Wonderland MPAA Rating: R Entertainment: +2 Content: -3

At a singles cocktail party in London, Nadia (Gina McKee) becomes disillusioned with the "meat market" atmosphere. A lonely waitress who places personal ads in the paper, Nadia hopes to meet someone special. Her sister, Debbie (Shirley Henderson), is a single mom so busy looking for love that she ignores her young son, Jack (Peter Marfleet). Their very pregnant sister, Molly (Molly Parker), copes with a husband panicking about becoming a first-time father. Also featured are Eileen and Bill (Kika Markham and Jack Shepherd), the sisters' miserable parents whose constant bickering drives them farther apart. London seems filled with lonely people attempting to find happiness in a crowd - at a bar, athletic stadium, amusement park or bingo parlor. Their faces light up momentarily, then register emptiness as the event ends. This mostly depressing, low budget film will probably appear only in art theaters and appeal mostly to young adults.

Seeking love, most of the characters settle for sexual encounters. Both Debbie and her ex-husband neglect their son while each goes prowling for dates. In an explicit scene, Debbie has unconventional sex with a man she's just met and both are very drunk. Even shy, reserved Nadia willingly has sex with a stranger who answers her personal ad. He wants a "one night stand" while she hopes for a lasting relationship. In another very graphic scene with rear male and female breast nudity, a young couple checks into a hotel for sex. Middle-aged Bill seeks companionship with a friendly, but also lonely, neighbor who invites him into her apartment. She teaches him to dance and gets him drunk. A near tragedy makes Debbie realize how destructive her self-centered, promiscuous lifestyle has become. And the whole family learns that what they want most has always been right under their noses. An abundance of earthy language includes 28 obscenities spouted off by all the characters. These vulgarities, graphic sex, nudity and excessive drinking make WONDERLAND anything but wonderful.

Preview Reviewer: Mary Draughon
Distributor: USA Films, 9333 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90210