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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Peter Bradshaw

Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical review – all-singing, hall-dancing adaptation is by the book brilliance

Alisha Weir as Matilda Wormwood in Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical.
Alisha Weir as Matilda Wormwood in Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical. Photograph: Dan Smith/Netflix

Emma Thompson and Tim Minchin make a very tasty combination in this DayGlo movie musical for the London film festival’s opening gala – amusing, exhilarating and the tiniest bit exhausting. It’s based on the award-winning RSC stage version of Roald Dahl’s bestseller about Matilda, the clever, lonely little girl with secret X-Men-type superpowers, sent away to a horrible school run by a hideous disciplinarian called Miss Trunchbull, like a cross between a weapon and an attack dog.

Weapon-grade … Emma Thompson as Agatha Trunchbull.
Weapon-grade … Emma Thompson as Agatha Trunchbull. Photograph: Dan Smith/© 2022 Sony Pictures UK & Tristar Pictures
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