Matilda (2022 movie)
Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical[1] (or simply known as Matilda) is a 2022 American-British musical fantasy movie. It is a movie based on Matilda the Musical which is in turn based on the children's novel by Roald Dahl. It is the second film adaption of it after the 1996 film adaption of it. Matilda the Musical had its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival on 5 October 2022, and was theatrically released in the United Kingdom on 25 November 2022, by Sony Pictures Releasing International through TriStar Pictures, while in the United States, the film was released on 9 December 2022, in addition to being available to stream on Netflix on 25 December. The film received positive reviews from critics, with particular praise for Thompson's performance.
| Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical | |
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| Directed by | Matthew Warchus |
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| Screenplay by | Dennis Kelly |
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| Music by | Tim Minchin |
| Edited by | Melanie Oliver |
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| Language | English |
Plot
While other parents adore their newborn children, Mrs Wormwood is distraught to learn she is pregnant and in labor. To Mr Wormwood's confusion, she has a girl, Matilda. Despite her parents' disdain, Matilda grows into a sweet child who loves reading books and visits Mrs Phelps, the librarian, every day. Upon discovering that Matilda has not been properly schooled, Miss Jennifer Honey and an inspector visit the house to suggest Matilda be sent to Crunchem Hall. Angry at the fine, Mr Wormwood warns the headmistress, Miss Agatha Trunchbull, about Matilda. In retaliation, Matilda tricks him into dyeing his hair green.
On her way to school, Matilda tells Mrs Phelps her story about an escapologist who falls in love with and marries an acrobat. When the school bell rings, Matilda befriends a new girl named Lavender. They are taught to fear the school and Miss Trunchbull by Hortensia, an older student, and the prefects along with the rest of the students at Crunchem Hall. In Miss Honey's class, Matilda solves a complex maths equation on the board and confesses that she loves reading most of all. Miss Honey tries to convince Miss Trunchbull to move Matilda to a more advanced class, and Miss Trunchbull refuses to let Matilda be an exception to the rules.
At home, Matilda criticizes her father, who furiously rips her library book apart and wrongly sends Matilda to her room. In the morning, she glues his hat to his head in retaliation. At school, Matilda leads the students in protecting Nigel from being wrongfully punished, and Miss Trunchbull throws Amanda Thripp by her pigtail braids over the fence instead. The next day, Miss Trunchbull falsely accuses Matilda of stealing a slice of her private chocolate cake, but Bruce Bogtrotter reveals he is the culprit by belching a chocolatey belch. Miss Trunchbull punishes Bruce by forcing him to eat the entire cake, promising he will be forgiven if he manages it. Furious that he succeeds, Miss Trunchbull condemns him to the Chokey regardless. Matilda attempts to defend him as he is led away. Matilda continues the story for Mrs Phelps: the now-pregnant acrobat was forced to perform a dangerous stunt by her stepsister; the acrobat is horribly injured, and she dies after giving birth to a daughter. The escapologist forgives the stepsister and asks her to help him raise his daughter, but the stepsister secretly bullies her.
At home, Mr Wormwood locks Matilda in her room for criticising how he tricks people into buying his cars. Matilda ends her story: the aunt locks the daughter in the cellar and goes out, and the escapologist comes home early and learns his daughter is mistreated but never returns from confronting the stepsister during a thunderstorm. Miss Trunchbull forces the children through challenging exercises to crush their rebellious spirit. Lavender slips her pet newt Isaac into Miss Trunchbull's drinking water, and Matilda furiously uses her newly discovered telekinesis to make Isaac embarrass Miss Trunchbull. Miss Honey invites Matilda to tea at her cottage. There, Matilda learns that her story is real, the escapologist and the acrobat are Miss Honey's parents, and the evil stepsister is Miss Trunchbull. Matilda leaves the cottage and uses her powers to destroy the Chokey. At home, Matilda discovers that her father tricked the mafia, and the family must flee to Spain. Then, Matilda cries in her room about never seeing Miss Honey, Mrs Phelps and Lavender again.
When the children arrive at school, Miss Trunchbull forces them to spell words correctly or be locked in a new Chokey. She has Lavender spell a made-up word, tricking the other children into rebelliously spelling words incorrectly on purpose so that she can lock them all into Chokeys. However, Matilda uses her telekinesis to pretend to be the vengeful ghost of Magnus Honey, Miss Honey's father. She uses him to destroy all her new chokeys, then grabs her by her now pigtailed hair and launches her out of the school, just as Trunchbull did with Thripp. Miss Honey tells Miss Trunchbull never to return and takes back the keys to her father's house. The children led by Bruce and Hortensia celebrate their freedom, destroying Trunchbull's statue in the process. When Mr and Mrs Wormwood come to take Matilda to Spain, Miss Honey begs them to let Matilda stay with her. They allow Matilda to be adopted by Miss Honey, and Matilda uses her powers to unglue her father's hat. With Miss Honey as the new headmistress, the children rename the school The Big Friendly School. Mrs Phelps is overjoyed that Matilda's true story has a happy ending and that Matilda and Miss Honey live happily together.
Cast
- Alisha Weir as Matilda Wormwood
- Emma Thompson as Miss Agatha Trunchbull
- Lashana Lynch as Miss Honey
- Stephen Graham as Mr Wormwood
- Andrea Riseborough as Mrs Wormwood
- Sindhu Vee as Mrs Phelps
- Carl Spencer as Escapologist
- Lauren Alexandra as Acrobat
- Winter Jarrett-Glasspool as Amanda Thripp
- Andrei Shen as Eric
- Ashton Robertson as Nigel
- Meesha Garbett as Hortensia
- Charlie Hodson-Prior as Bruce Bogtrotter
- Rei Yamauchi Fulker as Lavender
- Katherine Kingsley as the Acrobat's Stepsister
- Amber Adeyinka as Young Miss Honey
- Matt Henry as Doctor
References
- ↑ "MPA Ratings" (PDF).
