Alright, I have been writing a lot about my experience at the premiere and interviewing cast from the movie, but I know THIS is the post you have been waiting for. A Wrinkle in Time review.

Full disclosure. I always try my very best to give my full honest review despite being a huge Disney fan. Naturally I want to go on and on raving about this movie because of how connected I feel to the cast but I’m still going to give it to you straight (but spoiler-free).

I’ve now seen the movie three times. Once in a screening before interviewing the cast, once at the Red Carpet Premiere, and last night at another screening with my 7-year-old daughter. Hands down, the best experience was seeing it with her, because I got to watch her light up and really see it more from a child’s perspective. It’s not my favorite Disney movie, but right now, it’s hers. Actually, and I quote “It’s the best best best BEST movie EVER!” according to her, and it’ll forever have a special place in our home.

As adults we can be so cynical and harsh with judgements, but seeing it this time took me back to being a kid watching classic films like The Goonies, E.T. or The Neverending Story. I watch these now like “Was I high?” but as a kid. WOW! That was some magical stuff.

I absolutely believe A Wrinkle in Time will go down as a beautiful classic kids love like those–Except, maybe without the weird feeling of being on something.

Disney

Movies based on books, especially classic books, are always up for steep criticism. As an adult, if you haven’t read A Wrinkle in Time, or haven’t read it in a long time I would suggest you check it out from the library or listen to it on audiobook to get up to speed. When it comes to kids and the book, I don’t think it’ll be a big deal if they aren’t familiar with the story because kids have big imaginations and can just go with it. But if your child likes to understand everything that’s going on and tends to ask a lot of questions during the movie (this is my daughter), he or she may enjoy it better knowing more about the story.

I was excited to read it with my kids so we could create venn diagrams and compare similarities and differences. We finished the book about three weeks ago and surprisingly she didn’t notice nearly as many differences as I did, but I’ll go into that later. First let me break down the film.

Summary

Meg Murry is a middle school student who just wants to fit in. She is the brilliant daughter of two world-renowned physicists. Four years ago, her father, Mr. Murry disappeared, which has left Meg devastated and her mother broken-hearted. Meg’s little brother Charles Wallace introduces Meg and her fellow classmate Calvin to three celestial beings (Mrs. Which, Mrs. Whatsit and Mrs. Who) who have journeyed to Earth to help search for their father. Together they embark on their quest across the universe to try to save him. Like the book, it takes you on an adventure through time and space and carries a thoughtful message of light vs dark, good versus evil and the hope that love can triumph.

Disney

Ava DuVernay brought this books to life in a visually stunning adaptation I really enjoyed and my daughter LOVED. Even watching it through a third time I heard new things I’d missed before, noticed details I overlooked, and messages sunk in even deeper. I asked my daughter if she’ll want to buy this movie and she corrected me saying she wants to see it at the movies at least a few more times first, then yes, of course we’ll add it to our collection.

Oh, and the soundtrack is off the chain. I’ll be buying that too.

Important Messages and Morals

You guys, aside from watching her laugh and smile through the movie, my absolute favorite part were the conversations we had about the movie after. We had a conversation about bullies and how they sometimes treat people mean because of their own insecurities. From friendships, how to handle bullies, self worth, and good vs evil. She pulled things out of the movie and asked questions that made me realize how much she’s growing up.

The book and the movie are both excellent conversation starters about all of these things.

Book vs Movie

Look, I always think the books are better. My daughter really enjoyed the book but she says she likes the movie more. I missed one particular character on a particular planet that was my personal favorite part of the book. But when I asked my daughter to compare the two she didn’t mention missing that. The story is brought to life in such a colorful way that makes me wonder what kid wouldn’t love it. Not to mention that Meg was rockin some curls and beautiful brown skin that had my daughter seeing herself up on the big screen.That fact alone was priceless to our family.

The Mrs. weren’t the old witch-looking ladies we imagined while reading the book, but beautiful beings each with their own personality, look and style.

Some of our favorite lines from the book were still in the movie, some parts I loved were missing, but the most important thing–The message, remained the same.

Is Wrinkle in Time Scary?

When a new Disney movie comes out a lot of parents want to know if it’s appropriate for their child’s age. Like most movies I’d say it’s not an age thing as much as a maturity thing, and what your children are already exposed to.

Like in the book there are a couple of scenes that may be a little frightening to kids. A couple characters with red eyes, a tornado storm, and there are a few scenes that are dark and loud, particularly when they reach IT at Central Central Intelligence. That could be scary for small children. My 4, almost 5-year-old son wouldn’t have been scared during that part but he likely would have been bored long before then not understanding the conversations or what was going on.

My daughter and I both think content wise, it’s best for kids 6 and up, but if you’ve got a kid who just loves movies by all means, bring them too!

Ok now let me get to my 7-year-old’s review.

Wrinkle in Time Review from a 7-year-old

I liked Wrinkle in Time a lot because it was magical and exciting. I think it’s the best movie ever because there are a lot of smart kids like Meg and Calvin and Charles Wallace. It made me feel like “woah, that’s cool!”

My favorite part was when they were flying. And there was a lot of cool dresses with the Mrs. Mrs. Whatsit was really fully. I don’t want to spoil it but besides Meg, she’s my favorite character because she’s really funny. The whole movie isn’t funny like The Lion King or something, there are a few funny parts, but it’s also serious and has some magical stuff and adventures.

The movie is about light fighting darkness.

It reminds me of Martin Luther King Jr. because he said hate can’t defeat hate, only love can do that. And that’s the same as darkness can’t defeat darkness, only light can do that. I think that was the moral of the story and also that you are fine however you are. And even though somebody looks different it doesn’t mean that they have a better life, it juts changes how you look. You might have it even worse than you used to.

The first thing I noticed that was different than the book was that Calvin’s dad was the one yelling at him in the movie but in the book it was his mom. Oh yea, the twins weren’t in it, but they weren’t really in the book that much anyway. Sometimes movies are different than the books so that’s why I wasn’t expecting I knew what was going to happen. I was paying attention so I could notice the details that were different.

It wasn’t scary, it didn’t seem scary, some little kids may be scared by the storm because it’s loud. IT was more scary in the movie than the book, but it wasn’t too scary. I was really excited to see what was going to happen next.

6 to anything is a good age to see it. Cause they said 8 to anything and I thought I couldn’t watch it, and I don’t want others to think they can’t watch it, so I wanted to say younger but I also want them to understand it. I don’t think my brother would understand it because he’s half dinosaur. If you just love Disney movies and you think you’ll understand them, you should come to this movie.

Conclusion

Take your mature kids and enjoy watching this beautiful film through their eyes. Be ready for important conversations about brining goodness and light to the world, how our pain can make us stronger and that we should love ourselves the way we are.

Hope you found our review helpful. After you see it come back and let us know what you think!

A Wrinkle in Time hits theaters everywhere Friday March 9th.

Tags: Disney movie review, movie review, review, wrinkle in time event