We all look forward to trips to the movies. Time spent there with friends and family (and of course your concessions) is valuable too all, and the theater never fails to provide good cinema entertainment to make that time even more enjoyable. As of November 17th, Lionsgate has released yet another fantastic film based on the heartwarming 2012 novel by R.J. Palacio, Wonder.

This 2017 American drama, directed by Stephen Chbosky, is rated PG and has a running time of 113 minutes. This story is about August “Auggie” Pullman (Jacob Tremblay). Auggie was born with a very rare medical condition to which he refers to as a facial deformity known as “mandibulofacial dysostosis,” or Treacher Collins syndrome. Because of the anomaly in his DNA, immediately after his birth he had 27 surgeries which have allowed him to breathe, see, hear, eat, etc. But he claims none of them have been able to make him look good. Auggie is about to enter the fifth grade at Beecher Preparatory Middle School. It will be his first year in a public school. Because of the way his face looks, he was embarrassed to show it in public, thus running around in the symbolic astronaut helmet whenever he left the house. So his mother (Julia Roberts) had always homeschooled him- until now. Follow Auggie’s journey from his eyes, as well as those of his older sister, her ex best friend, and a boy that ends up learning right from wrong and makes a great impact in Auggie’s world. This movie stars Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson, Jacob Tremblay, Mandy Patinkin, and Daveed Diggs (Hamilton Broadway Musical Star).

I had read the book Wonder when I was about 10 years old, so hearing that another movie based on one of my favorite all time books was coming out made me so excited! So I gathered up some of my best friends and brought them to see it with me. We were the loudest ones in the theater! Laughter and cries echoed throughout the room during the entire movie. We enjoyed ourselves, and I think the two old ladies sitting next to me enjoyed listening to our conversations! I asked my girls what they thought of the film, and all of them said it was really good. They all thought that it was really well done, and surprisingly, it followed the book really well (not very many movies do)! We all agreed that the movie had a very strong message in the end. My friend Priya Sardinia said, “I think the message was that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. It’s what’s on the inside that truly counts.” My other friend Emma Beggerly agreed, and replied, “You don’t have to look normal to be normal.”

“Don’t be afraid to try new things. Sometimes it’s going to put you in a spot you don’t like or necessarily feel comfortable with, but sometimes you just gotta push through and deal with it and stay strong through it all,” reflected Kami Willson, with some good insight on how Auggie had to deal with the things that happened at school.

“You’re gonna meet lots of rude people in life, but I think we all need a little reminder every once in awhile that we should judge people from what’s on the inside, and not by how they look on the outside,” Caitlin Montgomery replied as she thought about the general public and their actions.

My friends and I loved this film and loved the message it shared. We also loved how, even though it was not based on a true story, how real some of the scenes in the movie were. Even though it may not be happening to us personally, things that happened in the film could easily be happening to someone else somewhere in the world. I think we all took away a good piece of life advice away from watching it, and it would be worth for you to go see the film for yourself and share what you took away from it with the world. You should be able to catch this movie out on DVD soon, or at your local redbox. I suggest you watch this film for yourself- it truly is a Wonder.