Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- None
- melancholic
- contemplative
- dreamy
- quiet evening
- reflective viewing
What critics said
Critics broadly recognized Terrence Malick's beautiful imagery and spiritual ambition while finding the narrative overly somber and emotionally unsatisfying.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Malick repeatedly frames lovers, fields, coastlines, churches, and changing light as expressions of divine presence and human longing.
Neil and Marina's deteriorating relationship parallels Father Quintana's crisis of faith and Neil's own struggle with responsibility and belief.
The story relies on narration, brief exchanges, impressionistic transitions, and subjective emotional fragments to represent changing intimacy.
Neil and Marina's romance moves through travel, relocation, separation, reconnection, and recurring sorrow rather than stable resolution.
Films like To the Wonder, and why
The Tree of Life
lyrical visual meditation on romantic impermanence, spiritual doubt, and transcendence
The New World
elliptical romance, poetic imagery, and melancholy reflection on love and faith
Blue Valentine
intimate relationship drama shaped by fractured communication, longing, and emotional ambiguity
A Hidden Life
philosophical romantic drama using landscape and interior voice to explore unstable attachment
Movie Details
- Director
- Terrence Malick
- Release Date
- 2013-02-22
- Runtime
- 112 min
- Rating
- 5.8 / 10 (556)
Cast
- Ben Affleck
- Olga Kurylenko
- Rachel McAdams
- Javier Bardem
- Tatiana Chiline
- Romina Mondello
- Tony O'Gans
- Charles Baker
- Marshall Bell
- Casey Williams
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- fuboTV, Magnolia Selects Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, FlixFling, Spectrum On Demand
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, FlixFling
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is To the Wonder about?
- A luminous, impressionistic romance traces how love, faith, and displacement strain a couple across Europe and Oklahoma.
- What is To the Wonder like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of To the Wonder as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is To the Wonder violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in To the Wonder.
- What did critics think of To the Wonder?
- Critics broadly recognized Terrence Malick's beautiful imagery and spiritual ambition while finding the narrative overly somber and emotionally unsatisfying.
- Which films are like To the Wonder?
- Films with a similar feel include The Tree of Life, The New World, Blue Valentine, and A Hidden Life.
- How long is To the Wonder?
- To the Wonder runs 112 minutes.
- Where can I watch To the Wonder?
- In United States, To the Wonder streams on fuboTV, Magnolia Selects Amazon Channel.
