I was dreading my review of Wonder, the film adaptation of R. J. Palacio's novel by the same name, because I hate “feel good” movies. That is to say, I hate movies that use cheap, exploitative techniques to elicit emotions of sympathy, sentimentality, and superficial satisfaction from their audience. These films make me want to shoot myself because their premises rely on unbelievable or unrealistic events, cartoonish caricatures, and saccharine endings that leave me feeling nauseous rather than good. However, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Wonder, despite relying heavily on such sentimentality, is a character-driven drama that is well worth the price of admission. Wonder focuses on one pivotal year in the life of one August “Auggie” Pullman, a ten-year-old boy who suffers from Treacher Collins syndrome, and his relationship with his immediate family and friends as he attends public school for the first time in his life.

One of the main reasons for Wonder’s success is its direction by coming of age movie genre master, Stephen Chbosky, who wrote, adapted, and directed the universally beloved The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Having not read the original novel myself, I cannot comment on whether or not the film is a faithful adaptation of its source material, but I can say that Chbosky has done a fantastic job. Chbosky wisely chooses to analyze not just Auggie, the film’s central character and the “sun/son” that the movie revolves around, but also the people who orbit him (this metaphor is explicitly repeated several times throughout the movie and, thankfully, is about as cheesy as the film gets). Auggie’s first year of school is, predictably, difficult. Nonetheless, while Auggie’s school days have their ups and downs, the experience is ultimately a triumph for both Auggie and the audience.