course of action is to lay low. When a classmate (Priya Ghotane) invites Julian to join the vaguely named social justice club, the teen forever hidden under a hoodie refuses.

Later that night, Julian explains his plan to his grandmother Sara (Helen Mirren), a grown woman traveling from Paris to New York for the opening of a retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. (She humorously sees the honor as an institution’s way of apologizing to older artists they’ve forgotten or completely ignored.) When Sarah guides Julian to a restaurant for dinner, she expresses her disappointment—she doesn’t believe in being a wallflower. is the right thing to do. Over a meal, where warm lighting and close-up angles embody intimacy, Sarah shares stories from her childhood and how one boy’s compassion and courage saved her life.

white bird It then jumps back to the fall of 1942, where young Sara (Ariela Glasser) is enjoying what she now describes as a relatively spoiled youngster in a small French town. She spends her days drawing intricate graffiti at school and becomes obsessed with Vincent (Jem Matthews), a popular boy. Although news of the Nazi invasion dominated the news, the occupation felt like a distant problem to the young girl, unlikely to affect her corner of the world.

But then Sarah’s reality changed, slowly at first and then more dramatically. Stores she once frequented now had signs saying they would not serve Jews. Those she called friends treated her with an unusual indifference. In a heated late-night conversation, her parents, Max (Isaiah Golan) and Rose (Olivia Ross), debate whether to leave their small town.

As the roundups began, the Nazi influence and presence in the area became more apparent, with soldiers breaking into homes, offices and schools to make violent arrests. Sarah narrowly escapes a horrific invasion of her institution with the help of Julian (Orlando Schwedt), a quiet boy crippled by polio. He leads her through an underground maze to the barn, where she will live for many years and grow to become part of his family. Julian’s mother, Vivian (Gillian Anderson), takes special care of Sarah, feeding her, making her clothes, and fiercely protecting her from the gazes of nosy neighbors who might be Nazi informants.

Foster’s firm direction keeps the thread going white bird Even if it follows predictable narrative beats, it has an impact. Glaser and Schwedt make a charming pair, and the specificity of the Nazi state’s restrictive details makes their friendship more palpable and raises the film’s stakes. It’s easy to believe that these children care about each other, and that their interactions – both in real life and in their imaginary play – deepen their understanding of each other and the world.

This is not the case for the tenuously framed narrative of the bond between older Sarah and her grandson. These scenes strive to escape the rigidity of vague clichés and superficial character development. whenever white bird Leaving young Sara and Julien behind, it loses its magic, whether considering the changing sociopolitical landscape of Nazi-occupied France or returning to the present day.

Julian’s intention was to learn only lessons about kindness, but it doesn’t work here as well as in Wondering. If he were to be passionate about a particular cause and not just be asked to join a mildly named social justice club, then his message white bird Might hold up better and feel less manipulative. Instead, viewers only see Sarah’s reference to Martin Luther King without context—a quote that has been diluted by universal application to the point that its power of meaning, like Sarah’s story All the same, there is always the risk of being lost.