The Wonders

The Wonders

2014 · 112 min · ★ 6.7 · Drama

In the Tuscan countryside, a family of traditional honey farmers struggles to make ends meet. The household consists of only daughters—four of them—led by the eldest, Gelsomina, who takes on the responsibilities of the family. When a small boy is sent to stay with them for rehabilitation, their routine is disrupted. As financial troubles threaten their home, Gelsomina sees an opportunity in a reality TV contest searching for 'Italy’s Most Traditional Family.' Willing to expose their secluded life for the prize money, she clashes with her father’s rigid ways in a bid to secure their future.

Directed by Alice Rohrwacher · Written by Alice Rohrwacher

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Streaming

Cast

Maria Alexandra Lungu Gelsomina
Alba Rohrwacher Angelica
Sam Louwyck Wolfgang
Sabine Timoteo Cocò
Agnese Graziani Marinella
Monica Bellucci Milly Catena
André Hennicke Adrian
Luis Huilca Martin
Eva Lea Pace Morrow Caterina
Maris Stella Morrow Luna
Carlo Tarmati Carlo Portarena
Margarethe Tiesel Second Life Representative

Make it a double feature

The Wonders

Ad una mela

Both from Alice Rohrwacher.

More from Alice RohrwacherSee all →

A Song

MovieDocumentary

For the 90th anniversary of the Istituto Luce, Alice Rohrwacher delves into its historical archive. Combining recorded interviews with a kaleidoscopic montage of archival images, Una canzone reflects on memory, music and our relationship with songs. Una canzone is part of the anthology film 9x10 Novanta (2014). It is produced by Istituto Luce Cinecittà to mark the institution’s 90th anniversary.

Ad una mela

Ad una mela · 2020

MovieComedyDrama

My Brilliant Friend

My Brilliant Friend · 2018

My Brilliant Friend

When the most important friend in her life seems to have disappeared without a trace, Elena Greco, a now-elderly woman immersed in a house full of books, turns on her computer and starts writing the story of their friendship.

Un piccolo spettacolo

Un piccolo spettacolo · 2005

Un piccolo spettacolo

MovieDocumentary

This documentary portrait of a traveling circus family—populated with performing kids, dogs, and chickens—seems to situate us squarely in Fellini country. But Giarolo and Alice Rohrwacher are up to something far less obvious, tempering the film’s antic whimsy by capturing the dogged determination of the Solunas as they venture by overstuffed caravan from town square to town square, all the way to the Balkans.

An Urban Allegory

An Urban Allegory · 2024

An Urban Allegory

MovieDramaFantasy

A ballet dancer is late for an audition for a show inspired by Plato's Allegory of the Cave. She arrives with her seven-year-old son, Jay, and begs the director to give her a chance.

Futura

MovieDocumentary

A portrait of Italy observed through the eyes of teenagers who talk about the places they live in and imagine themselves, torn between the opportunities that surround them, the dream of what they want to become, the fear of failing, the trials they hope to overcome.

The Red Thread

The Red Thread · 2023

As if in a dream, a young girl recounts the story of Orpheus and Eurydice and the questions raised by the myth. Heartsick from suffering, Orpheus descends into the Underworld to bring his beloved Eurydice who has just died from a snake bite back. The magnificent music played by Orpheus convinces Hades, the god of the Underworld, to free Eurydice, but on one condition : on his way back to Earth, Orpheus must not look back at Eurydice. On finally arriving at the gates of the Underworld, already catching glimpses of trees and bushes, Orpheus looks back. Eurydice disappears forever into darkness.

Happy as Lazzaro

Happy as Lazzaro · 2018

Happy as Lazzaro

MovieDramaFantasy

Purehearted teen Lazzaro is content living as a sharecropper in rural Italy, but an unlikely friendship with the marquise’s son will change his world.

La Chimera

La Chimera · 2023

MovieDramaFantasy

Everyone has their own Chimera, something they try to achieve but never manage to find. For Arthur, the Chimera looks like the woman he lost, Beniamina. In an adventurous journey between the living and the dead, between forests and cities, between celebrations and solitudes, the intertwined destinies of these characters unfold, all in search of the Chimera.

Violettina

Violettina · 2016

A transfixing, rarely-seen 16mm miniature made as part of Rohrwacher's opera production of La traviata in 2016.

Le Pupille

Le Pupille · 2022

MovieFamilyComedy

During WWII, in the days leading up to Christmas, a woman arrives at an Italian Catholic boarding school for orphaned girls with a large cake and a plea for them to pray for her boyfriend, who is having an affair.

Corpo Celeste

Corpo Celeste · 2011

After growing up in Switzerland, 13-year-old Marta returns to a city in southern Italy with her mother and older sister. Independent and inquisitive, she joins a catechism class at a local church. However, the games and religious pop songs she encounters there do not nearly satisfy her interest in faith. Struggling to find her place, Marta pushes the boundaries of the class, the priest, and the church.

De Djess

De Djess · 2015

The ninth short film of the Miu Miu’s Women’s Tales series reflects Alice Rohrwacher’s attention to the surreal world of ordinariness and exceptions.

Omelia Contadina

Omelia Contadina · 2020

Omelia Contadina

MovieDocumentary

A farming community gathers on a plateau on the border of three regions for the funeral of traditional agriculture. It’s a film to ward off the disappearance of a millenary culture.

Four Roads

Four Roads · 2021

MovieDocumentary

In the absence of any physical connection, this short explores alternative forms of contact among neighbors by making use of an old 16mm camera, a zoom lens, and a few meters of expired film.

9×10 Ninety

9×10 Ninety · 2014

MovieDocumentary

The Istituto Luce turned ninety in 2014, its decades-long history intertwined with that of Italy itself, through cinema and that unique treasure trove of images known to all as the Luce Archives. To celebrate its anniversary, some of the most acclaimed rising filmmakers in Italy were invited to make a small film, with each director selecting ten minutes of footage from the archives, out of the thousands of hours of footage to be found there. The result is an album full of different narratives.

More Like This

Forrest Gump

Forrest Gump · 1994

MovieComedyDrama

A man with a low IQ has accomplished great things in his life and been present during significant historic events—in each case, far exceeding what anyone imagined he could do. But despite all he has achieved, his one true love eludes him.

American Beauty

American Beauty · 1999

American Beauty

Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation with his daughter's attractive friend.

Open Hearts

Open Hearts · 2002

MovieDramaRomance

Cecilie and Joachim are about to get married when a freak car accident leaves Joachim disabled, throwing their lives into a spin. The driver of the other car, Marie, and her family don’t get off lightly, either. Her husband Niels works in the hospital where he meets Cecilie and falls madly in love with her.

Donnie Darko

Donnie Darko · 2001

MovieFantasyDrama

After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.

Breaking the Waves

Breaking the Waves · 1996

Breaking the Waves

MovieDramaRomance

In a small, conservative Scottish village, an oilman is paralyzed in an accident. His wife, who prayed for his return, feels guilty; even more, when he urges her to have sex with another.

The Secret Life of Words

The Secret Life of Words · 2005

The Secret Life of Words

MovieRomanceDrama

A solitary nurse bonds with a badly burned patient who survived an accident on an oil rig.

Lost in Translation

Lost in Translation · 2003

Lost in Translation

MovieDramaComedy

Two lost souls visiting Tokyo -- the young, neglected wife of a photographer and a washed-up movie star shooting a TV commercial -- find an odd solace and pensive freedom to be real in each other's company, away from their lives in America.

My Life Without Me

My Life Without Me · 2003

My Life Without Me

MovieDramaRomance

A fatally ill mother with only two months to live creates a list of things she wants to do before she dies without telling her family of her illness.

American History X

American History X · 1998

American History X

Derek Vineyard is paroled after serving 3 years in prison for killing two African-American men. Through his brother, Danny Vineyard's narration, we learn that before going to prison, Derek was a skinhead and the leader of a violent white supremacist gang that committed acts of racial crime throughout L.A. and his actions greatly influenced Danny. Reformed and fresh out of prison, Derek severs contact with the gang and becomes determined to keep Danny from going down the same violent path as he did.

Dirty Dancing

Dirty Dancing · 1987

MovieDramaMusic

Expecting the usual tedium that accompanies a summer in the Catskills with her family, 17-year-old Frances 'Baby' Houseman is surprised to find herself stepping into the shoes of a professional hoofer—and unexpectedly falling in love.

Gladiator

Gladiator · 2000

MovieActionDrama

After the death of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, his devious son takes power and demotes Maximus, one of Rome's most capable generals who Marcus preferred. Eventually, Maximus is forced to become a gladiator and battle to the death against other men for the amusement of paying audiences.

Scarface

Scarface · 1983

MovieActionCrime

After getting a green card in exchange for assassinating a Cuban government official, Tony Montana stakes a claim on the drug trade in Miami. Viciously murdering anyone who stands in his way, Tony eventually becomes the biggest drug lord in the state, controlling nearly all the cocaine that comes through Miami. But increased pressure from the police, wars with Colombian drug cartels and his own drug-fueled paranoia serve to fuel the flames of his eventual downfall.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter