A Wrinkle in Time Movie Review

By: Lynn Barker

In A Wrinkle in Time, smart tween Meg Murry (Storm Reid) has hated herself for four years ever since her scientist dad Alex (Chris Pine) disappeared while working on a time travel experiment. She loves her little bro Charles Wallace (Deric McCabe) but thinks dad would have stayed around if she’d been, well…..better. When she, little bro and her crush Calvin (Levi Miller) are visited by three strange, magical women Mrs. Which (Oprah Winfrey), Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling) and Mrs. Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon) who can “wrinkle” time and space, there is a chance dad can be found….somewhere in the universe.

The Mrs. can wrinkle time and spaceCourtesy of Disney

Abandoned

Tween Meg Murry remembers when she was little and was helped with fun science projects by her NASA scientist dad Alex. He told her that love is always there even when she can’t see it. Unable to sleep, she greets her little genius brother Charles Wallace in the kitchen. Dad just disappeared four years ago and never came home. Meg has been sullen, moody and unsure of herself ever since. At school, girls make fun of her and wish she would “disappear too”. Leader of the mean girls is Meg’s next door neighbor Victoria (Rowan Blanchard). When she badly insults Meg, Meg hits Victoria in the face with a volley ball and is scolded by the school principal.

Mean girls tease and torment MegCourtesy of Disney

Strange Visitors

Suddenly, a strange woman with long red hair is in Meg’s house! Charles Wallace seems to know her as Mrs. Whatsit who tells Meg’s mom Kate (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), also a scientist, that there is such a thing as a tesseract. Kate seems to know what she means but who is this crazy woman in her house? Later Charles leads Meg to meet Mrs. Who. They are joined by Meg’s crush Calvin who says he was just drawn to go with them. Mrs. Who is in an old abandoned house and only speaks in famous quotes.

Mom thinks Mrs. Whatsit is crazyCourtesy of Disney

Wrinkling Space and Time

Meg’s mom tells her that she and dad knew there were dimensions outside time. To move in space one can “fold” or “wrinkle” time and space and travel the universe. That is what dad was working on when he disappeared. When Calvin is visiting, Mrs. Whatsit returns with “Let’s go find your dad”. Mrs. Who is there as is a bigger-than-life-sized Mrs. Which who tells Meg the “Mrs.” heard a desperate call in the universe for help. Must be her dad who is in danger. Can Meg be a warrior for the light and help save him? The woman know how to “tesser” or fold space and time. Meg and Charles agree to go as does Calvin. The yard starts to “fold” and they are off!

Mrs. Who greets the kidsCourtesy of Disney

Another World

Meg, the Mrs. and Calvin wake on another planet that is filled will colorful talking flowers. This is Uriel and it is beautiful. Mrs. Whatsit can talk to the flowers and asks if they know where Alex Murry is. As they lead, Mrs. Whatsit morphs into an amazing, giant flying plant/woman who carries the kids on her back as they fly, following the flowers until a dark mass appears in the sky and everything falls to the ground. They flowers say dad has moved on to planet Camazotz which is the headquarters of evil in the universe. There lives the “It”, a horrible dark mass that is taking over the universe. It is evident on Earth whenever someone acts evilly to another person.

Mrs. Whatsit visits with Meg and Charles WallaceCourtesy of Disney

Visiting the Medium

Mrs. Which folds time and space and the group visits a seer named the Happy Medium (Zach Galafianakis). He says that in order to find dad, all, including Meg must relax and have faith in themselves. Meg can’t do either. Mrs. Which shows her visions of evil taking over with jealousy, hate, violence etc. and again challenges Meg to be a warrior for the light as her dad is. She tries again and it is shown that dad is a prisoner of the “It” on Camazotz as feared. The Mrs. can’t fold time and space there.. They can only do it where there is good and light. The kids are told they will be tested, not to trust people they meet and to never separate!

The Medium tries to get everyone to be centeredCourtesy of Disney

Camazotz

The Mrs. send the kids alone to Camazotz which can change its “look” at will. Suddenly they are in a forest where tornados almost kill them and Charles has disappeared. They stumble upon a strange kind of suburban neighborhood where they are asked in for dinner but realize it is a trick and don’t go in. Suddenly the land changes and they are on a beach where a weird man with red eyes tells them that dad Alex is there and he will take them to him. He lures little Charles away with him. The next time they see Charles he has gone to the dark side and is one with the awful “It”.

Meg and Calvin are suddenly in a forestCourtesy of Disney

Reunion

Using physics and some all-seeing glasses given to her by the Mrs., Meg is able to find her dad trapped in a long cave-like corridor. They have a tearful reunion. He can’t believe he’s been there four years. The “It” wants Meg and is using Charles to trap her here too. Meg refuses to leave Charles on Camazotz and resists an evil offer to let “It” change her into a perfect and more beautiful version of herself. She is able to use her deep love for Charles to drive the “It” out of his body and basically destroy it. Without the Mrs., how can Meg, dad, Charles and Calvin “tesser” back to Earth? Can they ever really be free of this awful place?

Dad has been trapped for four yearsCourtesy of Disney

Wrapping Up

Overall, A Wrinkle in Time is a magical, heartfelt, beautifully costumed film with interesting visual effects, some nice acting and the worthy messages that light can overcome darkness, self-acceptance is key to happiness and that love can conquer all although we hear that far too often from the mouth of Oprah Winfrey’s character.  

Mrs. Which tries to get Meg to believe in herselfCourtesy of Disney

Newcomer Storm Reid is charming and convincing as lead character Meg Murry, cute Levi Miller (he was Peter Pan) and young Deric McCabe are also believable in their roles as Calvin and overly-precocious younger bro Charles as are Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Chris Pine as dad and mom. Chris especially shines as a dad who realizes he has put his kids on the back burner too often while he seeks the meaning of life in the vast cosmos. The reunion with his daughter Meg scene is especially touching.

Calvin and Meg survive the tornados on CamazotzCourtesy of Disney

However, I couldn’t get it out of my head that Oprah is… Oprah. Same with Reese Witherspoon who, among the “Mrs.” Characters, has so much of the dialogue that she becomes snippy and annoying.  Maybe using good but basically unknown actresses might have been more convincing to portray supernatural time traveling do-gooder ladies with the unlikely names of Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which.. Yes, I know the names are from the novel.

A weird housewife asks the kids in for dinnerCourtesy of Disney

I read the book so long ago (I was a tween and that wasn’t yesterday) but I remember it was the “Mrs.” who transported the group back to Earth. In the film it is Meg which is actually better story wise. However, she seems to simply forget Calvin and her dad who are nowhere in sight as she transports herself and her brother back home. Once there… poof! Calvin and dad are home waiting for them. Huh? How did they get back?  Kind of a big story hole. If Meg was supposed to have transported them by folding time and space, we don’t see them going with her. Was a scene cut? Various things are introduced throughout the film then not paid off.

Meg's dad Alex wants to wrinkle time and spaceCourtesy of Disney

Overall the movie basically follows the book with a few notable exceptions. Readers who love the classic should be mostly pleased but some of the editing is choppy and a lot of the supernatural magic isn’t as original or magical as it should be.  We go three stars.

A Wrinkle in Time Movie Rating: 

A Wrinkle in Time PosterCourtesy of Disney

See A Wrinkle in Time in theaters now!

Have Your Say

If you have read the classic Sci-Fi/Fantasy novel, are you looking forward to this film version? Do you like the idea of strong girls fighting for good causes? Comment below!