In this tour de force drama set in contemporary London, three sisters, a brother, their parents, and some neighbors try to find a small portion of happiness in the midst of the frenetic pace of the city. With sturdy assists from cinematographer Sean Bobbitt and music director Michael Nyman, director Michael Winterbottom (Jude, Welcome to Sarajevo) has made a consistently engaging and imaginative film about yearning. Joan Chittister, a spiritual writer, notes: "Longing is a compass that guides us through life. We may never get what we really want, that's true, but every step of the way will be determined by it."
Nadia (Gina McKee) is a 27-year-old who works in a cafe and desperately wants a love relationship with a caring man. Through a dating service, she meets several duds and then connects with Tim (Stuart Townsend), but he turns out to be a womanizer. Debbie (Shirley Henderson), Nadia's older sister, works in a beauty salon and is raising Jack (Peter Marfleet), her 11-year son, on her own. In a harrowing sequence, the boy wanders the streets alone and is mugged while his irresponsible father Dan (Ian Hart) is at the local pub drinking.
Molly (Molly Parker), the youngest sister, seems to be the luckiest in love of the three. However, while she's in the final stages of pregnancy, her partner Eddie (John Simm) is experiencing a crisis at work. He quits his job and is involved in a cycling accident.
Upset about the exit of their son Darren (Enzo Cilenti), Nadia's middle-aged parents Eileen (Kika Markham) and Bill (Jack Shepherd) can't stand each other. While his wife goes to some extreme means to rid herself of a problem that has deranged her, Bill finds a few moments of relaxation and fun with the West Indian woman next door. Her son Franklyn (David Fahm) is a reclusive young man whose only sanctuary is his room.
More than any other film of recent memory, Wonderland convincingly conveys the loneliness and the alienation of life in a modern city. A few of the outstanding scenes include a glimpse of some elderly people playing bingo and the nervous encounters of strangers in bars and restaurants. The vociferous cheers of fans at a soccer game and the resplendent upturned faces of those watching a fireworks display signal the bottled-up yearning of these urban dwellers. Like the five protagonists, they follow the compass of their desires, hoping for the best. And in the last scene of the film, Nadia connects with a person who just might be the right one for her.