Wonderstruck marvels

Wonderstruck (rhymes with thunderstruck) is the perfect title for writer-director and indie darling Todd Haynes’ latest feature, which had its debut in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. It’s also an apt way of describing the mindset of Haynes’ fans, given that the film reunites him with his Oscar-winning magical muse Julianne Moore (Safe, Far From Heaven).

Based on the much-loved children’s book by Brian Selznick, Wonderstruck tells the story of two tweens, separated by 50 years, both of whom are obsessed with finding meaning in things they have lost in their very young lives. In 1927, Rose (Millicent Simmonds), at the tender age of 12 and obsessed with a silent film star (Moore), runs away from New Jersey to New York…we get that. In 1977, Ben (Oakes Fegley), another lost child, leaves the heartland for New York in search of a father he never knew. Haynes’ genius weaves these stories together in a way that, both visually and emotionally, leaves the audience, indeed, wonderstruck.