THE WILL-SHE-BAG-AN-OSCAR FILM

Florence Pugh got caught in the crossfire this year, didn’t she? You mean that Don’t Worry Darling circus and the supposed feuds, Harry Styles not actually spitting and Chris Pine probably not astral-projecting? Yep, poor Florence.

It was fun, though. You are a bad man. Well, her new film The Wonder is the opposite of fun, and all the better for it.

I can do not fun. I wept at Ben Stiller’s sad face. This is somewhat deeper. Florence plays an English nurse shipped to Ireland in 1862 to observe a girl who hasn’t eaten for months but seems totally fine. Is it a miracle? Religious obsession vs science, oppression of women, eating disorders, child services… all those relevant modern issues twisted into a olde worlde gothic bundle. So Florence’s year is on the up? It was never on the down, fool! The Oscar nods are already pouring in, so I’d say her 2022 is ending rather well.

‘The Wonder’ is available on Netflix from 16 Nov