A Wrinkle in Time is the groundbreaking new movie that has been anticipated for months. Based off the novel of the same name by Madeleine L’Engle, A Wrinkle in Time centers around Meg Murry, a young, intelligent girl going on an interdimensional adventure with her brother and a friend to find her missing father. The three kids are accompanied and guided by three powerful, magical women: Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit, and Mrs. Which.  The protagonists soon realize that Meg’s father has been imprisoned by the powerful It, an evil entity that is the source of every bad thing in the universe. The story becomes about how Meg triumphs over the It to save the people she loves, by facing her fears and insecurities and remaining true to the goodness inside of her. This conveys the central message of this movie, that the only way to overcome challenges and to beat “monsters” is to stand strong in who you are and what you believe in.

The main character of this movie is Meg Murray. At the beginning of the movie, Meg is a antisocial, sarcastic, yet intelligent girl hurting from the disappearance of her father and who is regularly bullied by the popular girls at school. The thing that she wants most on the world is for her father to return to her family. After the three Mrs. show up and offer Meg the opportunity to save her father in an interdimensional adventure, Meg faces many different challenges. She must persevere through the realization that her father has been captured, must leave some of her protectors behind, and face several evil beings and dangerous situations. These challenges make Meg evolve from a pessimistic, dour little girl into one that appreciates life and is confident in herself. By fighting off her demons and standing strong in herself, Meg embodies the message that A Wrinkle in Time is trying to spread.

The message of the story is also made clear through the antagonist, the It. The It is a dark force that takes the form of a massive brain that personifies the evil of the universe. The It’s shadow is constantly looming over the universe, and becomes especially formidable in the movie’s climax. It takes many forms throughout the movie, from a dark shadow and a massive brain to a being that possesses one of the movie’s heros. By personifying evil in such a way, the filmmakers create a truly threatening villain that at times becomes genuinely scary. It makes the reality of what Meg has to face clear to the viewer, and it’s defeat hammers in the message that because Meg stayed true to herself and the goodness inside her, she could do anything.

Visually, A Wrinkle in Time is stunning. The huge budget of this movie certainly shows. The landscapes of the planets the characters visit, the set design, and the costumes of the three Mrs. are all breathtaking, and add an otherworldly appeal to the movie. A Wrinkle in Time measures up to incredible movies like Black Panther, Star Wars, The Avengers, and the live-action Beauty and the Beast in the terms of visual effects. These affects make Wrinkle into a sci-fi spectacle that truly amazes. This especially comes through in the movie’s climax, when Meg battles the It. The incredible use of color truly captures the battle between light and dark, and the struggle that this movie is about. These affects also stand out when the protagonists are tessering, or teleporting between worlds. In the beginning, the tessering experience is dark and claustrophobic, but after Meg conquers the It and accepts the light within her, the tessering becomes magical. The visual effects of this movie are certainly something to be seen, and really does help the movie’s message get across.

In all, I did enjoy this movie. The book on which it is based is a book that I grew up on, and I was really excited to see it cinematically. The film definitely amazed visually, a was truly magical in the theater. The message of the movie was a really good one, but at times it did get preachy. Mrs. Which, played by Oprah Winfrey, seemed unrelatable at times because of her role in coaching Meg through her battle with evil. However, Mrs. Whatsit, played by Reese Witherspoon, made up for most of the movie’s shortcomings because of her bubbly personality and her biting humor. I truly feel like this is a movie that many people can connect to, and I would definitely recommend that people see it at least once.