White Bird (film)

White Bird (marketed with the subtitle A Wonder Story) is a 2024 American war drama film directed by Marc Forster from a screenplay by Mark Bomback, based on the 2019 graphic novel of the same name by R. J. Palacio. Serving as both a spin-off prequel and a sequel to Wonder (2017), it stars Ariella Glaser, Orlando Schwerdt, Bryce Gheisar, Gillian Anderson, and Helen Mirren, with Gheisar reprising his role as Julian Albans from Wonder.

White Bird was released in Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia on January 4, 2024; it was released in the United States by Lionsgate on October 4, 2024, to positive reviews from critics.

Plot

After the events of Wonder, Julian has left Beecher Prep for good. He is visited by his grandmother, Sara, from Paris; in response to Julian's reflection about having to be socially passive to fit in at his new school, Sara recounts her childhood as a young Jewish girl in Nazi-occupied France during World War II.

In 1942, Sara evades a Gestapo roundup. She spends over a year being hidden with the help of her classmate Julien Beaumier (one of whose legs is paralyzed as a result of poliomyelitis). Julien's parents, Vivienne and Jean Paul, conceal Sara in a barn next to their house. The Beaumiers tell Sara that she must never go outside, lest she be discovered by their neighbors, whom they suspect of being Gestapo or Milice informers.

Each night, Julien teaches Sara what he learned at school that day. The affection between them eventually grows into love.