If there's a drawback to debuting at Cannes it's that latter films take away some of the spotlight. That seems to be the case with Todd Haynes' Wonderstruck, which has been drowned out at Telluride and TIFF over the last few weeks. But the adaptation of Hugo author Brian Selznick's fantasy novel has some major appearances left, including the New York Film Festival, and if all goes well it will be back in the awards discussion soon.
Taking place in two separate eras, the film follows two children on separate life-changing adventures. Julianne Moore, Oakes Fegley, Michelle Williams, Jaden Michael and Millicent Simmonds star. Here is the official synopsis, which speaks to the ambitious narrative under Haynes' command:
Based on Brian Selznick’s critically acclaimed novel Ben and Rose are children from two different eras who secretly wish their lives were different. Ben longs for the father he has never known, while Rose dreams of a mysterious actress whose life she chronicles in a scrapbook. When Ben discovers a puzzling clue in his home and Rose reads an enticing headline in the newspaper, both children set out on quests to find what they are missing that unfold with mesmerizing symmetry.
Wonderstruck opens October 20th.
