Onesta BP

XIIS3/13

THE WITCHES (2020) MOVIE REVIEW

“The Witches” is a 2020 dark fantasy comedy film directed by directed by Robert Zemeckis and written

by Zemeckis, Kenya Barris, and Guillermo del Toro, Starring Anne Hathaway, Octavia Spencer, and
Stanley Tucci and narrated by Chris Rock. The movie was based on the 1983 novel with the same name
by Roald Dahl, and is the second full-length adaptation of the book and as a remastered version of the
1980’s The Witches.

The movie is generally a faithful adaptation from the novel for better or worse, but the movie had a
major difference between the novel and the movie adaptation in the setting of the location. In the novel
it takes place in England and Norway in the 1980s while the movie takes place in Alabama in the 1960s
with a brief introduction in Chicago.

The movie is about a young orphaned boy who is going to live with his loving grandma in the rural
Alabama town of Demopolis following a car accident that results in the death of his parents in
Chicago. When the boy and his grandmother are living together they, unfortunately had happened to
be at the same time that the Grand High Witch gathered her relatives and friends from all over the
world to carry out her evil plan under the cover. With the grandmother being an expert in anti-
witchcraft, they are going to stop whatever plans the grand witch had.

Based on my experience watching the movie, the storyline and character writing are great. The movie
was generally fun and engaging to young audience, and the plot was excellent it the terms of
progression and development it begins with the boy that is sad because of his parents sudden passing
then he manages to gather himself because of his loving grandma, which develops into the boy going to
stop the witches.

The actors and actresses also did well to portray each and characters like, Anne Hathaway done a
magnificent job to portray the witch from the novel, from how she spoke and her behavior and Octavia
Spencer who done well at portraying a patient, loving and calm grandmother who is wise and
understands everything based on her past.

The downside of this movie is that, the movie lacked on the terms of tension and the building of exciting
and tension in the action parts of the movie, instead of being “woah” because of it was building up to
this moment, it just happens.

Overall, the movie is an excellent and almost faithful adaptation of The Withes novel by Roald Dahl. It’s
a fun movie for people who are seeking an action and yet wholesome movie about the relationship of a
grandmother and a boy that had lost his parents in a tragic accident.