IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J. Mulderig) review
Los Angeles Times (J. Chang) review
RogerEbert.com (M. Zoller-Seitz) review
AVClub (J. Hassenger) review
A Wrinkle in Time [2018] (directed by Ava DuVernay, screenplay by Jennifer Lee and Jeff Stockwell based on the novel [GR] [WCat] [Amzn] by Madeleine L'Engle [wikip] [GR] [WCat] [Amzn] [IMDb]) is IMHO a fascinating story that COULD be understood as a truly feminine counterpoint to the popular Spider Man [2002] / [2012] and Thor [2011] Marvel Comics inspired films of recent times.
For the protagonist in this story, is a quiet, uncertain 14 year old girl (in the film biracial) named Meg (played wonderfully by Storm Reid) not unlike Marvel Comics' Peter Parker of Spider Man [2002] / [2012] fame. Her parents (played by Chris Pine and Gugu Mbatha-Raw - I've loved everything that Gugu Mbatha-Raw has ever been in since Belle [2013]) were scientists. Meg's father working for NASA had mysteriously disappeared from his lab some 4 years before. He had been working on tesseracts, or multidimensional objects which offered the possibility to move across great distances in our universe instantaneously.
Disappeared though he was, Meg's father's research is validated when the first of three celestial beings in the story, a Mrs Whatsit (played in the film by Reese Witherspoon) appears to Meg's little brother Charles (played by Deric McCabe) in their living room and tells her and her brother that tesseracts are real and travel like their father had imagined was indeed possible.
The rest of the movie unspools through there. Meg, her brother and then a seemingly random friend Calvin (played by Levi Miller) but at the time was really _her only friend_ are soon introduced to two other celestial beings in the story -- Mrs Which (played by Opray Winfrey) and Mrs Who (played by Mindy Kaling) -- and together they set off, using the three celestial beings' knowledge of tesseracts to travel (in arguably Marvel's Thor-like fashion) to far flung worlds across the universe search for Meg's 4-years-missing dad and ... save the universe from a dark de-humanizing celestial force called "It" spreading across the universe in a cloud dark, storm-cloud like fashion.
I found the movie surprisingly fascinating, not the least that the original writer, Madeleine L'Engle [wikip] [GR] [WCat] [Amzn] [IMDb] did see herself as a Christian (Anglican) writing in the tradition of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. Readers here could perhaps discern a feminine echo to the Christian Trinity (and perhaps even of Mary [1] [2]) in those three (feminine) celestial beings who appear to the children.
I also believe that this film COULD "move the ball" in contemporary North American science fiction, moving us away from the grand "Cosmic Battles" of Star Wars / Star Trek and glass smashing mayhem of the Marvel Comics / Transformer stories to a more mature and less 2-10 year old "let's just smash things we don't like" vision of the Cosmos.
Finally, this story could actually serve as a fascinating CONCEPTUAL BRIDGE between contemporary SCIENCE FICTION and RELIGION, reminding us that truly _advanced beings_ MAY NOT NEED such _pedestrian devices_ as "star ships" (warp drives, etc) to travel the universe, that they could have developed far more elegant / civilized ways to make their way and communicate across great distances.
All in all, there's much more to this story / film than it may seen initially and it may require a second or even third look to see it. So very, very good job here Ana DuVernay and cast, very, very good job!
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