Netflix Matilda (2022)

[Jake Lipson]

Title: Matilda (2022)

Tagline: Meet the exception to the rules.

Genre: Musical

Director: Matthew Warchus

Cast: Alisha Weir, Lashana Lynch, Emma Thompson, Stephen Graham, Andrea Riseborough, Sindhu Vee, Ray Strachan

Release: 2022-12-25

Plot: An adaptation of Tim Minchin and Dennis Kelly's musical based on the Roald Dahl novel.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Netflix posted the trailer for their new film adaptation of Matilda, which is based on the stage musical.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Kind of bummed that they didn't bring Bertie Carvel back to play Trunchbull. They spent a fortune on creature makeup just to make Emma Thompson look like Pam Ferris circa 1996.

Lashana Lynch is outside the box casting as Miss Honey, but she's a great actress and I look forward to seeing what she does with the part.

Saw this during its Broadway run with Eliza Holland Madore in the title role for my performance, and she played the role with a light Cockney accent. Alisha Weir is Irish, but her English accent as Matilda sounds a bit posher than I expected. I figured it was a deliberate choice given the Wormwoods' working class background, but apparently the West End productions always just went with the kids' natural accents since the kids were actually British.

Love the use of movement and depth, and the way they really made the interiors of Crunchem Hall feel like a cross between a prison and a Victorian-era workhouse. I love the Danny DeVito film adaptation, which was about as faithful as an Americanized version could be, but there are certain cultural signifiers that just don't translate. One of those is climate; southern California was just a bit too idyllic looking at times in that movie.

It looks like this one was also made by Sony, so hopefully there will be a disc release down the road if it's decent.

 

[Jake Lipson]

It looks like this one was also made by Sony, so hopefully there will be a disc release down the road if it's decent.

I think that it is a Sony/Netflix co-production because Sony had the film rights from when they made the 1996 film. I have no idea if there is a proviso in the contract allowing Sony to release a disc or not. Netflix owns the Roald Dahl Story Company outright now as they bought his copyrights outright.

 

[Jake Lipson]

New trailer:



and poster:

 

[Jake Lipson]

Netflix is giving this a limited theatrical release in the United States this weekend prior to the streaming launch on Christmas. Deadline said that it is on about 120 screens, but of course Netflix isn't releasing an official theater count or box office grosses.

Fortunately, the same theater that booked Glass Onion a few weeks ago near me also booked Matilda this weekend. So I saw it today.

For context, I am a big fan of Matilda going back to the novel. I have both the London and Broadway cast recordings of the musical and saw it on tour at a significant distance from very bad seats way in the back. I love its tone and sense of humor, and I certainly prefer its British-ness to the Americanization of the earlier film. There are several great moments in it. When it works, it really works. However, there are some weird derivations from Dahl's text that don't add up to anything useful and detract from the narrative. The ideal adaptation, for me, would be somewhere in between the 1996 film and the musical.

This film version is a very good adaptation of the musical. It is based more on that than on what Dahl wrote. Naturally, it retains the elements of the stage version that I don't think work. I still think they don't work. But I expected them to be there. Fans of the novel or previous film who haven't had the chance to see the musical might be surprised by some of the changes.

The cast is fantastic. Alisha Weir is a real find and carries the film with an incredible confidence. I'm sure this was not an easy role, but she makes it seem like it was and comes off very naturally in front of the camera. I've seen Lashana Lynch in action movies (Captain Marvel, No Time to Die, The Woman King), so it was interesting to see her in a much different context here. I wouldn't have expected her to be cast, but I immediately accepted her as Miss Honey because she exudes such a natural warmth in the role. Emma Thompson is very good as Miss Trunchbull. But if I'm being honest, I remember finding Pam Ferris much more terrifying in the earlier film. I think this is due to how Trunchbull is written in this version as more of a comic villain. The roles for Matilda's parents have been significantly reduced, but Stephen Graham and Andrea Riseborough do a good job when they do appear.

The movie does a good job of not feeling too stagey. A lot of the action is moved outside, and it is very well-shot. However, they also added a big action beat to the climax, which I thought was ridiculous. It didn't add anything of significance and only served to minimize the impact of the climax as Dahl wrote it. I suspect they wanted to go bigger because this is a movie, but bigger isn't always better and I thought it was a bad idea.

The stage version's best song, "When I Grow Up," is still here and is still great. But it doesn't really have very much to do with the plot and would lift right out without changing anything else.

The new song written for the film is a new closing number. I think the song itself is a fantastic addition to the score, but it is presented as a montage. I think it would have been more effective if we actually saw Matilda and Miss Honey singing it together.

I should also note that the final shot of the movie is in the trailer. It isn't exactly a "spoiler," but I do think having seen it before somewhat limited its effectiveness. I wish Netflix's marketing people had demonstrated some more restraint and not shown that off.

I think that is as much as I can say without going into spoiler territory.

 

[Tino]

Netflix is giving this a limited theatrical release in the United States this weekend prior to the streaming launch on Christmas. Deadline said that it is on about 120 screens, but of course Netflix isn't releasing an official theater count or box office grosses.

Fortunately, the same theater that booked Glass Onion a few weeks ago near me also booked Matilda this weekend. So I saw it today.

For context, I am a big fan of Matilda going back to the novel. I have both the London and Broadway cast recordings of the musical and saw it on tour at a significant distance from very bad seats way in the back. I love its tone and sense of humor, and I certainly prefer its British-ness to the Americanization of the earlier film. There are several great moments in it. When it works, it really works. However, there are some weird derivations from Dahl's text that don't add up to anything useful and detract from the narrative. The ideal adaptation, for me, would be somewhere in between the 1996 film and the musical.

This film version is a very good adaptation of the musical. It is based more on that than on what Dahl wrote. Naturally, it retains the elements of the stage version that I don't think work. I still think they don't work. But I expected them to be there. Fans of the novel or previous film who haven't had the chance to see the musical might be surprised by some of the changes.

The cast is fantastic. Alisha Weir is a real find and carries the film with an incredible confidence. I'm sure this was not an easy role, but she makes it seem like it was and comes off very naturally in front of the camera. I've seen Lashana Lynch in action movies (Captain Marvel, No Time to Die, The Woman King), so it was interesting to see her in a much different context here. I wouldn't have expected her to be cast, but I immediately accepted her as Miss Honey because she exudes such a natural warmth in the role. Emma Thompson is very good as Miss Trunchbull. But if I'm being honest, I remember finding Pam Ferris much more terrifying in the earlier film. I think this is due to how Trunchbull is written in this version as more of a comic villain. The roles for Matilda's parents have been significantly reduced, but Stephen Graham and Andrea Riseborough do a good job when they do appear.

The movie does a good job of not feeling too stagey. A lot of the action is moved outside, and it is very well-shot. However, they also added a big action beat to the climax, which I thought was ridiculous. It didn't add anything of significance and only served to minimize the impact of the climax as Dahl wrote it. I suspect they wanted to go bigger because this is a movie, but bigger isn't always better and I thought it was a bad idea.

The stage version's best song, "When I Grow Up," is still here and is still great. But it doesn't really have very much to do with the plot and would lift right out without changing anything else.

The new song written for the film is a new closing number. I think the song itself is a fantastic addition to the score, but it is presented as a montage. I think it would have been more effective if we actually saw Matilda and Miss Honey singing it together.

I should also note that the final shot of the movie is in the trailer. It isn't exactly a "spoiler," but I do think having seen it before somewhat limited its effectiveness. I wish Netflix's marketing people had demonstrated some more restraint and not shown that off.

I think that is as much as I can say without going into spoiler territory.

How was the Red Beret Girl. That viral dance is spectacular.

 

[Jake Lipson]

That viral dance is spectacular.

That song is called "Revolting Children." It is a very high energy number, as it was on stage as well, so I'm not surprised people have been taking to it. I've always thought of it as being similar to a kids-appropriate version of "The Bitch of Living" from Spring Awakening.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

A special screening was held in New York City for alumnae of the Broadway cast and the US tour cast:

All four who played Matilda in the original Broadway cast back in 2013 were in attendance, now in their twenties or about to be:

(L-R Oona Laurence, Sophia Gennusa, Bailey Ryon, Milly Shapiro)

I wonder if they did anything similar for the West End cast?

 

[Jake Lipson]

I wonder if they did anything similar for the West End cast?

I don't know, but I do know Sony is handling the film in the UK as a traditional wide release before it goes to Netflix. So it would surprise me if they didn't do something similar. At the very least, nobody in the West End cast should have any problem finding a theater showing the movie if they want to see it on the big screen. Netflix has it in all other territories.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Here is a different trailer for Matilda that I hadn't seen before. I think this one was made by Sony to promote the theatrical release in the UK, rather than by Netflix, which is handling the film in the rest of the world.

 

[Matt Hough]

I watched it today on Netflix. I was not the biggest fan of the stage musical (maybe I had bad seats and couldn't see much expressiveness on the faces of the actors, but the parts that should have moved me didn't very much), but I really enjoyed myself here. Yes, Emma is a comic villain much more than the stage incarnation I saw (a touring company, so I don't remember who was playing it: definitely a man, however), but the acting from top to bottom worked wonderfully, and I was impressed that Matthew Warchus who directed both stage and screen versions adapted to each medium so well and completely differently (unlike, say, Susan Stohman with The Producers).

 

[Jake Lipson]

a touring company, so I don't remember who was playing it: definitely a man, however)

I saw the tour as well. By the time I saw it, Trunchbull was played by Dan Chameroy. Bryce Ryness was Trunchbull for the opening of the tour, though.

In any case, Trunchbull is always played by a man on stage. I've seen a lot of press junket interviews with Matthew Warchus for this film, but nobody has asked him why he decided to change direction and go with a woman for the film. I don't mean this as a complaint because Thompson is very good in the role, but that is definitely a question I would have asked him if given the chance.

I remember there being some discussion about Bertie Carvel, who originated the role on stage, possibly doing the film too. I'm not sure how far along down the road they got with him before going in another direction. Then it was going to be Ralph Finnes. I remember that being reported. But then they wound up going with Thompson.

Both cinematic Trunchbulls were in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, although they didn't share any scenes with each other.

 

[Tino]

Terrifically entertaining from beginning to end. My wife and I loved every minute if it.

Sweet, touching, emotional with great songs and awesome choreography. Especially the “Revolting Children” sequence.

All the actors are terrific especially Alisha Weir and Lashanna Lynch and of course Emma Thompson.

My wife is dancing as I type this.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Some behind-the-scenes clips via Netflix on YouTube:

 

[Chris Will]

My wife, daughters and I watched this yesterday and we all really enjoyed it. I’ve never seen the stage show so I don’t know if they changed anything but the movie was a lot of fun. I like how they had plenty of wide shots so you could see the dancing, unlike Cats. I like that they didn’t do anything gimmicky like use talk singing the whole time like Les Mis. This director obviously came in with a lot of respect for the stage show and it is visible on screen. This was one of the best movies I’ve seen this year.

 

[Tino]

This director obviously came in with a lot of respect for the stage show and it is visible on screen

He directed both.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Despite what was written in Deadline, Netflix wouldn't allow theaters to reschedule Glass Onion again after it debuted on streaming. But apparently they're fine with theaters rescheduling Matilda. The Cinemark here is reopening Matilda today in a sing-along version. I assume this means subtitled lyrics on screen during the songs. It previously played (without subtitles) for a couple weeks before the arrival of Avatar.

Of course, Netflix doesn't report grosses for anything. But industry estimates in the trades have said that Glass Onion made around $15 million during its one-week theatrical release in November. I think Netflix left a lot of money on the table for that movie.

The grosses for Matilda have not been significant enough for the trades to report any estimates. But I'm sure it has done far less business than that in the United States. (Sony is releasing it in the UK and Ireland, where they treated it to a traditional theatrical release and it has been doing quite well.) But, sure, let the theaters have the smaller one again. Refuse to make more money together on the biggest option. That makes sense.