I remember staring at Madeleine L’Engle’s book cover as a child and being simultaneously intrigued and disturbed. For years, I would gape at the bald centaur/Pegasus hybrid creature above the red-eyed, bald, creepy-as-hell looking mystical… thing and say “I may read this one day”. It wasn’t until I was assigned it at school that I finally had to get over my hesitation and travel through the universe with the Misses. I enjoyed it. Then it took all of a month or two to forget what happened in the book. That is the same feeling I got walking out of Ava Duvernay’s "A Wrinkle in Time".
In this film adaptation, we follow the story of siblings Meg (Storm Reid) and Charles Wallace (Deric McCabe) as they are taken on a journey through the universe to find their father (Chris Pine) who has been missing for four years. Guided by 3 eccentric beings, the Misses (Oprah Winfrey, Mindy Kaling, and Reese Witherspoon), and joined by Meg’s classmate Calvin (Levi Miller), the Murry children must navigate the unknown to complete their rescue mission. Duvernay’s directing transforms her into the fourth Misses, as she does an amazing job guiding the actors to bring forth extremely brilliant performances.
The three Misses were portrayed with majestic excellence. I think Duvernay may have presented us with Oprah’s true form. As Mrs. Which, Oprah is ethereal in all of her unbounding, literally larger-than-life wisdom and glory. Mindy Kaling’s joy is absolutely infectious as Mrs. Who. She speaks in only quotes for half of her performance, and has one particular reference that will make me forever love her for the rest of time. Reese Witherspoon’s portrayal of Mrs. Whatsit is like she just found out that she is an immortal being and is absolutely unsurprised. She is witty, hilarious, and utterly comfortable as if her former self was a temporary skin that held back her true identity. The other adults in the film had limited time on screen, but utilized the time they did have to fully embody the roles they played. Michael Peña and Zach Galifianakis were captivatingly weird in their seemingly nameless roles. Chris Pine and Gugu Mbath-Raw emanated so much love for each other and their family that tissues will be littered across theater floors.
The adults brought a lot of talent and star power to the film, but that didn’t overshadow the performances by younger thespians. Levi Miller is the perfect crutch for Meg and Charles Wallace, playing the role of Calvin with confidence and calm that pushes Reid and McCabe’s performances to the forefront. Storm Reid is going to be a force in movies for years to come. She is able to present true emotion throughout the film, and makes you want to protect her like your own sister. Yet, Deric McCabe is the absolute SCENE STEALER for this entire movie. He plays the humble, caring, genius prodigy with the poise of an actor performing in his 20th film. He is charismatic, charming, funny, emotive, and you would follow him into any unknown realm in the galaxy.
The performances were amazing, but the true strength of this film is its beauty, both in its visuals and in its message. If there were ever a movie to watch in 3D IMAX, this is the one. Its vibrant, colorful, majestic, and completely transports you to new dimensions. Yet, the richness your eyes will behold does not reach the depths of beauty that your heart and soul envelop. "A Wrinkle in Time" is a movie that every young woman and man should see. It spreads messages of love and humanity and faith and hope. Its true heart is its ability to show the beauty and infinite exactness of how perfect you, your strengths, and your faults are in this world.
Ava Duvernay’s adaptation is a beautifully simple story that, unfortunately, is in a magically complicated delivery. As beautiful as the themes are, the pacing and narrative are hard to follow. They tried to accomplish very grand world-building, but spent too little time in too many worlds. The first 10-15 minutes’ pacing perfectly introduced the Murry family’s history, but once the Misses enter the picture it’s like they say “GO!” again and again and again, starting a new race of a scene before you could finish the previous one. They make narrative choices in which you have to take a leap of faith in order to believe how they tied up character arcs and plotlines. The story leaves a lot of questions unanswered as it solves the problems of the Murry family. This is especially true around the motivations of the film’s “antagonist” and its world. The movie needed to add about 20 more minutes and cut about two dimensions in order to fully flesh out the more important realms.
Just like the messages of the movie, "A Wrinkle in Time" is an enjoyable experience that has faith in its importance despite all of its flaws. I give it 7/10 quotable Mrs. Who references.