An adaptation of the Tony and Olivier award-winning musical. Matilda tells the story of an extraordinary girl who, armed with a sharp mind and a vivid imagination, dares to take a stand to c... Read allAn adaptation of the Tony and Olivier award-winning musical. Matilda tells the story of an extraordinary girl who, armed with a sharp mind and a vivid imagination, dares to take a stand to change her story with miraculous results.An adaptation of the Tony and Olivier award-winning musical. Matilda tells the story of an extraordinary girl who, armed with a sharp mind and a vivid imagination, dares to take a stand to change her story with miraculous results.
- Nominated for 2 BAFTA Awards
- 5 wins & 10 nominations total
- Amanda Thripp
- (as Winter Jarrett Glasspool)
- Elderly Teacher
- (as Annie Firbank)
Summary
Featured reviews
My biggest issue with the 1996 version being Danny DeVito playing Mr Wormwood as well as being the narrator. But this film avoids the obvious pitholes and is a huge step away from the original, music aside.
The casting is well thought. Emma Thompson playing Miss Trunchbull with little effort it seems as she is obviously enjoying every evil second of it. I don't mean to be mean to Ms. Thompson, but it really didn't look like she was wearing much in the way of prosthetics, but I mean this in a good way. Nanny McPhee simply looked like Emma Thompson wearing loads of plastic.
You know Stephen Graham always delivers but my only criticism is that he was on screen too little. Andrea Riseborough was new to me, but again, too little screen time. I guess being a musical, they had to devote more time to the musical numbers. The two main hitters being "When I grow up" and "Revolting Children" These were well presented and brilliantly re-worked for the big screen.
When I first saw Alisha Weir (Matilda) I was a bit worried that she wouldn't deliver, the role of Matilda being a lot more complex than it first appears. But I was very quickly blown away by her ability to bring pathos and the next minute show that she was no pushover no matter the consequences. I was also glad that she was not your typical stage kid. Her performance being understated and effective in the process.
The standout performance was for me Lashana Lynch as Miss Honey. She deserves awards galore for this role. If she doesn't make you cry then you are made of stone.
This will undoubtedly be a classic and there is the appetite for strong female protagonists right now - Wednesday Addams put that meal on the table! A great family favourite made even better than the original.
It captures that certain kind of magic that only a musical can. It is rammed full of top class performances (Emma Thompson shines, and Alisha Weir is terrific in the lead role). The plot is very well put together and is full of outrageous fun and effective comedy. It captures the quirkiness and wonder of Roald Dahl's story perfectly.
The only real drawback for me is the songs. I only found myself properly enjoying the final song and dance. The rest just weren't really my cup of tea. Had there been a couple of more powerful or catchy songs I definitely would have given this film another star or two. I also though some of the acting was hammed up just a little too much for my liking.
Undoubtedly though Matilda is a very entertaining and fun film that will be sure to put a smile on your face.
The songs are all there and brilliantly performed. The staging and filming is so stunning to watch. Emma Thompson plays a good Miss Trunchabull. We all know the story of Matilda so I won't go into that but this is a film for the whole family to enjoy. Don't wait for it to stream on Netflix, this film really benefits from a big screen and awesome sound stage.
I would happily watch this film again, it was an excellent feel good film. The cast were perfect in each of the roles and choreography was brilliant.
I saw the film as a kid, and as I love musicals, I listened to the soundtrack on Spotify last week and can totally understand why this won so many awards. I would suggest that The Greatest Showman actually copied some of their score as there are so many parities.
The casting is first class, there is not a bad link anywhere in the production and what can I say about Emma Thompson, she is one gifted actress and always commands the screen, never more so than here. She would say that actors don't saves lives and it's just a job, but she does it SO well, in the world of awards she totally deserves one for this and ALL her work. Miss Honey had a beautiful voice and amazing actor too, the child lead was equally as outstanding.
I found the story very moving and tears were rolling down my face when 'Quiet' started. Yes, I'm a bloke, and unashamedly get emotional at things like this.
A part of my job as a community nurse is Safeguarding children and, although I found the film funny when I was young, not so now, however it was done very responsibly and sent out the right number of messages about 'telling someone'. I found parts very dark, that originally, I would have been able to view as humorous.
Kids don't ask to be born do they.
Most people were crying at times, especially at the end so take your tissues!
The filming was done in bright colours which makes a change from the drab brown screen.
The musical numbers were superbly choregraphed and the orchestrations made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
I will see it again with my family next week, it is THAT good.
Netflix did an amazing job with The Prom too, but sadly they let that go straight to streaming, I really hope they learn from this and stop just streaming all the really good stuff, which is few and far between anyway, obviously.
The other adults on the other hand were sadly forgettable. Even miss honey didn't feel like a main character. I grew up with the old 90's movie Matilda and miss honey was very important and you could feel that she loved Matilda with their acting. This miss honey had a beautiful voice, but it felt like there should have been more scenes with her teaching and talking to Matilda.
I was entertained almost the entire two hours of film which is what i consider good. It's not perfect but it was still fun.
Did you know
- TriviaMara Wilson, who played the title character in Matilda (1996), turned down a cameo role, saying she didn't want to fly to England just for one day of filming. Similarly, Pam Ferris (Miss Trunchbull in the original) was also offered a cameo but supposedly turned it down as it clashed with rehearsals for a stage play.
- GoofsEarly in the movie, Miss Trunchbull is referenced as having competed at the Olympics after having also been the 1959 English champion in Women's hammer throw. This was not an Olympic event until 2000, making it unlikely Agatha Trunchbull competed at that level. Given the character, however, it might be presumed that it was all fabricated.
- Quotes
Mrs. Phelps: Is it a bully? Because you know, the best way to deal with bullies, is tell someone. Straight away. They thrive on... silence.
- Crazy creditsThe Roald Dahl Story Company logo appears in the form of a golden ticket inside a Wonka candy bar (from Dahl's novel "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory").
- Alternate versionsIn the French and Thai dubs, the reprise for "When I Grow Up" is left in instrumental. Likewise, the Turkish dub leaves it in English.
- ConnectionsFeatured in 2023 EE BAFTA Film Awards (2023)
- SoundtracksMiracle
Written by Tim Minchin
Performed by Matt Henry, Alisha Weir, Stephen Graham, and Andrea Riseborough
- How long is Matilda: The Musical?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Matilda, de Roald Dahl: El musical
- Filming locations
- Bramshill House, Bramshill, Hampshire, England, UK(Crunchem Hall School exterior scenes)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $25,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross worldwide
- $37,289,659
- Runtime
- 1h 57m(117 min)
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.00 : 1