"White Bird" Review: Kindness shines through in "Wonder" follow-up

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In 2017, the family film Wonder introduced the character of Auggie (Jacob Tremblay) to moviegoers. Based on the novel by R.J. Palacio, the film showed Auggie as an idealistic youngster who faced down bullies who attacked him for his facial differences. The ending of the film was inspiring though as the bullies lost and the kind spirit of the main character and his family won out.

One of the bullies in that film was Julian (Bryce Gheisar) and if the story ended at the closing credits of Wonder, his character would’ve faded into the audience’s afterthoughts as they walked out of the theater.  However, Palacio didn’t let that character fade into the background as a traditional villain. Instead, he built a whole new graphic never about that character.

The new feature White Bird is an adaptation of that story.

The film begins after the story of Wonder has ended and then flashes back to a time long decades earlier when bullies with guns and hatred in their hearts were on the move. The story begins with Julian (played once again by Gheisar) starting at a new school and wanting to fit in. He doesn’t want to be cruel or nice at the school. He just wants to be “normal.”

He returns home from school one day to find his grandmother (Helen Mirren) visiting. She understands what Julian is going through but reminds him of what being “normal” and just fitting in could mean. The story then flashes back to her youth in France when she (played as a youngster by Ariella Glaser) was forced into hiding her Jewish family and others in the community were being rounded up by Nazis. Accepting the kindness of her classmate Julien (Orlando Schwerdt), the youngster spent months hiding in the barn of Julien’s parents, Vivienne (Gillian Anderson) and Jean Paul (Jo Stone-Fewings).

Directed by Marc Forster (Machine Gun Preacher), White Bird offer more adult scenes than Wonder. Its focus on the Holocaust should cause parents of young children to steer clear. However, its themes about kindness and standing up for others do fit nicely into this follow-up.

One of its strongest elements is its focus on Julian. It would have been far easier to offer a sequel to moviegoers with a completely new set of character.s Instead, the screenplay by Mark Bomback (and Palacio’s book) dares to delve into the original film’s villain and explore his own humanity and how the strength of kindness — which he previously neglected in his own life — shaped his family’s history.

It helps that the great Helen Mirren is the storyteller here and she brings a gravitas into her role that makes the story all the more accessible. Although some of the story takes place in the modern era, much of it focuses on France during World War 2 and the youngsters Glaser and Schwerdt offer a natural chemistry as two classmates who become friends during the most trying of circumstances.

White Bird offers a positive message and its strength lies in its unique decisions (like featuring Julian in a new light), its acting and its intriguing story. There are a few issues with the film including the out-of-nowhere fate of a young Nazi during the climactic third act. However, flaws like that don't hampen the feature's overall themes.

As Mirren notes in a voiceover at the end, "You forget many things in life but you never forget kindness." That's a message worth listening to.