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| Image source: IMDB |
Director: Ava DuVernay
Starring: Storm Reid, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, Levi Miller, Chris Pine, Michael Peña, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Zach Galifianakis.
There's some great sense of achievement in Ava DuVernay's latest film, adapted from the 1962 novel by Madeleine L'Engle. For one, it's the first time that a motion picture with the budget of $100 million is directed by an African-American woman. Not to mention a lead heroine of mixed race, and a whimsical journey across the folds of the universe.
Following the disappearance of her scientist father (Chris Pine), who one day disappeared without a trace after having discovered the answers to his recent project of attempting to prove that a journey across the universe in the speed of light could be achieved by tapping into the right frequency; thirteen year old Meg Murry (Storm Reid), wasn't as bright as she used to, and is bullied at school and scolded for being easily tempremental and unable to open up to others, even her own family. Her closest companion is her adopted younger brother Charles Wallace (Deric McCabe), who steams warm milk late at night when he couldn't sleep and accompanies her when she couldn't sleep either. Their seemingly normal life is intruded by the appearance of the bizzarely mysterious Missuses: Mrs. Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon), Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling), and Mrs. Which (Oprah Winfrey), who entrust Meg with the mission of rescuing her father; who's seemingly alive and trapped somewhere in the vast universe.
A Wrinkle in Time's strongest points lies within its lead. Storm Reid is marvelous as the film's lead heroine Meg Murry, who before stumbling upon the three strange Missuses; has been an object of mockery and ridicule among students, having been labeled as the daughter of a crazy scientist trying to prove something that is deemed as bizarrely impossible, even to the point of being told that "crazy apparently runs in the family" by one of the students who constantly bullies her and even wishes for her to follow her father's footsteps of one day suddenly disappearing. Reid just carries the film effortlessly on her shoulders with genuine emotion and brilliance that makes her a heroine to get behind.
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| Image source: IMDB |
The journey that Meg goes through could be seen as a metaphor on discovering oneself, or Meg's self; in this film's case. Meg was once a top student at her school, but after her father's disappearance, she's put into unwanted attention and shuts herself out from other people. Her hesitancy at accepting who she is becomes the driving force that DuVernay so wonderfully explores. The arcs around Meg herself are what keep the film from tumbling over to the ground. Meg's beaten down, afraid to show her grief but brave enough to push others away from her life. The sole core of her arc is her love for her father, and his disappearance changes her life and her attitude towards others.
Think of A Wrinkle in Time as Disney's surface level version of Christopher Nolan's Interstellar, just with less of the intricate and complex wibbly wobbly timey wimey explanation of dimension travel. It's so otherworldly, yet full of many wonders. DuVernay has truly created a world of many wonders, danger, and possibilities; with gossiping flowers that speak with color, a devilish Michael Peña, and a mysterious dark force that hides through many faces (a Disneyfied version of The Shimmer from Annihilation, if you will). It's wonderfully visionary, vibrant, and so reminiscent of the fantasy that I fell in love with during my pre-teen years.
One of the film's most lighthearted and humorous moments come from the Missuses, from the giant Mrs. Which, played by Oprah Winfrey, to Reese Witherspoon's Mrs. Whatsit, who suddenly shows up at the Murry house late at night to inform Meg and her family of the possibility that her father has successfully traveled to another dimension (or tessered, as the film describes it) and is still alive. The most interesting of the three Missuses, is Kaling's Mrs. Who, who speaks in a manner of quotations from famous figures such as Rumi and Shakespeare.
But while A Wrinkle in Time could have had more to time to establish some of its characters and its bumpy second arc, it still conveys a powerful message that yes, might be cheesy considering how it's so easily spelled out; but leaves a generous amount of heart, though still very much surface level and not enough as to leave a deep emotional impact. Some revelations that are revealed from other characters would appear out of nowhere without so much as a small scene to establish it, one of them being something that involves Meg's friend Calvin. This leads to an unfortunate downfall: its inability to fully connect emotionally with the audience. The message is conveyed clearly, and rather too obvious, but beyond the message, there is not much for us to connect with in terms of the execution of the story itself, and how it establishes the characters to be suddenly roped in to a journey through the dimensions of the universe.
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| Image source: IMDB |
A Wrinkle in Time is not something that would leave you completely amazed, but it's enough to give you a sense of enjoyment at its other-worldliness. It's an adventurous coming of age fantasy that's whimsical and imaginative for the eyes, especially for the younger ages. A Wrinkle in Time is reminiscent of the films that the pre-teen self in me would have loved, even to the point where I'm reminded of the joy I had when I first saw The Spiderwick Chronicles in theaters when I was ten. It's also a wondrous journey with a lead heroine that audiences are able to root for. As surface level as it is, A Wrinkle in Time has enough tricks to keep audiences both the young and the older entertained, though perhaps not to the point of full engagement of the story for the older as much as it is for the younger.
Stars: 3.4/5
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