#Matilda (2022)

[where-our-stories-start]

Matilda (1988) // Matilda (1996) // Matilda the Musical (2022)

[pintsofguinnesmakeyoustrong]

a handful of my favourite letterboxd reviews

bonus: the iconic, the legendary, the sensational ~

[intothestacks]

Children's librarian here: This is, in fact, 100% the kind of question I'd expect from a kid Matilda's age.

[pavlmescal]

Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical (2022) dir. Matthew Warchus

[thatrandomblogsays]

I just watched Matilda (2022) and have feels

[okthatsgreat]

matilda wormwoods home life is very very tragic and sad yes but there is something very funny about how pathetic her parents are like not only do these two grown ass adults have beef with a five year old girl but they are also actively losing

[snekjoy]

The good (matilda 2022) the bad (dear evan hansen 2021) and the ugly (cats 2019)

[ingek73]

2022, the year in which Lashana Lynch was a teacher to girls from an abusive family & became their guardian

[hojarascart]

We are revolting children! 

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linktree

[come-see-our-show]

Now that it’s been a week since I've watched Roald Dahl's Matilda: The Musical, here are all my thoughts (as someone who loves the musical and played Bruce once):

THE BABIES SINGING IN THE OPENING NUMBER WAS THE CUTEST SHIT I'VE EVER SEEN

The cast was INCREDIBLE!! Emma Thompson was terrifying! Stephen Graham and Andrea Riseborough were hilarious! Lashana Lynch was so endearing! AND I WANNA SEE ALISHA WEIR IN MORE STUFF BECAUSE SHE ATE IT UP

I want to give credit to the makeup team for Trunchbull's makeup because even though I knew it was Emma Thompson, they did such a good job of realistically transforming her into someone else. Her appearance wasn't a joke in the same way that it is in the musical. Her character in the stage version is definitely pretty misogynistic and transphobic because they play into her masculinity by having a man play her. Here, it's just a way of adding to her character, but it isn't what makes her scary.

All of the changes worked so well in adapting it for the screen. It wasn't just a copy-paste (couch cough everybody's talking about jamie) Examples of the changes that really worked:

Getting rid of Michael Wormwood. It makes sense since the Wormwoods clearly hate kids.

Giving Lavender a pet newt (very Chekhov's Guncore)

Including telekinesis throughout the whole story instead of just showing it a few times in the 3rd act. This includes Nigel asking Matilda if she has TK, Matilda messing with the doors in the cake scene, exploding the chokey, THE FUCKING CHAINS

Having the Spain news earlier in the story, causing a catalyst of events. Matilda is enraged, she sings I'm Here, she explodes the chokey (which was BONE-CHILLING), it gives Trunchbull a reason to make more chokies, and now Matilda is so emotional that she can take her powers to the extreme with the chalkboard and the chains and throwing Trunchbull out the window. All of this gave much better pacing in the story and made it all connected.

Having more scenes outside of the classroom (the cake scene and The Smell of Rebellion) and putting Ms. Phelps' library in her car. It's quirky and also gives them an excuse to put the storytelling scenes in pretty locations.

Giving Ms Honey a bike while her co-worker had a car, foreshadowing her being poor.

Putting Matilda's bedroom in the attic made so much sense because the Wormwoods obviously did the bare minimum for their child.

The students' drawings in Ms Honey's cottage

SO MANY FANTASY SEQUENCES! BRUCE!! WHEN I GROW UP!!! QUIET!!!!

All of the kids were so adorable (and ridiculously talented!)

The storytelling sequences!!! Interweaving it with the real world worked so well, like Matilda making it a real story for school but also clearly using it to cope. And putting them in a real circus made me more empathy for the Honeys, which lacked in the stage version because it always felt very thrown-in to me. Like, I genuinely got nervous during the stunt with the dynamite. It also made "I'm Here" even more emotional. Carl Spencer was amazing as Magnus and I teared up a bit. Also the parallels of I'm Here vs My House, helping Matilda put the pieces together.

The new song wasn't my favorite but it was a really nice finishing touch. Even though the circus at the school didn't logically make sense it was so fun

The only things I disliked: I wanted more of the already incredible stuff. More of the Wormwoods, who were absolutely hilarious, especially Mrs Wormwood. I really missed "Loud" (though removing it helped with the pacing). I wanted a bit more of Bruce (they didn’t give him the high note in Revolting Children 😭), and I would've liked Ms Honey to be a bit more affectionate with Matilda.

Anywho I want snort this movie like cocaine

[lilydvoratrelundar]

And right by my side there was you Quietly taking a stand And you were holding my hand.

Matilda the Musical (2022) dir. Matthew Warchus

[where-our-stories-start]

[based-and-rinpilled]

Ms Honey and Ms Phelps are gay married and taking care of Matilda together send tweet

[thesilliestofgals]

I watched a promo video for the Wicked movie and these are my thoughts

[eleancrvances]

stories and trauma in roald dahl’s matilda - the musical (2022)

[challahbeloved]

I was originally planning to boycott the new Matilda movie due to Roald Dahl’s antisemitism, racism etc. But I kept seeing praise for its diversity, and grew curious of how much it deserved the praise. So, I’ve begun watching it…

I shouldn’t be surprised. Miss Trunchbull — the evil and cruel headmistress — has a hooked nose, purposefully created by prosthetic.

——

In December 2020, Dahl’s family and estate released a statement apologizing for his history of antisemitic remarks. People at the time predicted that the statement came due to new projects, and their criticisms were soon proven correct.

Now, one of said projects, has engaged with the old movie trope of Jewish-coding the villain with a hooked nose. Even if the makeup is unknowingly antisemitic; if they were just thinking such a character needs a strong nose to match her personality, it’s still using a design that has been exposed multiple times for it’s antisemitic roots. And if they really cared about challenging Dahl’s antisemitism to create a new legacy, you’d think they’d be more careful not do such a thing.