To the Wonder is a 2012 American experimental romantic drama film written and directed by Terrence Malick and starring Ben Affleck, Olga Kurylenko, Rachel McAdams, and Javier Bardem.

[4] The film continued to polarize critics upon its theatrical release, with many praising Malick's direction and Lubezki's cinematography, though finding the narrative emotionally unsatisfying.

Marina finds solace with the Catholic priest Father Quintana (Javier Bardem), who is undergoing his own crisis of faith.

Tatiana begins to feel homesick due to not having made friends at her school and complains that Neil is not her real father.

Continuing his work as an environmental inspector, Neil reconnects with Jane (Rachel McAdams), a childhood friend.

Jane tells Neil very quietly that her farm is going bankrupt because her former husband encumbered it with his huge gambling debt.

Quintana tending to the aged, the poor, and the imprisoned with a voice-over from the priest reciting a prayer that includes elements of the breastplate of St. Patrick ("Christ with me.

[7] As with its predecessor, The Tree of Life, and its successor, Knight of Cups, the film's conception and plot stem from autobiographical elements: Terrence Malick met his second wife Michèle Morette in Paris in the early 1980s, and the couple lived in Oklahoma for a period prior to their separation.

Don’t stop.’ If I ever stopped, he'd poke me to keep going.”[16] Likewise, cinematographer on the film, Emmanuel Lubezki, was given instructions to be “in the eye of the hurricane” — in the middle of a scene, constantly interacting with the characters.

[9] Malick handed out works of literature to his editing team for inspiration, such as Flaubert's Madame Bovary and Walker Percy's The Moviegoer.

Jessica Chastain, Rachel Weisz, Amanda Peet, Barry Pepper and Michael Sheen were originally part of the film, but no footage of their performances was kept for the final cut.

The site's consensus reads, "To the Wonder demonstrates Terrence Malick's gift for beautiful images, but its narrative is overly somber and emotionally unsatisfying.

He awarded it three and a half out of four stars, stating: A more conventional film would have assigned a plot to these characters and made their motivations more clear.

Malick, who is surely one of the most romantic and spiritual of filmmakers, appears almost naked here before his audience, a man not able to conceal the depth of his vision.

[25][26][27] Dawn LaValle, writing for First Things, summarizes: "To the Wonder startles us into realizing that the world is shot through, positively charged, with [divine] presence.