A Wrinkle in Time Blu-ray Review

By: Lynn Barker

Smart tween Meg Murry (Storm Reid) has been putting herself down for four years ever since her scientist dad Alex (Chris Pine) disappeared while working on a time travel experiment in A Wrinkle in Time. When she, little bro Charles Wallace (Deric McCabe) 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.

Meg's dad Alex (Chris Pine) has been missing four yearsCourtesy of Disney

Remembering Dad  

Meg Murry remembers when she was little and did fun science projects with her NASA scientist dad. He told her that love is always there even when she can’t see it. 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”. When she strikes back, she is sent to the principal’s office.

Who is this strange woman in our house?Courtesy of Disney

Otherworldly Visitors  

Who is this strange woman with long red hair 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.  It’s a way of folding time and space. Later Charles leads Meg to meet Mrs. Who who only speaks in famous quotes. They are joined by Meg’s crush Calvin who says he was just drawn to go with them.

Calvin meets Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling)Courtesy of Disney

Space and Time Warp

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? Meg and Charles agree to go as does Calvin. The yard starts to “fold” or “tesser” and they are off!

Meg illustrates how time can be wrinkledCourtesy of Disney

New World

The Mrs., Meg and Calvin wake on planet Uriel that is filled will colorful talking flowers. 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 following the flowers until a dark mass appears in the sky and everything falls to the ground. The 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.

One of the magical CGI setsCourtesy of Disney

The Happy Medium

With another fold of time and space, 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. After Mrs. Which shows her vision of evil, jealous, hate, etc. Meg tries hard and 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!

Mrs. Which can't fold space on CamazotzCourtesy of Disney

Evil 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 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”.

Storm and Levi on set escaping the ItCourtesy of Disney

Bringing Dad Home?

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?

Without Mrs. Who can Meg tesser to Earth?Courtesy of Disney

Special Extra Features

The multi-screen Blu-ray/DVD set looks and sounds very crisp.

• A Journey Through Time is the 5-part “making of” featurette covering the following subjects:
  • The Guiding Light focuses on reinventing the classic book for film. Actors and Director Ava DuVernay discuss the diverse casting. Storm Reid who plays Meg auditions, Oprah talks about her fellow cast members.
  • Celestial Beings is all about the “Mrs.” showcasing the three actresses playing them who discuss their characters. Oprah says the three “would make a good soul singing group”.  The unique “cross cultural-cross era” costumes are shown in detail, as are hair and make-up. This is a fun extra.
  • Layering Worlds deals with the CGI locations, planets etc. it is super colorful. Production Design is discussed. Interesting.
  • A Practical World gets up close and personal with the actual, real-life locations chosen for the film from California to New Zealand where the cast participates in a Maori blessing ceremony. Neat.
  • A Diverse World features Ava and Oprah talking about Ava as the first African-American woman to direct such a large Disney film and changes for women in general in Hollywood.

Reese Witherspoon as Mrs. WhatsitCourtesy of Disney

• Deleted Scenes- There are 3 with or without Ava commentary. All are either interesting or informative.
• Audio Commentary with Director Ava DuVernay, her first assistant director, special effects supervisor, screenwriter, film editor, production designer and producer makes for maybe too many voices to listen to but they cover interesting tech stuff and there is behind the scenes info that should please fans. Worth a listen.
• Bloopers – these “goofs” are mostly a lot of dancing and making faces.. not as funny as it could be.
• Original Songs Music Videos – (2)  Best is “I Believe” featuring Demi Lovato. “Warrior” with Chloe X Halee is fine too.

Wrapping Up

As we said in our review of the film in theaters, 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. 

Oprah Winfrey as Mrs. WhichCourtesy 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.

Chris Pine as Meg's dad AlexCourtesy of Disney

There are some story “holes” that aren’t “filled” or badly explained and the high profile actresses playing the Mrs. can be distracting.

This home entertainment multi-screen Blu-ray/DVD set is well worth collecting for fans and newbies alike. Getting a closer look at the “way out there” set and costume design and other SPFX marvels is well worth the buy. Bloopers are too short as usual but humorous.  We can go four stars.

A Wrinkle in Time Blu-ray Rating: 

Courtesy of Disney

A Wrinkle in Time is now available to take home

Have Your Say

Did you love the movie? Are you down to collect or gift it on Blu-ray/DVD/Digital? Talk about the magic of the diverse cast and crew. Do you identify with lead character Meg? Tell us with a comment below.