The 2017 coming-of-age family film “Wonder” was a surprise hit both with critics and at the box office. It was based on a 2012 children’s novel of the same name by R. J. Palacio which spawned several other books including a 2019 graphic novel titled “White Bird: A Wonder Story”. Now it too has received the big screen treatment in a tender yet powerful new film directed by Marc Forster (“Monster’s Ball”, “Finding Neverland”, “A Man Called Otto”).

“White Bird” serves as a spin-off sequel that follows the character Julian Albans (Bryce Gheisar), the repentant bully from “Wonder”. The story (adapted by screenwriter Mark Bomback) sees 15-year-old Julian attending a new private school, Yates Academy following the events of the previous film. In an effort to fit in, he has adopted a passive approach, “Don’t be mean, don’t be nice. Be normal.”

One day after school Julian arrives home to find his grandmother, Sara (Helen Mirren) visiting from Paris. She’s a renowned artist who is in town to be featured in a local museum’s retrospective highlighting her work. With Julian’s parents out for the evening, Sara sits down with her grandson to catch up. As she listens to him talk about his passivity, Sara is reminded of her own childhood which she has long chosen not to talk about. She makes the decision to tell Julian about her past in hopes of steering him away from a potentially regretful path.

From there we are taken to a flashback which makes up the majority of the movie. It’s where we’re introduced to a young Sara, earnestly and sensitively played by Ariella Glaser. It’s August, 1942 and Sara seems to have a wonderful life. Her father (Ishai Golan) is a surgeon and her mother (Olivia Ross) is a mathematics professor. They’re a loving and close-knit Jewish family living in a cozy French village.

The starry-eyed Sara sees the world through a comfortable and naive lens. Her days are mostly spent indulging her love for clothes, drawing, and hanging out with her equally oblivious friends. She stays out of anything that man invade her comfort zone including turning a blind eye to a bullied classmate with polio named Julien (Orlando Schwerdt). In reality, Sara and her family live under the shadow of Nazi occupation. The Germans had already marched into Paris, but their presence in the villages has been minimal.

But that changes seemingly overnight. Her mother is promptly fired from the university and local stores begin denying service to Jews. But reality truly sets in when Sara’s school day is interrupted by Nazi soldiers sent to roundup Jewish students. After a harrowing escape attempt goes terribly wrong, Sara finds help from the most unexpected source.

Julien discovers Sara hiding and sneaks her out of town to his family’s farmhouse. His parents, Vivienne (Gillian Anderson) and Jean Paul (Jo Stone-Fewings) hide her in their barn, out of sight of their nosey Nazi sympathizing neighbors. As days turn to weeks and weeks turn to months, Sara and Julien grow closer. Their budding relationship helps form the heart of the movie. But the threat of being discovered is always looming, adding a steady tension that is palpable yet never overplayed.

Throughout the film’s swift two hours, Forster maintains a good grip on his premise and subject matter. It’s a tricky task, but he finds the right balance between a poignant coming-of-age story and a serious-minded Holocaust drama. Much of his world is shown through the eyes of children yet he never trivializes or downplays the gravity of what’s happening. Nor does he use the heaviness of history to manipulate his audience. Instead, the emotions he brings out are authentic and earned.

“White Bird” navigates its solemn subjects with an open-hearted optimism, incisively exploring its themes of kindness, cruelty, forgiveness, and sacrifice. The film doesn’t say anything especially new, but it head-on confronts the cycles of hatred that have long plagued humanity. It leads to a powerful and forever relevant message that is enriched by top-to-bottom terrific performances and a director who never takes his finger off the human pulse. “White Bird” opens in theaters on October 4th.

VERDICT – 4 STARS