The gripping movie comes from Gloria and A Fantastic Woman director Sebastián Lelio and is an adaption of Emma Donoghue’s 2016 novel of the same name.

Donoghue alongside Lelio and British playwright Alice Birch adapted the novel to the screen and managed to attract a star-studded cast to bring the characters to life including Oscar-nominee Florence Pugh and Tom Burke.

The Wonder follows the story of English nurse Lib Wright (played by Florence Pugh), who in the decade after the Great Famine is sent to the Irish Midlands to watch over a young girl, Anna O’Donnell who has allegedly not eaten in four months, surviving on only “manna from heaven.”

Loosely inspired by the real-life fasting girls of the 16th to early 20th century, the story sees a determined Lib attempt to discover the truth about Anna’s condition and in doing so, she is forced to reckon with everything she has ever known.

Newsweek has everything you need to know about the cast and characters of The Wonder.

Meet ‘The Wonder’ Cast and Characters

Lib Wright — Florence Pugh

Oscar-nominees Florence Pugh leads the cast of The Wonder as Lib Wright, an English nurse who served in the Crimean War alongside Florence Nightingale.

Due to her expertise, Wright has been called to Ireland to help find the answers to the case of Anna O’Donnell who has allegedly survived four months without food.

She is instructed by the religious men in the community to simply “watch” Anna for two weeks and monitor her condition, with her and a local nun, taking turns to oversee Anna’s progress.

Believing there is no way Anna could have survived without food for that long, Nurse Lib is determined to uncover the truth of what is going on, challenging everything Anna believes in and discovering much darker circumstances at play.

The Wonder author and screenwriter, Emma Donaghue shared she knew Florence Pugh was perfect for the part, adding: “As soon as I saw Florence Pugh’s work and she was mentioned to me, I thought of Lady Macbeth because that’s the film I’d seen her [in] and so I knew she could do this […].”

Donoghue also gave an insight into Florence’s character Lib and her journey throughout The Wonder reflecting: “Lib Wright turns up as this force of science. Her surname is Wright because she believes she’s right and she is expected to be able to just sort of sweep through all the superstitious nonsense but of course, it makes it a more interesting story if she is changed by the girl just as much as she manages to change the girl.

“So by the end of the film, she’s really had to, in many ways, embrace the irrational and develop a kind of wide-eyed faith that she never would have thought to.”

Pugh is best known for her roles in Lady Macbeth, Midsommar, and Black Widow.

She most recently starred as Alice in the Oliva Wilde movie Don’t Worry Darling.

Anna O’Donnell — Kíla Lord Cassidy

Up-and-coming actress Kíla Lord Cassidy stars opposite Florence Pugh in The Wonder.

The deeply religious community around Anna believes a miracle has taken place, with people making a pilgrimage to the small O’Donnell family home to witness what they see to be “God’s Work.”

However, as The Wonder progresses, it becomes clear to Nurse Lib that darker forces could be at play.

William Byrne — Tom Burke

Tom Burke portrays journalist William Byrne who, from the very beginning, suspects Anna’s miraculous survival is all a part of a hoax.

He is vocal about his suspicions, causing tension in the local community but catches Lib Wright’s eye, leading them to form an unlikely partnership.

Despite his cynical approach, investigating Anna’s case leads him to reevaluate his own morals and beliefs in significant ways.

Burke is best known for his roles as Athos in The Musketeers, Dolokhov in War & Peace, and Orson Welles in Mank.

Kitty — Niamh Algar

Niamh Algar stars as Kitty, Anna’s older and deeply religious sister.

The character of Kitty serves as “a bridge” between the audience and the story, Donoghue explained.

She reflected: “Kitty is a part of this slightly dysfunctional but very fond family and Kitty has this kind of burning faith which sort of illuminates what’s going on but Sebastián [Lelio, director] spotted something in Kitty that she could be a kind of the guide for the viewers as well that she could be sort of our bridge because she’s with the family but not exactly, she’s a bit of an outsider.”

Audiences will most likely recognize Algar from her roles as Orla in MotherFatherSon, Dinah in The Virtues and Sue in Raised by Wolves.

Her other credits include Wrath of Man, Censor, and Calm with Horses.

Rosaleen O’Donnell — Elaine Cassidy

Elaine Cassidy portrays Anna and Kitty’s mother Rosaleen O’Donnell in The Wonder.

Rosaleen is devasted by the loss of her younger son and is very protective over her two daughters, but it seems she and her husband (Caolán Byrne) are making a significant financial gain from Anna’s so-called condition, by taking money and gifts from visitors.

Their behavior is viewed as deeply unsettling by Lib Wright and William Byrne while equally, on the other hand, Rosaleen distrusts Lib’s intentions.

Donoghue gave an insight into what the O’Donnell family dynamic is like sharing with Newsweek: “I’m never interested in telling a simple story of people being cruel. So one thing I love is that the mother and the father in this in this O’Donnell family, you can see something’s gone very wrong in this dynamic but you can tell they adore her as well.

“I absolutely love the way he’s [director, Lelio] managed to capture all the tenderness in that family as well as the really warped thinking. I think it’s a family that has been damaged by the loss of one child already and I think again the whole film manages to evoke the kind of lingering trauma of the famine without representing it directly.”

Cassidy is best known for playing DC Dinah Kowalska in No Offence, Abby Mills in Harper’s Island and Lydia in The Others.

She is also well known for her roles in Felicia’s Journey, Disco Pigs, The Paradise and The Ghost Squad.

Sister Michael— Josie Walker

Josie Walker plays the role of Sister Michael in The Wonder, the religious figure assigned to watch over Anna.

Sister Michael and Lib Wright take shifts to watch Anna, one overnight and one in the morning. They are under strict instructions to not discuss what they witness, ultimately leaving one another left in the dark.

Walker is best known for her stage career, appearing in several musicals including Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, and The Beautiful Game.

For her performances in The Beautiful Game and Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Walker received the Laurence Oliver Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical.

She has also appeared in episodes of Vera, Call the Midwife and White House Farm.

Also starring in The Wonder are

Toby Jones as Dr. McBreartyCiarán Hinds as Father ThaddeusDermot Crowley as Sir OtwayBrían F. O’Byrne as John FlynnDavid Wilmot as Sean Ryan

The Wonder is streaming on Netflix now.