White Bird (marketed with the subtitle A Wonder Story) is a 2024 American war drama film directed by Marc Forster from a screenplay by Mark Bomback, based on the 2019 graphic novel of the same name by R. J. Palacio.

He is visited by Sara, his grandmother from Paris, who, in response to Julian's reflection about his need to be socially passive to fit in at his new school, tells him about her childhood as a young Jewish girl in Nazi-occupied France during World War II.

In 1942, Sara evades being rounded up by the Gestapo and spends over a year being hidden by her classmate Julien (one of whose legs is congenitally paralyzed by poliomyelitis) in a barn adjacent to the house he lives in with his parents.

In 1944, after the liberation of Monte Cassino, Julien is arrested by the Milice on his way to school at a checkpoint and forcefully transported to a remote camp in the mountains via lorry.

The website's consensus reads: "Packaging difficult subject matter into a digestible morality tale, White Bird is a soft-pedaled but ultimately moving drama fit for the whole family.

[2] Writing for Variety, Dennis Harvey gave a positive review, saying that "Marc Forster's film elevates somewhat contrived material with tastefully lyrical craftsmanship".

He further added: "Though the occasional preachy, maudlin or trite note remains, Foster also manages to make “White Bird” less conspicuously conceived for tweens.

It leads to a powerful and forever relevant message that is enriched by top-to-bottom terrific performances and a director who never takes his finger off the human pulse.

"[21] Hannah Brown was more reserved in her review for The Jerusalem Post, describing the cast as "compelling" and praising the storyline for its power "to carry the drama", but criticising the film for its "moments of heavy kitsch toward the end" and crediting Mirren with saving White Bird single-handedly from being a much worse movie than it turned out to be in actuality.