Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical

Matilda reads, lives in a house where nobody loves her and can move things with her mind. Against her stands the headmistress Miss Trunchbull. In this version, adapted from the stage musical, the story moves through songs. Matthew Warchus directed. Dennis Kelly wrote the book and Tim Minchin the music and lyrics, from Roald Dahl's 1988 novel. The stage show opened in Stratford-upon-Avon in December 2010, transferred to the West End in November 2011 and ran on Broadway from 2013 to January 2017. It won seven Olivier Awards in 2012 including Best New Musical, the highest number a single show had taken at that point. The Broadway production won five Tonys in 2013. In the film Emma Thompson plays Miss Trunchbull, Lashana Lynch plays Miss Honey and Alisha Weir plays Matilda, with Stephen Graham and Andrea Riseborough as the Wormwoods. Distribution was split: Sony's TriStar put it in UK cinemas on 25 November 2022 and Netflix released it elsewhere on 25 December 2022. Who it is for: families who like musicals and anyone who knows the stage version. Who it is not for: viewers expecting Dahl's cruelty. The film softens most of the book's dark humour.