As soon as I saw a trailer for Disney’s A Wrinkle In Time a few months ago, I knew I wanted to see it, and I knew I wanted to write this A Wrinkle In Time review. The preview was visually stunning, and (as most previews are) intriguing enough to make me order the classic book by Madeline L’Engle on Amazon for both my eleven-year-old daughter and I to read. You see, despite being an avid reader my whole life, I’d never read it. Both my daughter and I really enjoyed the book, and so last night, with much anticipation, we ditched my older son’s band concert (Dad had things under control) and went to see the first possible showing so that I could write this A Wrinkle In Time review on opening weekend.
Storm Reid is absolutely fantastic as the young heroine, Meg Murry. Photo: Disney
Since I am a Christian and this website is faith-based, I’m going to tell you why (or not) Christian parents might want to take their kids to this movie, but let me be clear: this is a movie ANYONE of ANY faith could enjoy. And that is, at least in part, because it is fairly different from the book. But more on that in a second.
No spoilers, but if you haven’t read the book, you need to know that A Wrinkle In Time centers around the family of 12(ish)-year-old Meg Murry, (young actress Storm Reid, who is FANTASTIC) whose scientist father has been missing for four years. On the 4th anniversary of his disappearance, three beautiful celestial beings come to lead Meg, her little brother Charles Wallace, and their friend Calvin out in to the universe to find him.
Photo: Disney
Let me pause here to say, that for the rest of my life, I’d like to have Reese Witherspoon’s (Mrs. Whatsit) eyeshadow and Oprah Winfrey’s (Mrs. Who) lipstick in every scene. FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE I wanna be all glitter lips and glitter eyes because the way they had these ladies made up was breathtaking! Mindy Kaling’s (Mrs. Which) makeup wasn’t as fab but her costumes and hair were amazing and on par with the other ladies. In fact, the entire movie is very visually pleasing, and in most cases, STUNNING. Ava DuVernay’s directing is truly wonderful.
I KNOW I could pull off this glitter look in real life…right?! Photos: Disney
Ok, so: back to the issue at hand. Though DuVernay’s directing, as I said, is sublime, it WILL help you to have read the book first, as once the action gets going, you are popping in an out of scenes and planets at a rapid pace, and it is DEFINITELY a mix of fantasy and science fiction that can be hard to keep up with if you’re not already in the know. SO, get that book! It’s a QUICK read, honestly. Listen to it on audio with your kiddos at a bare minimum before you go, is what I would encourage you to do if you’re not familiar.
For younger kids, there are some scary parts. It definitely stands up to the PG rating and is clean as a whistle, but it is a classic battle between good and evil (in a not-so-classic setting) and the evil can get pretty evil. However, it is devoid of blood, guts, gore, or death, and full of positivity.
