A WRINKLE IN TIME (2018)

A WRINKLE IN TIME follows Meg, a young girl who is in search of her father, with the help of three celestial beings, a friend and her younger brother. A WRINKLE IN TIME is based on a beloved book by Madeline L’Engle, but veers far away from the book’s original Christian allegory and presents New Age messages and a plotline that will leave viewers confused.

Meg Murry and her father are very close. For years, her father, Dr. Alex Murry, has been trying to find the way to travel to outer space by mentally folding time and space, or tessering. One day her father goes missing, and Meg and her adopted brother, Charles Wallace, and her mother, Kate, are distraught. Suddenly, everything seems meaningless, including school and friends. Meg falls behind and is teased constantly at school.

One day, the Murry family is visited by a celestial being named Mrs.Whatsit. Mrs. Whatsit tells them that tessering is real. Kate is suspicious of Mrs.Whatsit and shoos her out of their house. Shortly thereafter, Charles Wallace leads Meg and her friend Calvin to another Celestial being, Mrs. Who. Mrs. Who only speaks in quotes, including quotes from Gandhi, Buddha, Rumi, and others. Later, the three meet Mrs. Which, the third celestial being. Mrs. Which is larger than life and tells the group they can go find Meg’s father by tessering together.

All of them travel to a beautiful planet. When they arrive, they find some flowers that speak in color and give them a hint of where Meg’s father may be. Then, Mrs. Whatsit transforms into a giant leaf creature and flies Meg, Charles Wallace and Calvin toward the mountains. A huge black dark force knocks Calvin off of Mrs. Whatsit, and the flowers save him. The black dark force is evil and called “the It,” and the group now realizes they must stop the evil from getting to Meg’s father.

Mrs. Whatsit tells the others she has a friend that is a Happy Medium who can give them advice. The Happy Medium lives in a cave where the ground moves, and the only way to stay balanced on the moving ground is to meditate in a yoga pose and stay centered with the universe. The Happy Medium also tells Meg to talk about her father and remember when he left her. She is so crushed, she feels she can’t talk about it. The group tessers to “the It” planet. There, Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Which and Mrs. Who leave Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin on this planet to find their own way and stop the evil from consuming Meg’s father.

A WRINKLE IN TIME is an extremely convoluted, confusing, abstract movie. Often, it’s very hard to understand the dialogue and follow the plotline. It seems as if the filmmakers spent most of their time focusing on the CGI aspects of the movie, in order to create a great spectacle, rather than working on the story. The costuming echoes the dress of palm readers and crystal ball gazers. The problem with all this is that viewers will not feel the need to continue watching, if they can’t connect with the story and the characters. Though this is the case, there are some visually pleasing scenes.

A WRINKLE IN TIME is based on the best-selling novel by Madeline L’Engle. However, many of the faith statements and themes in Madeline’s book aren’t included in the movie. Instead, the movie adds lots of New Age content, including an emphasis on being one with the universe and the energy people create with positive or negative thoughts. At one point, one character mentions every “spiritual,” “religious,” and historical icon, but seems to exclude Jesus Christ, as if Christianity was the one thing they didn’t want to include. In the book, however, Jesus is the iconic figure.

Overall, A WRINKLE IN TIME has a positive moral, redemptive message about a relationship between a father and a daughter being restored, as well as a clear picture of good versus evil. Though this is the case, the movie suggests it’s in our own power that we can accomplish good, rather than realizing that it is only in God’s power we can be renewed and transformed. Also, some of the scenes may be too scary for younger children.