In 2017, the film “Wonder” was a surprise critical and commercial hit for Lionsgate. Adapted from a children’s novel by R.J. Palacio, the film starred Jacob Tremblay as young Auggie, a boy with a facial deformity who teaches his family and peers about the importance of kindness (Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson co-starred as his parents). Naturally, a sequel, adapted from one of Palacio’s “Wonder” spinoff books, was quickly green-lit by the studio.

It’s now been seven years since “Wonder” came out, and the long-awaited sequel, “White Bird: A Wonder Story,” which has been plagued by delays both pandemic- and labor strike-related, is finally hitting theaters. Directed by Marc Forster and written by Mark Bomback, "White Bird" is very loosely connected to the original film, but it takes a more global, historical approach to the same message about the importance of small but high-stakes gestures of kindness.

Bryce Gheisar returns as Julian, Auggie’s bully from “Wonder,” who has been expelled from school for his cruelty. Now the new kid at a new school, he struggles to fit in. But Julian has the opportunity to reinvent himself, which is underscored by a surprise visit — and lesson — from his grandmother Sara (Helen Mirren) that completely changes his perspective on how to move through the world.

Thus unfolds the real story of "White Bird," which isn’t about Julian, who serves merely as a framing device and tenuous link to the world of “Wonder.” "White Bird" is actually Sara’s story of her childhood in Nazi-occupied France, and the harrowing events she experienced as a young Jewish girl there.

If you’ve ever watched (or read) young-adult Holocaust films or fiction, "White Bird" will feel familiar — it takes a similar tack to real-life stories such as Anne Frank’s. Teen Sara (Ariella Glaser) is the adored and privileged daughter of a professor and a doctor (Ishai Golen) living an idyllic life in a small French village. Drawn to the handsome Vincent (Jem Matthews), she and her friends ignore or scoff at the quiet Julien (Orlando Schwerdt), who is disabled from polio. Insulated from the harsh realities of occupation until laws limiting the freedom and movement of Jews encroach on her town, Sara’s family makes plans to escape, though they are unable to outrun the Nazi roundups and arrests of Jews.

Sara manages to escape into the snowy woods, and the kind Julien escorts her through the underground sewers away from the school, to his family’s barn where he secrets her away, and where he and his parents (Gillian Anderson and Jo Stone-Fewings) care for her. She will remain there, in hiding, until the forces of fascism that have infected her community threaten her existence. But the story is about the connection she forges with Julien, and the circumstances that allow her to learn to evaluate character through human kindness and bravery, not through status and power.

The strength of "White Bird" lies in its young performers, especially Glaser and Schwerdt, who deliver complex, nuanced performances of young people experiencing their part of global atrocities on an intimate scale, while also trying to navigate the complications of connecting as young teenagers. They are both excellent, and keep the film emotionally grounded.

Forster presents a somewhat sanitized, though clear-eyed view of the Holocaust that is sobering but digestible for younger audiences. The pastoral setting remains picturesque and almost fairy-tale-like; as recounted through Sara’s memories, it has a kind of glowing haze about it, almost too beautiful at times. Computer-generated spring flowers bloom before our eyes, a cranberry red coat stands stark against a snowy winter background. It’s an interesting stylistic choice but it speaks to the storytelling element of the film, the way our brains craft memories that might be more vivid and lovely, even after many decades.

As "a Wonder Story," and as a Holocaust story, the messaging of "White Bird" is unsurprising though important: that kindness and empathy matters, especially in action, and that often, caring for others can mean putting one’s own self in danger, but we should do it anyway — in the grand tapestry of human existence, we are all connected. It may be a message we’ve heard time and time again, but it’s one that bears repeating, over and over.

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‘WHITE BIRD’

2.5 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: PG-13 (for some strong violence, thematic material and language)

Running time: 2:00

How to watch: In theaters Oct. 4

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