Matilda the Musical

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There is nothing quite as upsetting as wanting to like something because it’s got everything going for it and ending up not liking it at all. It’s an unpleasant combination of emotions that come from such an experience: disappointment, the feeling of being robbed or duped, deflated, and sometimes even angry. I’m sorry to say that I experienced this recently, with Matilda the Musical.

Where most parents think their child is a miracle, others take a less romantic approach. Matilda Wormwood is born into a greedy and crooked family that cannot see what an incredible child she is. And she is incredible. With a mind so great, it absorbs everything she reads, as well as allows her to make up amazing stories and gives her the power of telekinesis, Matilda hopes that her talents will be better appreciated in school. While her teacher, Miss Honey, sees her potential, the tyrannical headmistress determines to treat Matilda as badly as she does the rest of her students, and Matilda decides that if so many people find her revolting, then revolt she shall!

Matilda is my favourite story by Roald Dahl and Danny DeVito’s film adaptation still remains one of my favourite movies from childhood. I also really love Tim Minchin who is responsible for the music and while I have never seen the stage musical, I have only ever heard great things. So, you can imagine how keen I was when I discovered Matilda the Musical on Netflix. While there is actually nothing wrong or badly done about this film, I was just overwhelmed by a feeling that something got lost in the translation from stage to screen.

It’s not uncommon for stage musicals to lose something when they’re put onto the screen. It’s tricky to try and keep that spectacle that comes from a stage show and have it produce the same visual experience when crammed into a box. Sadly, I don’t think up-and-coming director Matthew Marchus was up to the challenge. The film itself is very visual and satisfying with grand set designs for the larger musical numbers, a very bright colour palette, and over-the-top performances. ‘Stimulating’ is absolutely the best word to describe it. However, I could not help but feel that the wholesome magic of the story got replaced by the stage-like spectacle.

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And because I felt like something was missing from this story that I absolutely adore, I wasn’t able to get sucked into the film. I also found Emma Thompson’s resemblance to Ben Kingsley a little unnerving. On this note, I do have to applaud the cast because the performances were pretty stellar. Alisha Weir as Matilda is a rising little star and she played the role incredibly well, with sweetness and fire that was very endearing. Emma Thompson as Agatha Trunchbull is the epitome of tyrannical authority figures, a terrifying giant in the eyes of a child and I could feel the fun she was having with the role.

I love the story, I love the characters, I love Tim Minchin, and I love musicals so you can imagine how much I really wanted to love this movie. Sadly, the magic got lost or fizzled out, and I can’t bring myself to say that I was a fan. I guess I liked it fine, because there was nothing actually wrong with it, but I couldn’t bring myself to love it because it just fell short.

Director: Matthew Warchus (2022)

Cast: Alisha Weir, Lashana Lynch, Stephen Graham, Andrea Riseborough, Sindhu Vee, Winter Jarrett-Glasspool, Charlie Hodson-Prior, Rei Yamauchi Fulker, & Emma Thompson