The Wonders (2015)
82%RT Audience Score: 66%
Awards & Nominations: 1 win & 4 nominations
The Wonders offers a charming coming-of-age tale that doubles as a quietly effective tribute to a vanishing way of life
The Wonders” is a film that will make you appreciate the simple things in life, like beekeeping and family. While the narrative may be a bit hard to follow at times, the beautiful scenery and authentic portrayal of farm life will keep you engaged. Plus, who doesn’t love a hyper-comic charm reminiscent of Roberto Benigni? Overall, it’s a heartfelt story that will leave you feeling warm and fuzzy inside.
Production Company(ies)
Armory Films, 1993 Lucky Treehouse
Distributor
Oscilloscope Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
Bally’s Casino Resort – 3645 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG-13 for sexual content, dangerous stunts, a drug-related incident and language
Year of Release
2013
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:SDDS Datasat Dolby Digital Dolby Atmos
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Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
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Runtime:1h 50m
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Language(s):English, Spanish
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Country of origin:Germany, Italy
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Oct 30, 2015 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 22, 2016
Genre(s)
Keyword(s)
starring Maria Alexandra Lungu, Sam Louwyck, Alba Rohrwacher, Sabine Timoteo, Agnese Graziani, Eva Morrow, Carlo Cresto-Dina, Karl Baumgartner, Tiziana Soudani, Michael Weber, directed by Alice Rohrwacher, written by Alice Rohrwacher, drama, box office gross $69.2K, Oscilloscope Pictures, Dolby Digital, reviewed by Tara Brady, Matthew Lickona, J.R Jones, Bill Goodykoontz, Steven Rea, Ann Hornaday, Dustin Chang, David Lamble, Katie Smith-Wong, Brigid Presecky, C.J Prince, MPAA rating N/A, Tuscan beekeeper, coming-of-age tale, television show, beekeeping family, Italian countryside, Cannes film festival, Terrence Malick, family drama, naturalistic, heartfelt, insightful, way of life, vanishing way of life
Worldwide gross: $27,437,881
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $34,855,658
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,497
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 3,801,053
US/Canada gross: $22,537,881
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $28,630,953
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,288
US/Canada opening weekend: $10,177,257
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $12,928,658
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 862
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $30,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $38,110,441
Production budget ranking: 991
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $20,522,472
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$23,777,255
ROI to date (est.): -41%
ROI ranking: 1,626
Sam Louwyck – Wolfgang
Alba Rohrwacher – Angelica
Sabine Timoteo – Cocò
Agnese Graziani – Marinella
Eva Morrow – Caterina
Director(s)
Alice Rohrwacher
Writer(s)
Alice Rohrwacher
Producer(s)
Carlo Cresto-Dina, Karl Baumgartner, Tiziana Soudani, Michael Weber
Film Festivals
Berlin, Cannes
Awards & Nominations
1 win & 4 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (71) | Top Critics (33) | Fresh (68) | Rotten (3)
Rohrwacher’s recreation of the monotonous rhythms of low-tech farm life is every bit as attentive and diligent as the film’s heroine. But the director’s impressionistic approach to narrative does get a little frustrating.
March 7, 2016 | Rating: 3/5
Tara Brady
Irish Times
TOP CRITIC
What’s worth wondering at is the way writer-director Alice Rohrwacher illustrates the private world of an authentic and genuinely loving family.
December 4, 2015 | Rating: 3/5
Matthew Lickona
San Diego Reader
TOP CRITIC
A prize winner at the Cannes film festival, this naturalistic Italian drama presents a warm and credible portrait of a modern beekeeping family in the Tuscan countryside.
December 3, 2015
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
“The Wonders” is one of those films that’s easier to experience than explain, which is almost always a good thing.
December 3, 2015 | Rating: 3.5/5
Bill Goodykoontz
Arizona Republic
TOP CRITIC
Terrence Malick comes to mind, too, in Rohrwacher’s approach to storytelling – but without the American’s sense of the symphonic and supernal.
November 27, 2015 | Rating: 4/4
Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer
TOP CRITIC
Structurally, “The Wonders” suffers from awkward bulges and sags, especially toward the end. Still, it’s a beautiful, richly imagined ride that doesn’t end as much as evaporate into a dreamlike puff of smoke.
November 25, 2015 | Rating: 2.5/4
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
Rohrwacher reminds us that whatever the circumstances we are in, life is filled with full of wonders. Le Meraviglie deserves all the recent accolades.
February 22, 2021
Dustin Chang
Floating World
Sam Louwyck imbues the sputtering would-be domestic tyrant Wolfgang with a hyper-comic charm reminiscent of Roberto Benigni.
June 9, 2020
David Lamble
Bay Area Reporter
Overall, The Wonders is an example of insightful, though-provoking filmmaking but is let down by its bizarre change of tone.
November 19, 2019 | Rating: 3.5/5
Katie Smith-Wong
Flick Feast
A simple, heartfelt story of a family trying to keep their heads above water.
August 16, 2019 | Rating: 4/5
Brigid Presecky
FF2 Media
Almost every moment feels real and unrehearsed because the characters’ specific qualities work inward rather than outward.
May 24, 2019 | Rating: 7/10
C.J. Prince
Way Too Indie
The Wonders is a coming-of-age tale unbound from the expectations of a genre that it remains undeniably hooked to at its heart, so that it’s also a revelatory portrait of a family, a region, and a way of life.
May 2, 2019
Matthew Eng
Tribeca Film…
Plot
Superstar magicians Burt Wonderstone (Steve Carell) and Anton Marvelton (Steve Buscemi) have ruled the Las Vegas Strip for years, raking in millions with illusions as big as Burt’s growing ego. But lately the duo’s greatest deception is their public friendship, while secretly they’ve grown to loathe each other. Facing cutthroat competition from guerrilla street magician Steve Gray (Jim Carrey), whose cult following surges with each outrageous stunt, even their show is starting to look stale. But there’s still a chance Burt and Anton can save the act – both onstage and off – if only Burt can get back in touch with what made him love magic in the first place.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The film features Sam Louwyck as the Tuscan beekeeper.
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