Laura M

Fantastic performances all round. I'm especially impressed at how good the kids are. The dances are just so tight and controlled. I also appreciate how complex the music is, when most people seem to put out the same bland pop all the time. Not one performer struggled. However, I am neurodiverse and I do find it difficult to follow a lot of the sung words, even with subtitles on. I don't usually have a problem processing fast lyrics, but when it never slows or pauses at all, it's a lot. One or two songs like that I could manage and listen back to a few times to help me keep up the next time I hear them. But it's almost every song. I understand that this is Tim Minchin's usual style, but a whole show of it is too much for me. I disagree with some here that the trauma wasn't shown, I think it was pretty clear. If anything, I think it was a little too clear. It made the whole thing feel a lot darker and changed the tone of the story entirely. It made the whole thing feel a lot longer than it actually was. I was surprised at the end to find that it had only been two hours. I imagine an interval would help a little, but it just feels very heavy to me, somehow. I know a lot of Dahl's stories are dark, deep (or not so deep) down, but the humour that usually balances it out just wasn't there in this movie. Though obviously younger, Matilda felt more like an angry teenager lashing out than someone seeking actual justice, even with the source of the trauma being clearly shown. I'm not sure I like the stylistic choices in general. It all felt a bit... off. Like a mirror universe version of the story. I'm not a particular fan of the 90s movie. I didn't like how much they changed or the fact that they set it in the US (yawn). But as much as I don't like about that one, I think they actually balanced the tone a little better. It didn't feel like Dahl either, but at least it wasn't dark almost all the way through, like this one was. I absolutely love musicals, and as its own adaptation, this one was interesting to see. But I don't think it's one I will be returning to.