Wonderland is an ensemble picture, and essay in urban melancholy, set in central and south London, directed by Michael Winterbottom in a vérité style at least as interesting as anything in the Dogme-95 stable. Moreover, it boasts an apposite, sympathetic score from Michael Nyman and outstanding performances, including the perennially excellent Gina McKee, and the equally good John Simm.

McKee plays Nadia, with slouchy, put-upon body language, who goes on sad Lonely Hearts dates. Her sister Debbie (Shirley Henderson) has a useless ex-husband, Dan (Ian Hart), while other sister Molly (Molly Parker) is heavily pregnant by Eddie (John Simm), who is getting into a commitment-phobic panic. What raises it above the level of television are the exceptionally strong performances, and Winterbottom's unsentimental sense of the harsh sheen and grain of the commercial cityscape.