Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical (2022)
★★ — Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical (2022)
Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical arrived in cinemas in December 2022, adapted from the Royal Shakespeare Company stage production that had been running to packed houses since 2010. The source material is of course Roald Dahl's beloved 1988 novel, itself one of the most widely read children's books in British literary history, and the route from page to stage to screen is a well-trodden one. This particular adaptation, produced by Working Title Films and The Roald Dahl Story Company, carries a certain weight of expectation behind it, not least because Dahl's Matilda has already had a well-regarded film outing: Danny DeVito's 1996 version remains a warm fixture in the memories of a good many people who grew up in the nineties. Following that with a big-budget musical was always going to invite comparison, fair or otherwise.
Matthew Warchus, who directed the original RSC stage production, was brought on board to make the transfer to film, giving the project a degree of continuity that is relatively unusual for adaptations of this kind. His background is rooted firmly in theatre rather than cinema, and that lineage is visible throughout the finished film. The screenplay was written by Dennis Kelly, who also wrote the book for the stage show, with songs by Tim Minchin. Working Title, the British studio responsible for a long list of polished but unremarkable crowd-pleasers, handled production. As adaptations of British stage musicals go, it arrived with considerable industry backing and a fair amount of goodwill from theatre audiences who knew the songs already.
The film's greatest asset is arguably its cast. Alisha Weir, still a child at the time of filming, takes on the title role with considerable assurance, holding her own against seasoned performers in virtually every scene. Emma Thompson plays the tyrannical Miss Trunchbull in a performance that has drawn a great deal of attention, relying on prosthetics and physicality to create something deliberately outlandish. Lashana Lynch brings warmth to Miss Honey, the kind, put-upon teacher at the centre of the story's emotional core, while Stephen Graham and Andrea Riseborough are on reliably strong form as Matilda's oblivious, self-interested parents. It is, on paper, a strong ensemble for a family film, and fans of any of these performers will find plenty to watch. For a bit of contrast, you might also enjoy my look at The Hunchback of Notre Dame, another family film with a big studio musical pedigree, or my review of Trolls, another family film that leans heavily on its soundtrack to carry things along.
My daughter watched this about 400 million times. I'm sure it'd be much more agreeable to me if that wasn't the case. Overall it's just a basic kids musical. I don't like it anywhere as near as much as the original. The songs are kinda catchy but despite it being on repeat so often in our house I still don't find any part of it particularly memorable.
I'll be honest, context only goes so far when you've heard the same songs drifting out of the living room for what feels like the better part of a year. There's something about repeated domestic exposure to a film that strips away any ability to be objective about it, and Matilda the Musical has had every opportunity to do exactly that in our house. The cast do what they can, and Weir in particular deserves credit, but a strong lead and a handful of catchy numbers don't quite add up to something that sticks with you the way the best family films do. If you're after something from the same era with a bit more going on underneath the surface, my reviews of You Won't Be Alone and Tiger Stripes are worth a look, both UK-connected and 2020s releases that took more risks. Sometimes the safe bet is the one you remember least.
Rating: ★★ | Year: 2022 | Watched: 2025-06-27
Trailer
▶ Watch the official trailer for Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical (2022) on YouTube
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
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