Reviewed | ‘Wonderstruck’

Following the seemingly unrelated stories of two deaf children — one living in the 1920s, the other in the ’70s — Wonderstruck delves into a world of quiet with a childlike awe that begs to poke you in the heart, but just misses the mark. Michelle Williams and Julianne Moore are the draw of this film, but disappointingly appear only briefly at the beginning and end; meanwhile the plot moves along so slowly that it is difficult to feel any connection to Ben (Oakes Fegley), who has just lost his hearing and his mother, or Rose (Millicent Simmonds), whose sticky relationship with her parents should be a real tear-jerker. It’s Wonderstruck’s bad luck to be released at the same time other child actors are killing it in Netflix’s Stranger Things, and the film’s music doesn’t do it any favors either, drowning the interesting cinematography and stunning costuming in contrived sappiness.