Wednesday 5 October 2022 10:13 PM BRIAN VINER's five-star review of Matilda The Musical trends now
MATILDA THE MUSICAL
Rating: 
Nobody knew better than Roald Dahl that his genius for storytelling did not always transfer to the silver screen, even if he was pretty much alone in hating the 1971 film Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory.
Inspired by his novel Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, the movie he thought irredeemably 'crummy' has become a much-loved classic.
And now Matilda The Musical fully deserves to join it in the pantheon of great children's films. I'm sticking my neck out, but I reckon it would even have delighted the notoriously dyspeptic, hard-to-please Dahl himself.
Last night's world premiere was also the curtain-raiser to this year's London Film Festival, and rarely has the LFF got off to such an exhilarating start.
Matilda The Musical is a joy from beginning to end, exquisitely written, acted and choreographed, and an early indication that the streaming giant Netflix did not overpay last year when it forked out an eye-popping $500million (£440million) for Dahl's back catalogue. The film was adapted from the monumental West End and Broadway hit, but that isn't always a recipe for success on screen either.
Last night's world premiere was also the curtain-raiser to this year's London Film Festival, and rarely has the LFF got off to such an exhilarating start, writes Brian Viner. Pictured: Emma Thompson as Miss Trunchbull in new Matilda the Musical
Matilda The Musical is a joy from beginning to end, exquisitely written, acted and choreographed, and an early indication that the streaming giant Netflix did not overpay last year when it forked out an eye-popping $500million (£440million) for Dahl's back catalogue. Pictured: Emma Thompson and Alisha Weir at the premiere
Moreover, director Matthew Warchus is the man who adapted Dahl's novel for the stage in the first place, and the words, music and lyrics are by original writers Dennis Kelly and Tim Minchin, so there might easily have been a constraining theatrical feel to the enterprise.
Instead, Warchus uses the camera to give the story, about a girl
