A Wrinkle in Time Review

I first heard of A Wrinkle in Time when I was a kid. My mom often read to me and my sisters and one day she chose one of her favorites, Madeleine L’Engle’s stroke of genius. I immediately became enthralled in the story of Meg, her spooky attic bedroom, her insightful little brother, and her new witchy friends.

I in turn read the book to my little brother, who was so impatient to know the ending he finished reading it on his own.

When Madeleine L’Engle came up with the idea, she knew it was a career changer. She was desperate to get it published but people were slow to warm up to the three witches, and slower to support the idea of a female hero in a science fiction story.

Clearly, they misjudged Meg Murray.

Meg Murray is an odd soul. She stubbornly marches to the beat of her own drum. It’s the trait that gets her in trouble at school, but ultimately saves her in the end. I love how close she is with her mother and her little brother. She admires her mom so much and she never makes her brother feel different. She believes in him, always.

I was thrilled when I heard about the movie, especially with the incredible cast. The more I read about the movie, the more excited I became. It’s clear that everyone working on this film genuinely loves the story and how it can influence people to believe in an adventure beyond all scientific explanation.

Or so I thought.

After watching the movie, seeing the whimsical children’s story modernized and set to a hip hop rhythm, I’m a bit disappointed. I’m not Ella Enchanted level disappointed, but still. Like Charles Wallace, I’m underwhelmed.

They managed to stick pretty close to the plot, though they threw in a random mean girl/snooping neighbor and changed the delightful medium to a hipster. The characters didn’t have as much depth as they should have and the dialogue was a bit stiff, though the dialogue in the book isn’t stunning either.

I was completely thrown when Charles Wallace was changed to Meg’s adopted brother. Why is he adopted? He’s not adopted in the book. And they also have ten year old twin brothers, Sandys and Dennys, the normal ones in the family. The twins may be the shining example of common citizens, but they have their own time traveling adventures later in life.

The worst change was the tone of the story. It’s supposed to be charming and timeless and quirky but it was just weird and modern and trying way too hard. It was the 2018 version of this story and it didn’t work. It should have been more Maleficent and less Pan.

It delivers some heartwarming messages, mostly through Oprah. It’s good for kids who don’t love the book. I really wanted to love it, I was so excited for it… but it just wasn’t my cup of tea. I think I’ll just stick with the book.