Irish stars Niamh Algar and Brían F. O'Byrne have been announced to join Hollywood star Florence Pugh on Netflix’s The Wonder, as production gets underway in Ireland.
Filming has kicked off on the movie adaptation of the Emma Donoghue novel of the same name, with a cast that also includes Tom Burke, Elaine Cassidy and her daughter, Kíla Lord Cassidy.
Supporting cast also includes Toby Jones, Dermot Crowley and Ciaran Hinds.
The psychological thriller is the first production on the streaming giant's new Ireland and the UK features slate.
Tessa Ross and Juliette Howell are producing for the UK’s House Productions, with Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe for Ireland’s Element Pictures.
The Dublin company previously brought Donoghue's novel Room to the big screen, and Oscar success.
The film is being directed by Oscar-winning Sebastián Lelio, and has been adapted by Alice Birch, who also worked on ‘Normal People’.
The synopsis for the new flick reads: "The Irish Midlands, 1862 - a young girl stops eating but remains miraculously alive and well.
"English nurse Lib Wright (Florence Pugh) is brought to a tiny village to observe eleven-year-old Anna O'Donnell (Kíla Lord Cassidy).
“Tourists and pilgrims mass to witness the girl, who is said to have survived without food for months.
"Is the village harbouring a saint 'surviving on manna from Heaven', or are there more ominous motives at work?"
Chilean director Lelio said: "Bringing the powerful novel The Wonder by Emma Donoghue to the screen not only offers me the chance to portray the collision between reason and faith, individual and community, obedience and rebellion, but also to explore my own interpretation of what a 'period' film can be."
Fiona Lamptey, Director UK Features, Netflix added: “The Wonder has everything we're looking for at Netflix for our UK & Ireland Film slate - a rich, authentic story that comes from these shores along with creative excellence across source material, script, director and actors. I'm incredibly excited to work with such outstanding talent on a unique female lead story.
“Creating opportunities for UK & Irish talent like Florence in ambitious, distinctive stories of scale - embedded in our landscape - is a key commitment for the film slate we are building here.”
The Wonder is shooting on location in Ireland and will release on Netflix in 2022.
It has been supported by Fis Éireann/Screen Ireland.
