X
- 2023
- PG
- 37 m
- 2023
- PG
- 37 m
Summary This short anthology film adapts four of the stories in the Roald Dahl collection "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More." The main story follows Henry Sugar, who is able to see through objects and predict the future with the help of a stolen book.
Directed By: Wes Anderson
Written By: Roald Dahl, Wes Anderson
- 2023
- PG
- 37 m
- 2023
- PG
- 37 m
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
7.3
Summary This short anthology film adapts four of the stories in the Roald Dahl collection "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More." The main story follows Henry Sugar, who is able to see through objects and predict the future with the help of a stolen book.
Directed By: Wes Anderson
Written By: Roald Dahl, Wes Anderson
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 31 Critic Reviews
85
90% Positive
28 Reviews
28 Reviews
10% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 31 Critic Reviews
85
90% Positive
28 Reviews
28 Reviews
10% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
In the end, both Dahl’s stories and Anderson’s movies require a few common but difficult skill sets of the actors. Wit. Technical precision. Verbal facility. Adroit timing. And some fun, even if it’s tightly prescribed and carefully confined to a certain place in a fastidiously arranged, ever-shifting picture frame.
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar is a choreographed dance of an experience — one that could have easily felt like a run-on sentence. However, Anderson is skilled enough as a filmmaker to make sure to pace things out with a deliberate and sure hand, utilizing both long takes and clever edits to make 37 minutes fly by like 15.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 63 User Ratings
7.3
78% Positive
49 Ratings
49 Ratings
13% Mixed
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
10% Negative
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 63 User Ratings
7.3
78% Positive
49 Ratings
49 Ratings
13% Mixed
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
10% Negative
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
IN A NUTSHELL:
I adore Wes Anderson movies. They are so clever, witty, colorful, and unique. If you’re a fan of his style too, you’ll get a kick out of this short movie based on the world by Roald Dahl. Director Wes Anderson and writer Roald Dahl are quite the perfect pair. Wes Anderson’s style is recognizably unique. The whimsical stories by Roald Dahl fit like a glove in Wes Anderson’s hands.
THINGS I LIKED:
The incredibly talented cast includes many of the favorite actors of Wes Anderson: Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, Dev Patel, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Richard Ayoade.
At the very beginning of the film, we see Ralph Fiennes acting as Roald Dahl, setting up his writing desk. Ralph had listened to tapes of Roald Dahl doing the same thing, so all that we see in the first minute is Ralph Fiennes basically channeling the famous author and improvising!
Ralph Fiennes and Ben Kingsley were both in the Academy Award-winning movie Schindler’s List in 1993.
Surprisingly, Ben Kingsley is the only Oscar winner in the film; however, three of the other actors were nominated: Benedict Cumberbatch, Dev Patel, and Ralph Fiennes. They all deserve that famous, gold trophy and, I’m certain they’ll each get one someday.
Not a split second is wasted with quick dialogue that is delivered PERFECTLY by the actors.
The set designs and color palette are perfect for a short, magical story like this.
The humor is subtle, whimsical, and most welcome. Many of the humorous moments are the visual gags when the actors break the fourth wall and take turns as the narrator, talking straight to the audience wherever they find the camera.
I haven’t read the source material, so I can’t tell you how closely it aligns with it; however, the film makes me want to, and that has to count for something, right?
THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:
I wanted MORE! I wish that had been a feature film, but I understand that the story was short.
Some viewers have complained that the lines are delivered too fast. That is absolutely true. It’s a style choice that I actually get a kick out of.
If you don’t like Wes Anderson’s unique style, then you should definitely take a pass on this. It’s more of what he does but even more exaggerated. I dig it!
TIPS FOR PARENTS:
Kids might be amused or confused.
No profanity.
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The inventiveness of Roald Dahl, brought to life under the incredible eye of Wes Anderson. The few 39 minutes of footage, the wonderful cast and the modest theatrical set are just enough for a tailor-made short film. To watch as a marathon with the other stories.
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The movie’s hectic (albeit very precise) swirl of dialogue creates a background against which the idea of slowing down and directing all your attention towards one thing feels like a genuine rebuke of the world. It’s a simple and obvious enough conceit, but Anderson and his cast have such fun with it that they render it fresh and original.
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar grants Dahl’s work a pop-out book feel in its theatrical storytelling.
A delightful first instalment in a planned quartet of short films, Anderson and Dahl’s sensibilities continuing to be a match made in heaven.
This being a Wes Anderson film, it almost goes without saying the details are delectable.
Unfortunately, its 39 minutes unfold in such motor-mouthed haste, it feels like a dad belting through a bedtime story while the football’s on downstairs.
Decent but inconsequential Anderson fare that is very measured and simple. Performances, sets, and staging all good per Anderson's usual outputs.
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(Mauro Lanari)
All the bad written and said about "Asteroid City" without understanding that it was a (neo-)existentialist film applies instead to this first chapter of a miniseries for "wcnetflux" (cit.): one thing is to speak explicitly of the emptiness of meaning, another is to clothe the nothingness of nothing with a dazzling pastel palette for the demented joy of interior and color designers. Alexa toilet flusher has already been produced, use it without risking a hernia by pressing the button.
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Production Company
American Empirical Pictures,
Netflix Studios,
Netflix
Release Date Sep 20, 2023
Duration 37 m
Rating PG
Awards
Astra Film Awards
• 1 Nomination
