The Wonder (2022) Ending Explained – What happens to Anna

The Wonder Plot Synopsis

Just after the Great Famine, the residents of the village of 1862 in Ireland have reason to believe in miracles after the local girl Anna begins a religious fast. After a period of time without food her diet, she appears healthy and fit and people believe that she is being supported by God.

The community elders must verify the miracle and employ an English nurse called Lib Wright (Florence Pugh) to supervise her. She has a shift rotation with a nun who was assigned Anna’s situation. Although she believes in the community and Anna herself, who believes that God is working, Lib is skeptical. She believes the miraculous event is a hoax and is concerned that Anna’s health may be in danger.

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Why does Lib think the miracle is a hoax?

Lib is someone who believes more in science and not religion, so this could be one reason why she doesn’t accept Anna’s tale. Another reason could be the life Lib has led. She was a nurse for dying soldiers throughout the Crimean War and she also suffered the loss of both her son and husband. These experiences led her to doubt any possibility that miracles could occur.

At the time Anna arrives at her house her home, she is confronted by a religious family. They believe that Anna is being nourished through God in the form of God. Anna herself confides to Libby that she’s been given the “manna of Heaven.” In the Bible it is something edible, however since Anna is said to be fasting and fasting, it is possible that Anna is talking about God’s blessings for her life and not about the actual food. But, later on, we learn more about Anna along with her maternal grandmother, which suggests that Anna may be hinting about this.

Lib isn’t a fan of Anna’s spiritual convictions, and she believes Anna’s parents are secretly giving her food. To test her theory she bans the parents to spend time together with the daughter. After a while, it seems that Lib’s suspicions were confirmed as Anna becomes weak and weak.

Has Anna’s family been giving her food?

Because of the decline in Anna’s health, Lib is now sure that her family fed Anna in a way that was harmful to her. However, when she asks Anna or her mother about this, both deny that they knew about the possibility.

Lib goes back to the elders of the community and expresses her concern about the girl but they deny her claim that Anna might die. The only person to trust Lib has faith in her is William (Tom Burke) an editor she has become friends with. He is planning to write about the miraculous child but becomes more concerned about her health as Lib clarifies the circumstances to him.

Did Anna’s family been eating her? Yes! Lib realizes that Anna’s mother was secretly passing food into her mouth while giving her a kiss much like the way a bird feeds its chick. This is the reason why Anna’s mother had earlier insisted on Lib that she should give her a “mother’s kiss” which was essential. It could even be an indication of the “manna from Heaven” that Anna previously mentioned.

While these bites of food gave her strength Anna she believes that God is looking after her. In addition to the pieces of food she was handed by her mother and aunt, she was unable to consume any other food. We find out the reasons when Anna talks about these reasons to Lib.

Why did Anna refuse to eat?

After arriving at Anna’s residence and seeing her family, Lib realized the brother in the family pictures wasn’t present. She thought he’d just gone home, but finds out he was dead.

The cause of his death is Anna’s inability to consume. The girl tells Lib that she’s been praying that her brother’s soul can be freed from Hell. She informs Lib she knows that he’s currently in Hell as when she turned nine, she was repeatedly raped. However, Anna still loved her brother, but by atoning for the sins he committed by fasting and sacrifice, she hoped that the sacrifice she made would be sufficient to save him.

Lib is enraged by what she has heard and confronts Lib’s mother about the issue. However, the mother believes that she is responsible for Anna for the incest, and believes that her brother passed away from illness to pay for his sinful love affair. The mother now believes Anna has to be sacrificed in order in order to save her son’s soul. Therefore, she is refusing to feed her daughter, who is dying, any food.

Who is Anna?

When she realizes that Anna’s parents would be willing not to allow their little girl to perish, Lib decides to rescue Anna with the assistance of William.

If the family is attending Mass, Lib takes Anna from her home to a nearby river and says that she is about to be dead, but she’ll be revived in the form of “Nan,” which is the name Lib had given her before to Anna. It is evident the evidence that Lib wants to influence Anna with this story, and since Anna is in a state of delirium she’s prone to the things Lib is telling her. This isn’t necessarily a problem but Anna has to be able to distinguish herself from her religious inclinations.

Lib conceals Anna near the stream which is where William is scheduled to meet her and then take her away. Lib goes back to her home and burns it down in order that Anna to be declared dead and be given the right to leave the village, without anyone even knowing she’s alive.

Lib informs the elders. As they fear the consequences of having a nurse of low status look at her needs, they are willing for them to allow Lib to go with no repercussions.

Then, Lib meets the nun who was also looking after Anna. The nun informs Lib of a dream she saw of an angel taking Anna off on horseback. It was, of course, William and was not an angel the nun was able to see, however, we believe that the nun was aware of this and was trying to let Lib be aware that she was going to keep her secrets.

In one of the film’s last scenes, we learn that Anna is well and healthy, traveling along with Lib as well as William. They are dining at a table together with other people, and Anna taking a meal. It is possible to conclude that she is part of a new group with her two rescuers. It is also possible it is possible that she has the ability to consume food again as she has a mental separation from the child who was fasting that she was.

What is the meaning of the words “In/Out”?

At the beginning of the film, William gifted Anna a spinning toy that showed a bird flying in its cage, and out, when spun. In the closing scene of the film Niamh Algar, who played the servant of the family Kitty breaks through the fourth wall, and speaks to the camera using the words “In out, out, in out.”

This may refer to the toy since William stated exactly the same things as Niamh. The meaning behind the words probably refers to freedom. The bird has been released from its cage in the same manner that Anna is now free from her life in a cage.